Autumn's Impact on Well-Being

Right, okay, so how does the transition into autumn affect your overall health or daily routine? What I mean is, do the shorter days, cooler weather or return to routine bring specific changes from your perspective? Yeah, so I think I'm very affected by the amount of daylight that we have. I know that that plays a huge factor in kind of how I feel and my health and overall feeling of well-being that has a massive influence. So I think we're just starting to notice now that the mornings are a lot darker and getting up early is really challenging. But I would say on the whole, during autumn, especially if you think, I don't live in Bracknell Forest but I live just on the outskirts, so I have quite a similar landscape, and I would say getting out in nature is still really easy because the trees are incredible. Like obviously you're just looking outside my window and the tree is bright red, bright orange, so I think you still kind of have that draw to get out and about and kind of still be a little bit active. I have a dog as well, so I don't really have a choice. I have to get out and about and go for walks, regardless of the weather and the daylight and everything. So I'd say during autumn, that still feels like a nice thing to do. That still feels like a nice option. I don't think it's that cold here yet. I think we're getting warmer and warmer autumns as kind of the years go on. So I don't think it's too cold yet. And we haven't had a huge amount of rain yet either. I think it's not too bad at the moment. I think I still kind of want to go outside, that kind of like novelty of getting a bit cosy and lighting candles in the evening, it's still quite comforting I think. So yeah the novelty of the kind of cosiness is only just starting so I think we're good, we're good at the moment. Excellent and are there any particular challenges that tend to arise for you during the autumn months? And if they do, how do you usually respond to them? Yeah, so I get a bit of a summer depression, period where I kind of mourn the loss of summer. I'm very much a spring summer person. So I think there's that kind of couple of weeks, especially because we were talking about in a meeting this morning that we've got the clock change coming as well. So as soon as the clocks change, you know, it's going to be even darker in the mornings and the evenings. So I think I do struggle a little bit mentally with kind of what's to come. Like I don't think autumn's too bad but knowing that you've got about six months of winter coming up is quite tricky. So I think I try and fill my days with things that, kind of romanticising the things that come with autumn a little bit. So kind of cosy meals, you know, kind of cooking pies and having like hot vegetables and kind of lighting candles and having kind of cozy evenings and kind of celebrating those elements a little bit as opposed to kind of fighting them. Sure, and I know you touched on some of the points that I'm going to ask in my next question. Do you find yourself preparing physically or mentally for the colder months ahead? I think you have to. What does it look like for you overall? I think you do mentally have to prepare yourself because I think throughout autumn and winter you do have to put in a bit more effort to kind of look after yourself and be healthy. Whereas I think for me during the like warmer months those things are kind of natural. I be outside, I want to be eating kind of fresh fruit and salads and all those things you just don't really have to think about. So I think there is an element of having to mentally prepare yourself and physically prepare yourself because for me it is a little bit more effort as we start to get into autumn. So that might look like just having to force yourself to get up a bit earlier, you know, setting an alarm at a set time and making sure that you get up because I think I just don't naturally wake up as early during autumn and winter as it starts to get darker. Instead of kind of leaving the food shop to, you know, just picking whatever you fancy, I really try and make a meal plan to make sure that I'm kind of eating the things that I should and not really gravitating to the things that are a little bit more unhealthy, just because you kind of feel sorry for yourself and you want to eat comfort food. So I think, yeah, there's that kind of like practicality but then also just like mentally preparing yourself and as I said sort of like mentally romanticizing the kind of like the coziness and like the things that are really beautiful about autumn so that you don't kind of get sucked into the oh I miss summer. And on that note, thank you very much, are there any changes in how you care for yourself or engage with health services in the autumn? What I mean is check-ups, vaccinations or even changes in habits? Yeah, so we now get our flu vaccinations through the council, so I always make sure I get a flu vaccine. I never used to because I didn't want to pay for it, but I do make sure that I always get a flu vaccine now. I don't think I engage any differently with health services if I'm being completely honest, but I think I kind of change my behaviour in terms of I start really kind of thinking about what's going to be good for me, what's going to protect me when it comes to flu season. I don't have young children so it is kind of easier to avoid the kind of like the coughs and colds and stuff like that and we work from home a lot as well so in that kind of respect. I used to work in hospitals, so when we kind of started getting into the November, December, January, February, I would really start thinking about, okay, vitamins, minerals, taking kind of those extra vitamins every day, but I think I do that a little bit less now if I'm honest, I don't think I need to worry about it as much, but I do think I start thinking a lot more about what I need, so start taking vitamin D for example, which I don't take throughout summer, Yeah, so I think on those kind of those terms, yes. Does that answer your question? Sorry. No, absolutely. It does. As I said, you know, it's about sharing your experiences, looking at the season from your perspective. So yeah, it absolutely does. And it's very, very resonant. Thank you very much. And what kind of support or guidance would be helpful from healthcare professionals at this time of the year. What I mean is practical, emotional or seasonal planning, if that makes any sense. Yeah, of course, that makes sense. So I think for autumn specifically, I think guidance from healthcare professionals would be kind of tips on how to kind of be kind to yourself. Obviously, we're not, during autumn, we're not into those really, really cold months. So I think at this point it would be maybe kind of how to be more, just tips on how to kind of still be social in the evenings. Because I think during summer, you finish work at five, but then you've got hours of daylight and it feels like you can still live a life outside of working nine to five. You can actually have kind of hobbies, interests, you can have time to yourself and see friends. almost feels like you've got another half of a day, whereas I think once you get into autumn and winter, you know, work finishes at five but I want to be in bed by eight o'clock, you know, it's getting dark. I think at the moment it's dark at about half six and it just feels like the day's ended, so I think the tips and advice that I'd really be looking for at this time are things that I could do in the evenings maybe, you know, how to still kind of remain socially connected with people. As I said, I work from home, so in the evening it's quite important for me to actually go and see someone or do something or kind of have something that I can do that isn't just work. So I think it's those kind of more social connectedness things that I would be looking for in autumn. Sure. Okay, on that note of social connectedness,