Emotional Balance Through the Seasons

Healthy Monday is my weekly note to start your week with one small, practical step towards feeling your best. Each week: a thought, a little body knowledge, one simple tip and an ingredient to try.

This Week’s Thought

As the days get shorter, many of us feel it as much in our emotions as in our bodies. This week, we’re talking about gentle ways to notice and support how you feel as the season changes.

Let’s Understand Your Body

Emotions aren’t “just in your head”. Feelings of worry, sadness, or overwhelm come with real changes in the body: tight shoulders, shallow breathing, a restless gut. You’ve seen this before: stress and cortisol, sleep and digestion all talk to each other.

Less daylight in autumn and winter can change our mood, energy and sleep patterns. The first step in looking after your emotional balance is simply noticing what you’re feeling. Research on “affect labelling” suggests that putting a feeling into words can help calm the brain’s alarm response.

This is where gentle, reflective practices come in. One of them is the system of Bach flower essences, developed by Dr Edward Bach in the 1930s. It includes 38 essences, each associated with a particular emotional state rather than a physical symptom.

Your Hecna Tip

Every evening this week, finish one sentence in a notebook: “Today I felt ___ because ___.” Keep it to one line. Naming your feelings is the simplest emotional-balance practice there is.

Ritual of the Week: The Season-Change Check-In

Once this week, sit quietly for five minutes with a warm drink and ask yourself three questions: What is this season asking of me? What am I carrying that I could put down? What would feel kind right now?

In the Bach tradition, the Walnut essence is associated with transitions and change, such as new seasons or new routines. We’ll talk about how to choose and use essences in the training. Bach remedies are a gentle, supportive ritual, not a treatment for medical or mental-health conditions.

A Little Reminder

You don’t have to feel cheerful all winter. Feeling heavier in the darker months is common, and being kind to yourself is part of the practice. If low mood or anxiety stays with you for more than a couple of weeks, please talk to your doctor too.

Want to Go Deeper?

Join our training “Emotional Balance with Bach Flowers” on 5 November on Miboso. You’ll learn the story behind the 38 essences, how to match an essence to an emotional state, and how to build a simple daily ritual around it. (Delivered in Turkish.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for advice from your GP or another qualified healthcare professional. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing a health condition, please check with your doctor before making changes to your diet or using herbs.