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From a functional medicine perspective, the January slump (and its dramatic cousin, Blue Monday) is less about mindset and more about biology meeting modern life. Short days, low light exposure, disrupted routines, post-holiday depletion, and the relentless return to structure all place a significant load on the nervous system. In winter, reduced daylight affects circadian rhythm and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, which both play a key role in mood, motivation and our sense of reward. Add to that elevated cortisol (stress hormone), depleted micronutrients, blood sugar wobbles and decision fatigue, and it’s no wonder many people feel flat, overwhelmed or oddly exhausted by mid-January.
So what can be done? The answer might seem a bit left-field, but one of the most efficient ways of combating this is to be intentional about creating small, regular doses of joy.
1. Hack your weekend
A really powerful shift is reframing weekends as a chance to choose. During the working week, much of life is pre-decided: morning alarms, meetings, meals when they have to be had, busy commutes etc. That lack of autonomy keeps the nervous system in a low-grade stress response.
Choice, on the other hand, signals safety and control. When the brain perceives that there is flexibility and freedom, cortisol output reduces and the week ahead feels less burdensome.
This doesn’t mean planning a packed weekend. In fact, the opposite tends to work better. Simply choosing one or two things that feel different from Monday to Friday can be enough to change the nervous system’s perception of life as constant effort.
2. Add in rituals
Weekend rituals are particularly helpful because they reduce overwhelm while boosting dopamine. Anticipation itself is neurologically rewarding - the brain releases dopamine before the activity even happens.
This is why simple, repeatable rituals work so well. Things like taking a cup of tea or coffee back to bed, making a special breakfast with a tasting element (this weekend we’re having an Asian breakfast), going to a market without a game plan and picking new ingredients to cook with, visiting a new cafe, being creative without time pressure, or planning a small local adventure such as a new walking route or being a tourist at home.
The ritual doesn’t need to be productive or impressive. Its job is to create a sense of pleasure, the predictability that it will contrast with the rest of the week, all of which calm the nervous system.
3. Slow the pace down
Slowing how you do things is one of the most underused tools for nervous system regulation. When we rush, even during ‘rest’, the body often remains in sympathetic (fight-or-flight) mode.
Practices such as brewing tea slowly, reading something physical before checking your phone, gentle stretching or breathwork, and keeping mornings open-ended where possible help activate the parasympathetic nervous system - the state where repair, digestion and emotional regulation occur.
The concluding point… invest in romanticising life!
This can sound frivolous, but there’s actually solid physiology behind it. Noticing small moments of beauty, pleasure and meaning increases dopamine, improves vagal tone and reduces perceived stress. This is sometimes referred to as noticing the ‘glimmers’.
The brain doesn’t need grand gestures or perfect routines. It needs evidence that life contains joy, novelty and choice.
In January especially, those micro-moments are how we maintain emotional resilience - not by pushing harder, but by sending kinder, more supportive signals to the nervous system.
And often, that’s enough to make winter feel just that bit lighter!
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