Combating Seasonal Depression: Top Tips to Thrive Not Just Survive Hillsdale Winters

Rachel Kookogey

My friends and I love getting a hot coffee at Rough Draft and bundling up for a walk or hike! Doesn’t have to be long, but exercise definitely helps seasonal depression, as does getting outside in fresh air. And if the weather is really bad, exercise at the gym and then cozy up with some soup and a good show.

Joy Lambrecht 

I like to spend the cold fall and winter months romanticizing and leaning into the season. As someone who hates frigid temperatures, I find that it helps with seasonal depression to see these months as an opportunity for hibernation, figuratively speaking. So when it’s cold, I enjoy adjusting my routines to sleep earlier and longer, cook lots of stews and soups, drink hot tea and coffee, bundle up to go for walks, burn candles, and read more. When I focus on those cozy activities unique to winter, the season becomes a delight more than a drag. 

Mary Ann Powers

The dark dreary months are long and hard but getting out for a blustery cold walk with a good friend always helped me come back to life and hit the books with renewed energy. Take your paper writing to Rough Draft, order a fun drink, put on a good jazz fruits playlist and relish in the cozy months of hibernation. 

Jen Lutz 

I love to host people over a themed gathering. Something simple like a book club is cozy for the gray winter months and gives you something to talk about or a book swap is great for around the holidays.