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Psychologies Magazine suggests 10 ways to beat the winter blues. We thought it would be fun to look at how Londoners can take advantage of what their City has to offer in the way of winter blues banishing.
1 Increase Seratonin Levels
Winter blues are strongly linked with falling levels of the mood-boosting hormone serotonin that occur at this time of year. Two ways you can raise your serotonin levels are with rhythmic movement and diet.
For rhythmic movments, why not try a dance-exercise approach with A Call to Dance. They specialise in Gabriele Roth’s 5Rhythms.
Try a serotonin-boosting pineapple smoothie at your local juice bar. Most juice bars, such as Crussh, will make your juice or smoothie to order.
2 Embrace the Season
Make a list of things that are better in winter, such as curling up with a good book or drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream. At Foyles on Charing Cross Road, you can do both!
3 Do Something Fun
For family fun, there’s no place better than the Science Museum. Launchpad is the Science Museum’s most popular gallery, packed with over 50 interactive exhibits, plus electrifying shows and lively demos.
4 Increase Your PEA Levels
No, this doesn’t mean eating more peas. But it does mean eating more PEA (phenylethylamine), a brain chemical that increases feelings of joy. It is found in high levels in blue-green algae. But rather than drinking Thames water, go to a Holland & Barrett or a Neals Yard shop (you can’t swing a bean sprout in London without hitting one). Ask for their best blue-green algae powder and put it in your Pineapple Smoothie (see no. 1 above).
5 Buy a Wooly Jumper on Oxford Street
When we’re feeling socially isolated and our mood is low, we feel colder and reach for warmer things. Shopping for a warm jumper amongst the crowds on Oxford Street should solve both the social isolation and feeling cold problems!
6 Seek Negative Ions
Negative ions can’t be found in the Pegasus Galaxy, but they can be found around moving water. Exposing winter-blues sufferers to negative ions (airborne electrical charges) cuts depression symptoms by up to 48 per cent. In winter, negative ion levels are low because central heating, fluorescent lights and stuffy rooms all produce high levels of positive ions instead. Fancy a stroll around the fountains of Trafalgar Square?
7 Sniff-out Your Winter Scent
Smell stimulates the limbic part of the brain, which is connected to emotions and memory. Aromatherapy oils can be found in any health shop around London. Citrus scents will bring a positive summer feeling. Myrrh and frankincense are natural mood boosters.
8 Nix the Mould
Winter conditions are highly conducive to mould. Toxins in mould have been shown to affect the part of the brain that deals with emotions. So you could just stay home and clean house. Or not.
9 Max the Magnesium
Magnesium helps promote deeper sleep. Sleeping well naturally produces higher meatonin levels, which stave off seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Nuts are high in magnesium. Lord knows we have our share of nuts in London…
10 See the Light
Light is a natural mood booster, and exposure is the established way to beat winter depression. With all that cash you have left over from Christmas, treat yourself to the Ajala Spa at the Grange St Paul Hotel, where the sun always shines in The Real Sunlight Room. Or just get outside for a walk in one of London’s beautiful parks.
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