Fall and Winter Health

As we approach the fall and winter in New England we notice changes in the weather, light, and temperature.  Our bodies respond to these changes.

There are several things we can do to stay healthy during the fall and winter to avoid colds, sleep better, and have more stable moods.

LIGHT

Start using a light box for 10-20 minutes each morning at the beginning of September.  The light is changing.  Not only are the days growing shorter, but also the sun is lower in the sky.  We are preparing for daylight savings time to be over.  For some of us, light boxes help the most during these months of transition, from September to December. For others they help most during the short days of December through March. I have found the best light box to be the Verilux Happy Light at www.verilux.com

Vitamin D

We get Vitamin D from sunlight.  Most of us in the Northern Hemisphere have low levels of vitamin D.  It is recommended that we take 1,000 mg vitamin D per day, for both men and women. 

Nasal Dryness

Our noses are exposed to much dryer air in fall and winter.  Nasal irrigation daily with a mild saline solution can help with nasal congestion and can help prevent colds.  A neti pot works well, as do  similar products you will find at CVS and Walgreens.  Use distilled water only.

Skin

Dry skin, itchiness, and reactions to dry skin can be prevented by using a light moisturizer after you shower or bathe.  Feels good and your skin will be happy.

Feet

Wearing shoes that have a good heavy sole will help in slippery weather.  Keep your feet happy with moisturizing and using a foot file on rough heals.

Keeping Active

There are many ways to be active during fall and winter.  Physical activity has been associated with reduced depression and anxiety, as well as improved cognitive functioning and mood.

Walking outdoors except in extreme weather can be continued throughout the winter.  Yak Trax, sold at EMS and REI, are great for walking in icy streets and sidewalks.  Trekking poles with tips for city walking will help with balance and also will give you an upper body workout. 

The MagneTrainer is a mini-bicycle that can be used indoors in bad weather for both legs and upper body; an inexpensive alternative to bigger and more cumbersome exercise equipment. 

Nia is a great, fun, indoor activity that will keep you active and energized.  See www.niaboston.com for classes, teachers, and locations.  There are classes at Laughing Dog Yoga  www.ldyoga.com  right next door to my office on Linden Street and at Fitness Club for Women across the street. 

Join a gym.  I have also referred people to Fitness Together for one to one personal training.

Hydration

8 glasses of hot or cold water, herbal tea, or diluted fruit juices each day will keep you well hydrated and will help with energy, skin, digestion, reducing cold symptoms, and will prevent headaches.  I drink a glass of Emergen-C  with 12 ozs of water—it  gives me my daily vitamin C and  electrolytes each day. I also drink diluted apple cider vinegar (the unfiltered kind, Bragg's, can be found at Whole Foods.  This is a refreshing drink and is a tried and true folk remedy for overall health.

Coming into Sensation

Introduction to Coming into Sensation for therapy (individual, couples, and group)

Somatic sensations are physical experiences arising from our nervous systems through our muscles, joints, skin, viscera, and our bodies as a whole.  Sensations are messages from the body.  We can develop awareness by paying close and sustained attention to our sensory experiences without  judging them.  Once we are able to pay attention, we listen, hear, and trust these messages.  We can rely on them for insights about ourselves, for guidance  in making wise choices,  and in caring for ourselves. In our relationships, we can empathize with others more effectively as we imagine what someone else is feeling without judgment.

Eastern Group Psychotherapy Plenary and Workshop

Groups of the Body, Groups of the Mind: Neuroscience and Attachment Theory Come to Life
Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society Plenary: November 18 and 19, 2011
Group psychotherapy continues to evolve and group leaders continue to develop. Their interventions are guided by professional training, the latest research in neuroscience and attachment theory, and their own lived experiences. This plenary will explore how each of us develops a way of working that is both personally comfortable and clinically effective, and how we keep learning even after we have found the theory and practice that is the best fit for us.
Two expert clinicians will demonstrate their answers to these questions, each taking a demonstration group from the same moment of crisis, offering a snapshot of the same moment developing in different ways. Their approaches—Mentalization-Based Treatment (grounded in the work of Peter Fonagy and Anthony Bateman) and Somatic Psychology as applied to group psychotherapy—are psychodynamic approaches that focus attention in ways that may be quite new for many of us. Quite different from one another, each approach offers clinical understandings and interventions that are accessible and readily incorporated into our ongoing clinical work.
The leaders, the group members, and the audience will have the opportunity to notice the similarities and differences in the two experiences. The group leaders will share with us how the development of their treatment approaches evolved from the matrix of theory, education, life experience, creativity, mentorship, practice setting, personal treatment, and perhaps even pure serendipity.
Demonstration group leaders:
Suzanne L. Cohen, EdD, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, Wellesley, MA, and
Steven Krugman, PhD, CGP, Private Practice, Boston and Newton, MA.
Discussion facilitator: Barbara R. Cohn, PhD, ABPP, LFAGPA, Associate Professor of Medical Psychology, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Plenary co-chairs: Sherry Breslau, PhD, CGP, Private Practice, and Peter J. Taylor, PhD, SEP, CGP, FAGPA, Past-President, EGPS.

Contact www.egps.org