How To Have Your Best Hibernation Era This Winter

The moment the weather starts to cool down, life tends to feel more rushed. Routines change — maybe you’ve gone back to school, or have to adjust your schedule to account for fewer hours of daylight. As the days get shorter, to-do lists get longer and, before you know it, the mad rush of the holidays arrives. On top of it all, this year we’re also dealing with the stress of the election.

Carving out time to hunker down, sleep, and practice mindfulness and self-care is essential. That’s why, in our books, some winter days are meant for hibernating: resting, napping, puttering, catching up on Love Is Blind, and generally taking it slow. “Any time there are heightened emotions can be stressful,” says Sinikiwe Dhliwayo, founder of wellbeing company Naaya Wellness, which aims to make wellness more accessible to people of color. “Finding any opportunity to take care of yourself is important.” 

For Toronto-based clinical psychologist and wellness coach Dr. Monica Vermani, that starts with focusing on your energy sources. It may sound like the opposite of hibernating, but hear her out: “Stress, in my definition, is when your activity level surpasses your energy level. Activity is mental and physical, and you can only bring that down so much — you still have to work, you still have to go to school, you still have to pay your bills,” she says. “So the next option to reduce stress in your life is to bring up your energy level, and that means going back to basics, [something] we take for granted every day.”

Your number-one priority should be taking care of your basic sources of energy: food, your state of mind, and sleep. Think of it this way: When we’re sick, we tend to sleep more to heal. We should approach the time we take for ourselves at home in the same restorative way. With that in mind, Dhliwayo and Vermani share their top self-care tips so you can live your best hibernation era this winter.