How to Keep Winter Blues Away at a Hot Springs Pool & Spa

With the weather getting colder and the sun setting earlier each day, you might find yourself slipping into a melancholic mood more often. It’s common to feel sluggish, unmotivated, sad, or anxious during winter, but there are things you can do to boost your mental health. Devoting some time to self-care at a hot springs pool and spa can help you beat the winter blues and enjoy the season.

What Are the Winter Blues?

Everyone has days when they don’t feel like themselves and they lack the energy to do anything more than snuggle under a blanket and binge the latest Netflix series. When you feel like that more often between late fall and the return of spring, you may be dealing with a disorder known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Doctors define SAD as a type of depression that’s tied to specific seasons. It’s far more common to experience it during the winter, leading many experts to believe it’s triggered by reduced exposure to sunlight.

Whatever the cause, people with winter depression often deal with physical and psychological symptoms that affect almost every aspect of their lives. Some of the most common symptoms include:

• A sad or down mood most days
• Low energy
• Lack of interest in their usual activities
• Sleeping more than normal
• Weight gain
• Cravings for carbohydrate-rich foods
• Lack of focus
• Feelings of worthlessness, despair, guilt, or hopelessness

Although the symptoms of the winter blues can be extreme, most people feel better in the spring. However, doctors may recommend remedies that include psychotherapy, light therapy, and medication to help manage the symptoms. Self-care is another effective way to keep seasonal depression under control.

How Visiting a Hot Springs Pool & Spa Can Help You Manage Seasonal Depression

Implementing self-care strategies before your SAD symptoms disrupt your life can help you stay on track all winter. Some techniques that help include getting outdoors, exercising, spending time with loved ones, planning fun activities to look forward to, and taking care of yourself with relaxing mind-body techniques.

Visiting a hot springs spa and pool can check all these boxes. These facilities offer more than just soaking tubs—you’ll find a variety of wellness options, including spa services, yoga, and saunas. What’s better than a place where you can take a restorative yoga class followed by a relaxing hot spring soak and a massage?

Scheduling a visit is more than just a fun activity to look forward to, though. Spending time in the hot springs offers many valuable wellness benefits.

Enjoy the Calming Effects of Hot Springs Soaks

Soaking in a hot springs pool is a great way to relax. The hot water alone can help soothe your tense muscles, while the minerals offer a variety of benefits, from supporting healthy skin to improving circulation and reducing pain. Research shows that soaking in warm water helps increase endorphins, the so-called “happy hormones,” which can boost your mood and help you feel calmer and more focused.

Spending time in a community hot springs pool with friends or even strangers can also help your mood by giving you a chance to build social connections. A stimulating discussion or a heart-to-heart with another person can often help you feel more optimistic.

Improve Relaxation With Sauna Baths

It’s a good idea to search for winter hot springs near me that offer additional amenities, like saunas. Spending some time sweating in a sauna can help you relax and increase endorphins, which can thwart depression and anxiety. The high heat can also boost your immune system and help keep your airways moist and clear, making you less likely to get sick.

Boost Mental Wellness With Yoga

Taking a yoga class with your hot springs soak is an excellent way to strengthen your mind and body. Whether you choose an active and invigorating class to give you an energy boost or a gentler flow that helps you relax, yoga can help improve your mood, support better sleep, and reduce your stress, all of which can help you beat the winter blues.

Combat Winter Blues With LED Light Therapy

Red light therapy can help ease the symptoms of the winter blues. Although typically used for treating skin conditions and related medical issues, LED light therapy can help increase blood flow and circulation, which helps reduce inflammation and pain. The treatments also help create a greater sense of wellness, which can improve energy levels and neural stimulation.

Rejuvenate Your Body & Mind With Massage Therapy

Few things are as relaxing as a massage; combining one with a hot springs soak can be the ultimate restorative self-care getaway. Not only do massages alleviate muscle tension and tightness—physical symptoms associated with anxiety—but different types also offer additional wellness benefits. A lymphatic detox massage, for example, helps enhance your overall well-being by reducing toxins and water retention. This can help you feel more energetic and boost your immune system.

Visit WorldSprings, a Wellness Destination

Globally inspired relaxation doesn’t have to involve passports and last-minute airfare. Visit WorldSprings to enjoy mineral hot springs pools where you can soak your troubles away, as well as stimulating cold plunge pools, soothing saunas, and a range of spa services. Make a reservation today.