We fell back, which means we got an extra hour of sleep, but it means it gets darker much, much earlier…

Many of us are summer children, unprepared for the cold test of patience that is winter. So while we celebrate the seasons, we also grieve the daylight; the sunlight.

This grief lives in your lungs. If your lungs are healthy, you might just feel a passing sense of sadness, a little pang of melancholy when the last leaf falls from the tree outside your window. But if you are already holding grief in your lungs, perhaps due to a bad breakup, the loss of a job, or bereavement, Fall can bring these greater pains to the surface. Sometimes this manifests as chronic physical symptoms like bronchitis and frequent colds, and other times it shows itself as anxiety and depression. The waning daylight can also trigger Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in some people (that’d be me!)

Good nutrition, exercise, and herbs can help but what’s really needed in the case of deeply held grief is counseling or other therapies that will bring release for these stuck emotions.

Reach out, don’t be afraid to talk about it or seek treatment – there is no shame in seeking treatment so you can be as happy as healthy as you are able. I have been getting acupuncture, and it  has been very helpful – have you tried?

How do YOU cope with less daylight?