In his latest blog post, “Staying Sane Through a Long Winter,” assistant editor Erich Martin explained how staying active and enjoying nature during the colder months can be an important prevention technique to Seasonal Affective Disorder.

According to The National Institute of Mental Health, SAD is diagnosed four times more in women than men, and younger adults have a higher risk of suffering than older adults. More often than not, my social media accounts get flooded with posts including #seasonaldepressionhasbegun around fall, and I didn’t really understand it until recently.

My lack of drive to stay physically active is more apparent in winter, so I constantly have to talk myself into doing things. Every time a walk or a hike are suggested during this time, my immediate response is “It’s too cold outside; maybe we should just go to the gym,” which doesn’t end up happening either because “The cold walk to the gym won’t allow my body to respond to the workout.” Crazy logic, right?

While I am not diagnosing myself with SAD nor do I think I suffer from it, I started paying more attention to the way my mind and body respond to everything that happens around me.

Over the last two weeks, I made a promise to my boyfriend to join him on walks as a way to get motivated to start working out again and, overall, to take better care of myself. So we have been going on 45-minute walks around our neighborhood, taking his parents’ pups for walks at the park and just spending more time outdoors.

My takeway from it? I feel, think and perform better when I spend time in nature and didn’t realize how not doing it was affecting my day-to-day rhythm.

This past Monday, I confirmed the thesis by going on a 5.5-mile walk through Tyler State Park on a day where the highest temperature was 37 degrees. Just walking without any purpose other than to enjoy the day and get my blood flowing set the tone for the rest of the week, as you can tell by the smile in the picture below.

How do you stay actively sane during wintertime?

— Yasser Ogando, production & advertising coordinator