A Winter Brain Reset

Although our winters are very mild in the Bay of Plenty, it is at this time of year that we naturally find ourselves hunkering down and seeking out creature comforts through the cold months.  

This natural downturn in activity can provide a welcome time for rest and rejuvenation, preparing for the busy warmer months.  We can take this opportunity to become bored and daydream - a now rare and under-utilised pastime - which can help our brain to be creative and problem solve.  Boredom for the brain is like sleep for the body, providing relaxation and time to repair.

However, like all approaches to health and wellbeing, it is a balancing act between too much and too little.  With our brain health through the winter, it is just the same.   Too little activity, social interaction and time outdoors can also have a detrimental effect on our wellness, affecting our weight, appetite and sometimes giving us the ‘winter blues’.

Our brain thrives on challenges, and can become sluggish when we continuously seek familiar comforts rather than novel experience.   When we undertake new things, our brain evolves and adapts through neuroplasticity, while also stimulating the production of dopamine.  A low level of dopamine can lower our mood, cause forgetfulness, sleep disturbances and fatigue.  

As the middle of winter marks a move towards renewal, I challenge you to take on the winter brain reset…

• Rather than always looking for warmth, seek out challenges through brief cold exposures.  This can, but doesn’t have to be, ice baths. It may be simply walking barefoot on wet grass in the morning, or doing your regular walk in a t-shirt rather than a jacket.

• Rather than eating when hungry, challenge your body and brain to mild hunger, with some intermittent fasting.  Intermittent fasting has been shown to balance energy production in the brain, and reduce oxidative stress.  

• Rather than filling spare time with trivial material or digital distraction, stimulate your curiosity and focus by learning new information… or simply sitting in your own boredom.

• Rather than staying inside, catch moments of winter sun on your skin, or go barefoot on the ground.  Move your body out in nature.

  
  

We don’t want these challenges to be too great that they add stress to the body.  These should be little challenges of deliberate discomfort that ignite our cognition, and improve our mental resilience, setting us up to face the year ahead. If you would like personalised advice and help with improving your brain's performance, please get in touch.