Training ourselves to adapt to seasonal changes is crucial to maintaining a balanced well-being throughout the year. Each season’s uniqueness, like daylight, activities, and emotions accompanied with it is influential to one’s mood and overall lifestyle. When we start to shift with seasonal changes around us, we can learn to appreciate the renewal of spring, the beach days of summer, the introspectiveness of autumn, and the cozy rest of winter. Being able to adapt can help us stay mentally and emotionally grounded, connect us with nature, and evoke a more rhythm-based life. It is easy to fall victim to the negative impacts that coincide with each seasonal change, but by embracing the changes in our routines, we enrich our experiences and can make each season more fulfilling. To do this, I try to think about each season as its own entity with traits and characteristics similar to ours.
Spring can evoke emotions like hope and renewal with nature coming back to life, and the reminder that change is everlasting can make us optimistic for what’s to come. Also, during spring, most people find it helpful to start it off with some spring cleaning! I suggest cleaning up the places you frequent and breaking it up into one or two days to avoid feeling like you’re doing a chore. For your morning and study routines, try adding something that makes you feel energized to your morning routine, like stretching for a few minutes. As well as setting new goals for how you plan to tackle the new semester and reflecting on things you can do differently this time around. Spring inspires me to remember nature and to put the phone down for a little bit. I like to pick up new projects like painting outside, and every year, I try to grow some type of plant, big or small, to give my brain a break from my everyday life.
Next is my all-time favorite, summer, because it is the only season that has those distinct feelings of consistent relaxation, joy, and warmth. Summer means more travel time, picnics, and longer days to embrace spontaneous activities. If you are a person who works during those hot days, you should try to be more flexible with yourself and create a more balanced relationship between work and fun. Take time to enjoy the late-night adventures and to prioritize days for only relaxing if you can. I love to sunbathe and avoid sleeping in too late if I can help it so I can take advantage of those longer days.
Autumn is the only season I change my opinion on every year because things like change, nostalgia, and reflection often creep in even when I’m not trying to provoke those emotions. Train yourself to think of these themes in a positive light, especially during school. Making time to look back on how far you’ve come and adjusting those plans for your future can remind you of your journey and place in this world! Autumn is also the only season where you can go to pumpkin patches and have Halloween movie marathons in your leisure time. In the mornings, I find it helpful to remind myself of the things I am grateful for this year and plan for the day ahead. It can also be helpful to prepare for winter, start to change over that wardrobe and dust off your Uggs!
Lastly is winter, and its melancholic bittersweetness is mixed with warm coziness, as well as Christmas. Being mostly restricted to indoors, adding things like a new and improved self-care routine or learning how to bake into your daily routines can reduce those winter blues in the evening. Winter in college is the hardest month, and I usually struggle the most in the mornings. I recently was suggested to give myself at least twenty extra minutes when I wake up for a slower, more mindful start to my day. With the new semester, having quiet reflections and staying focused on your tasks is most important.
I find adapting to each moment of spring’s blooming flowers, summer’s freshness, autumn’s turning leaves, and winter’s feeling of home by reminding myself that each season is preparing and making way for the next. The seasons aren’t any different from other aspects of our lives that are inevitably changing. Remind yourself to look ahead to each season and, set realistic intentions to avoid distractions and prioritize what matters most: you! The seasonal changes are similar to the metaphor of our lives, framing them this way is a constant reminder to appreciate the passage of time and the joy of new beginnings.