gratitude – The Western Howl

Written by: Hannah Field | Editor-in-Chief

It has been reported that about 10 million American adults suffer from seasonal affective disorder — SAD — from mid to late fall through the spring season. Oregon, especially, is cold and wet during the cold season, with the sun setting early and the temperature staying chilly throughout the day, even at the peak of the sun.

Seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression occurring during the colder months, the timing being the only difference between SAD and typical depression. It often returns annually for those who experience SAD. Explanations for why someone might experience SAD are still relatively unknown. The trigger, however, is a lack of light. The effects can be debilitating for some, and merely exhausting or tiring for others, meaning it varies from person to person.

Doctors make multiple recommendations for those who struggle with SAD. Studies state that proper sleep will elevate energy levels. If sleeping is a problem, doctors also recommend avoiding screens or other blue light before bed and creating a nighttime routine, something that promotes mindfulness and relaxation, ideally for a few hours leading up to sleep.

On the topic of mindfulness, many may benefit from meditation, yoga, pilates or other exercise or mindfulness practices to stabilize the mind and body. The easiest way to do this is to think of the moment — what is being done and how does it feel? Consider it “grounding.”

It is recommended to find everyday movement. To be clear, this does not necessarily mean exercise as in going to the gym or pushing yourself too hard, but finding time every day to walk, jog, step or play. Finding winter activities can assist, such as snowboarding, skiing, ice skating, sledding or even indoor activities, such as baking, cooking, reading, writing, crocheting and more. Creating things is good for the brain and brings feelings of pride and accomplishment.

And, although difficult, it is recommended to leave the house in one way or another, even when it’s freezing outside. Fresh air is good for the body and brain and leaving the house can stimulate, leading to better mental health.

Surrounding yourself with friends and family is a proven way to ward off the negative feelings accompanied by winter and is highly recommended. Being intentional with plans and self-care can help propel oneself into better health. Examples of self-care include forms of mindfulness as mentioned, cleaning, eating more healthily, exploring faith, self-reflection, practicing gratitude and more.

Artificial light is an alternative as well. Individuals may use sun lamps to replicate the light of the sun and using such light first thing in the morning has been proven to have positive effects. Studies also recommend taking media breaks, such as distancing from apps and social media. News, especially, can negatively affect mental health and during such critical months, access should be limited.

Having a clean, clutter-free environment may elevate moods, although the process is technically a chore. Doing the laundry, dishes and vacuuming can create comfort and remove at least a few tasks off the stressful weekly list.

Other resources, such as therapy, are recommended and can be easy to locate. Psychologytoday.com offers therapists from the area, virtually and in-person, and can point interested folks toward the right information to get set up. It often displays insurance information and sign-up material needed.

Antidepressants can also be helpful for those who suffer majorly from SAD. Meeting with your doctor can get this process started.

There are vitamins that individuals can take to promote health and well-being, such as vitamin D supplements — easy to buy from most local stores.

Most of all, individuals should learn what they need to be healthy and prioritize their health. Western’s Student Health and Counseling Center offers resources, professionals to speak to and other help at https://wou.edu/health/. “Wellness is a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential. We view well-being as a multidimensional and holistic process. The seven wellness realms we focus on, include: social, emotional, physical, spiritual, financial, environmental and mental,” says the center.

The website also provides graphics with more advice for handling poor mental health and finding a work-life balance. It recommends volunteering, maintaining relationships and adopting daily rituals. Figuring out what stress responses there are can be incredibly helpful as well, as each method can be remedied in a different way. Those who isolate may benefit from energizing activities, while those who grow angry or emotional may need to find a quiet, relaxing activity to recover instead.

Starting small with stress can make an impact, eventually snowballing into better coping mechanisms and skills. One conversation at a time opens the door for help.

The weather will, eventually, warm; the sun will return. Nobody should suffer alone. Merely having conversations about mental health can help destigmatize the concept of “winter blues” so that others can receive help as well, and feel less isolated in the process.

Contact the author at howleditorinchief@mail.wou.edu

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The power of GEM

Written by: Taylor Duff | Staff Writer

Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness is a concept developed by Hugh Van Cuylenburg which, when shortened, is commonly referred to as GEM. Cuylenburg has an Amazon Prime special of the same name where he recounts his journey teaching and volunteering in India and his development of The Resilience Project.

Cuylenburg has over 15 years of experience in education, having taught both primary and secondary students. His teaching career was highlighted by a year spent in the Himalayas in the northern region of India. Here, Cuylenburg discovered the purest type of resilience, GEM. Cuylenburg discovered that the people, particularly the children, led relatively stable and happy lives despite a lack of resources.

The children were living without running water, electricity or even shoes, yet they were seamlessly happy with their circumstances. Cuylenburg analyzed many things as he toured the community with a student named Stanzin, he expressed gratitude for everything he had, including his crumbling playground. Stanzin told Cuylenburg how grateful he was for the rice he ate — as his food source was available every day. Finally, Stanzin had shoes that many of the other children lack, and he reclaims ‘this’ to show his appreciation.

Cuylenburg also stated that children in the community practiced meditation every morning before school. Cuylenburg asked why they were required to participate in meditation, and a supervisor replied, stating it was optional. The children and their families join together for meditation and togetherness whenever they can, unlike other places such as Cuylenburg’s hometown, Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia, where people struggle immensely with mental health.

Cuylenburg’s mission through The Resilience Project was to recount the village’s practices. Gratitude, empathy and mindfulness make for a better and more rewarding life. After 10 years of working with over 1,000 schools, it became clear that this message was an opportunity to collaborate with teachers, kids, parents, employers, community leaders and sports organizations.

To practice “GEM,” consider writing once a day in a journal something you are grateful for, whether it is big or small. An example would be a meal you ate, the people you communicate with or your clean water.

Empathy is an ability that you exercise regularly to feel for someone. Empathy can also take the form of allowing yourself to experience your emotions, such as taking a break to explore nature or engaging in hobbies.

Mindfulness is easy yet simultaneously hard, as technology is such a prevalent thing in our lives, but shutting off the technology even for 10 minutes allows meditation to occur. Mindfulness, such as understanding that technology holds such a space in our lives, allows us to evaluate rather than be distracted. Practicing GEM takes a lot of practice, but, again, to become good at something often requires practice.

Contact the author at tduff23@mail.wou.edu

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Where nature and human nature intertwine

Written by: Liberty Miller | Lifestyle Editor

I grew up country. I’m not talking suburban outskirts country, but rather an unincorporated town, population four hundred and twelve, hay bales on the side of the road kind of country. The kind that someone would have to go out of their way to get to.

Yet, it was within that capsule of limited population and small-town idealism that I got to see the wonder of simplistic living in my backyard. I didn’t grow up with technology, so my days were spent flipping through paperback books, playing outside with my sister and dad and finding any part of the earth to mess with outside.

We foraged for mushrooms and wild blackberries, or put on big rubber boots and stomped in the mud. We stared up at the sky, rode four-wheelers out in the large, unoccupied field in our backyard and climbed a huge tree with my dad, who built platforms for us to sit down and take in the expansive view of the meadow.

When I got into middle school, all of a sudden, phones and tablets were introduced to my world. I met people who spent their childhood behind a computer monitor, or playing on concrete sidewalks or “fake playgrounds,” as I like to call them. Who on earth would need to build all that when you could have trees and dirt piles and slug kickin’ in your backyard?

My classmates in middle and high school told me that it was shameful to have a country home, embarrassing to have grown up without using Snapchat or playing video games, and I was young, so I believed them.

When COVID-19 forced everyone back into their homes, I suddenly had the opportunity to travel back in time and revisit my childhood. I stayed at home, and I spent time outside where my old friends, the flowers, the grass and the sunlight were. I could forage for berries, lay in the dirt and spend time in the home that I was once ashamed of. It was then that I realized — there is no life more fulfilling than this.

I felt horribly, deeply saddened by those who didn’t grow up the way I did — the people who spent their time trapped in concrete jungles, surrounded by asphalt and car engines and Xbox systems — and, frankly, it just didn’t seem like the right way to live. I was mad that at some point in my life, I was envious of the people who lived the way they did.

As I grew up, I saw more of the world. Perhaps the most eye-opening experience for me was traveling to Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut. When I arrived there, the sky was the wrong shade of blue. It was pale, tinted with a sickly yellow, and I felt unsettled. I figured out a short while later that it was air pollution. I looked around and all I saw was concrete and pollution — a dulled out life. I knew that I wouldn’t be happy living there. It felt suffocating.

My belief system after COVID had only been reinforced after seeing city life in different areas of the US, and I had come to the very important conclusion that the world feels best where it is untouched. We, as human beings, have destroyed, pillaged and burned the earth. We have buried it in cement, poisoned it with exhaust, littered it with plastics and oils and ruined a very large portion of what used to be, in my opinion, something precious.

But the inherent need for us as human beings to connect with the earth cannot be ignored. We are one with the world and we cannot exist in a society where Mother Nature is being plundered for profit and reshaped at the cost of our rivers, mountains, trees and fields.

What I would encourage everyone to do, at least, in the most serious way possible — touch grass. Go drive to the coast and stare at the ocean, or lay down in the dirt, take vegetables from a nearby crop and run away like a Hobbit. Whatever inspires us to traverse outside of the house, outside of the city and into the natural world, existing as designed.

As I sit here writing this article, I know a large portion of readers are not the biggest fans of country music. But Keith Urban sang something that I remember every so often because it used to play on the radio as I spent my childhood running around in the great outdoors:

“I’m gonna kick off my shoes and run in bare feet. Where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet. Goin’ back to the well, gonna visit old friends. And feed my soul where the blacktop ends.”

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

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Little things to make the days a little brighter

Six simple habits to add to the daily routine

Allison Vanderzanden | Lifestyle Editor

Life is busy for college students, and many may feel they don’t have time to pick up a new routine or add something to their already packed daily life. However, beneficial habits don’t have to take up much time at all. Try taking a few minutes to add some of these little additions to the daily routine that can help improve the day.

Breathe: Take a few moments to simply focus on breathing; breathe deeply and mindfully. This is especially useful if in a stressful situation.

Get up and move: Rejuvenate the body and energy by walking around or stretching for a few minutes. As recommended by createcultivate.com, for every hour of sitting, stand up and do some small exercises, whether it be a short walk, rolling out joints or stretching muscles.

Sit up straight: Fixing one’s posture can prevent tension and help relax the body. Set feet hip width apart and flat on the floor, and straighten the spine. Relax shoulders down and back, and keep the head in a neutral position — adjust computer or chair height if needed in order to achieve this.

Be grateful: Whether writing down moments of gratitude or simply taking a minute to think of things to be grateful for, appreciating life can be a wonderful mood booster. If stressed or frustrated, take a break to think about something happy that has happened recently. Or keep a gratitude journal which can be added to every evening; write down at least one thing that was good about the day.

Drink more water: Staying hydrated is very important to keep the body healthy. The recommended amount of water to drink daily varies, so a simple goal to set would be to drink more water than yesterday. For example, if currently drinking one water bottle per day, try finishing one and a half bottles the next day.

Practice grounding: Grounding is a technique used to help lower stress or panic in an overwhelming situation. A number of grounding techniques exist, but my favorite is to find one thing from each of the five senses that is in the environment. This can help one regain a sense of control over the things around them.

Contact the author at avanderzanden19@mail.wou.edu

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Winter resources

The power of GEM

Where nature and human nature intertwine

Little things to make the days a little brighter

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