One: Reset Your Body Clock
Routine
One way to help stabilize your circadian rhythm is a consistent daily routine. Between shorter winter days, spending more time indoors and changing the clocks, it can be a challenge. Three simple tweaks can make a difference: maintain regular sleep and meal times, schedule breaks at a similar time each day, and aim for morning light exposure to anchor your body clock.
Sunlight
Sunlight is one of the simplest ways to lift energy and mood. Whenever practical, get outside to take in as much natural light as possible. As the sun sets earlier than at other times of year, limit evening screen time and block blue light emitting devices to protect your sleep cycle from disruption.
Two: Exercise Snacking
Movement is a natural way to enhance your mood. Better yet, it can ease tension, fight fatigue, and help tackle lack of motivation. But it doesn’t have to be done all at once. Even short bursts of activity increase endorphins and energy. Exercise snacking or mini-workouts are small, frequent movements taken throughout the day in 5–10-minute increments. “You’d be surprised at how much downtime you have in your day where you could fit in mini-workouts…while microwaving food, brushing your teeth, or during a commercial break,” advises Brandee Waite, MD, Director of UC Davis Health Sports Medicine.
Best of all, these mini-workouts can be done at work, while standing in line or from a home office. Stand up while you type out an email, try a few squats every hour, or take a short walk for a portion of your lunch break. The result? Improved circulation, increased focus and a better mood.
Three: Good Mood Food
On the menu for winter? Eating the rainbow with a variety of colourful food like whole grains, plenty of fruit and vegetables and sprouts (grow your own at home in a matter of days). Another shortcut to eating your way happy? Seek out foods that contain tryptophan like salmon, eggs, turkey, tofu, cheese, nuts, and seeds. Your body will covert tryptophan into serotonin, often dubbed the “happy hormone.”
So, instead of grabbing a coffee during your afternoon slump, opt for a nutrition packed lunch like a turkey sandwich and pack a snack like a salmon scotch egg. You’ll be smiling on your commute home.
Four: Take Screen Breaks
Remember recess? After hours of gruelling learning at school, kids get time to play outside. Not only does it provide a change of rhythm, it also gives the brain a reset. Today, with most of our time is spent on screens, taking a break (like we used to for recess), is even more important. But just don’t reach for your phone, again.
In winter, mindless scrolling can be made worse because our serotonin balance is already affected by reduced sunlight hours. When its time for a break, try putting down your phone and instead pick up a book, make a cup of herbal tea or take a brisk walk. These activities slow you down, ease stress and help restore balance.
Five: Practise Daily Mindfulness
Winter’s darker, shorter days and limited sunlight can heighten stress and anxiety by disrupting serotonin and cortisol levels. Mindfulness techniques, like meditation, deep breathing, or short grounding exercises, help regulate these stress hormones and restore emotional balance. Even a few minutes of slow, intentional breathing can calm the nervous system and improve focus.
If you think mindfulness is boring, or, if you’re not quite ready for all-out meditation just yet, remember that mindfulness includes paying attention and living in the moment according to the Mayo Clinic. “It’s hard to slow down and notice things in a busy world. Try to take the time to experience your environment with all of your senses — touch, sound, sight, smell and taste. For example, when you eat a favorite food, take the time to smell, taste and truly enjoy it…Find joy in simple pleasures.”
This original article first appeared in the WINTER 2025 2026 issue of City Style and Living Magazine.
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