Some time after Christmas it started. The first thing I noticed was how difficult it was to get going after napping (when you get up at 3:30am, napping is normal...try it). Then workouts were getting "missed." Cooking started to become a chore, and the very thought of leaving the house after coming home each afternoon was, well, appalling.
All that should have added up to "something's wrong" but I still didn't get it. It wasn't until I found myself one Friday night on the couch, watching TV (no not a show, just something on the tube) that I realised what was going on. I was getting depressed!
For weeks the newspapers and TV have been filled with stories about SAD. When the daylight wanes, and the fun of Christmas is long past, our bodies naturally react by going into a kind of light hybernation. I can't remember it ever getting to me before now, but then again, I've always been either too busy with work, or too lazy to work out, so there was no opportunity to actually sit motionless and feel totally bummed.
That awful Friday night, I ripped myself off the couch, put on my stuff, and did a 45 minute spin on my bike. It wasn't great. I was still stuck in the basement, sweating like crazy, and going nowhere, but at least I was getting out some agression.
Last week it started getting to me again. The crazy snowstorms and flash freezes didn't help, as they gave me just another reason to put off going to the pool, riding my bike or going for a run.
So I did something about it.
My son and I piled a couple of shovels in the car, and headed for my sister's place. We spent over an hour and a half digging out an enormous pile of snow from her drive. It was hard. It was cold. It was wet. In fact it was potentially the least pleasant thing either of us could think of doing at that time.
It was brilliant!
Three important pieces of my life came together: vigourous exercise; a team-oriented task to accomplish and being outdoors! By the time we were done, both of us had pulled outselves out of the SAD doldrums, and were ready to sleep like dogs.
I applied my new-found psychological knowledge the next day by going for a run in the snow with a good friend who was also feeling seasonally down and out. The holy trinity of movement, accomplishment and outdoors came together, creating...two bummed out listless individuals.
Stupid psycho-crap.
I'll try again tomorrow, but right now I just need a nap.
All that should have added up to "something's wrong" but I still didn't get it. It wasn't until I found myself one Friday night on the couch, watching TV (no not a show, just something on the tube) that I realised what was going on. I was getting depressed!
For weeks the newspapers and TV have been filled with stories about SAD. When the daylight wanes, and the fun of Christmas is long past, our bodies naturally react by going into a kind of light hybernation. I can't remember it ever getting to me before now, but then again, I've always been either too busy with work, or too lazy to work out, so there was no opportunity to actually sit motionless and feel totally bummed.
That awful Friday night, I ripped myself off the couch, put on my stuff, and did a 45 minute spin on my bike. It wasn't great. I was still stuck in the basement, sweating like crazy, and going nowhere, but at least I was getting out some agression.
Last week it started getting to me again. The crazy snowstorms and flash freezes didn't help, as they gave me just another reason to put off going to the pool, riding my bike or going for a run.
So I did something about it.
My son and I piled a couple of shovels in the car, and headed for my sister's place. We spent over an hour and a half digging out an enormous pile of snow from her drive. It was hard. It was cold. It was wet. In fact it was potentially the least pleasant thing either of us could think of doing at that time.
It was brilliant!
Three important pieces of my life came together: vigourous exercise; a team-oriented task to accomplish and being outdoors! By the time we were done, both of us had pulled outselves out of the SAD doldrums, and were ready to sleep like dogs.
I applied my new-found psychological knowledge the next day by going for a run in the snow with a good friend who was also feeling seasonally down and out. The holy trinity of movement, accomplishment and outdoors came together, creating...two bummed out listless individuals.
Stupid psycho-crap.
I'll try again tomorrow, but right now I just need a nap.
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