Health
Need a 'winter reset'? Experts share benefits of slowing down during colder months
Are you acting like it’s summer during the winter months?
That’s what TikTok users have been asking as conversations about slowing down during the winter are going viral.
For instance, TikTok creator Alex Mazerolle, a New York yoga instructor, posted a video on Jan. 3 referring to a chat with a friend. She asked him, “Are you acting like it’s summer when it’s winter?”
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“I was just thinking of how much we deny ourselves of our winter,” she said in the video, which so far has more than one million views.
“We think we need to be like summer all the time.”
Mazerolle went on to detail how people are expected to be rested after time off for the holidays — “if you were lucky” — and then jump into a reset in the New Year.
“I want to remind you that winter just started,” she said.
“Right now is the time for dreaming, going within, resting and taking it slow.”
When we act as if it’s summer all the time, one expert said, “we deny our bodies a much-needed interlude.” (iStock)
In an email exchange with Fox News Digital, Mazerolle reiterated that winter is a time of “rest and reflection.”
“If we look to nature, we see that the days are shorter, we experience less light and many animals are hibernating,” she said. “All of this points to conserving our energy and getting rest for the seasons ahead.”
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When we act as though it’s summer all the time, she added, “we deny our bodies a much-needed interlude.”
“Staying busy, productive and social may be beneficial for some folks year-round, but in my experience, taking a break from our fast-paced lives is essential,” Mazerolle said.
The yoga instructor acknowledged that this may be difficult for some people, since society puts “a lot of emphasis on ‘doing’ versus ‘being.’”
Winter is a time of “rest and reflection,” a yoga instructor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“To me, wintering means slowing down, and when we slow down, we often have to face what we have been distracting ourselves from,” she said. “This could look like difficult emotions, feeling guilty for not doing enough or actually coming to terms with physical and/or mental burnout.”
“Right now is the time for dreaming, going within, resting and taking it slow.”
“Many of us would rather pretend it’s summer all the time instead of getting still enough to be present with what’s happening inside of us,” Mazerolle went on. “I call it ‘tending to our inner landscape.’”
Other creators tackled the same concept, including CTA-certified life coach Sarah Welch (@selfexperimenting), who posted a video on Jan. 16 that alerted her viewers to “cut themselves some slack.”
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“If you’re somebody who’s been beating themselves up because you’re not being as productive, you’re not seeing your friends as much, you’ve put on a little bit of weight, or you feel like you’re constantly exhausted, give yourself a little bit of grace,” she said in the video, which has been viewed more than three million times.
The Kentucky-based coach, whose focus is self-discovery and personal growth, told Fox News Digital via email that seasonal changes can impact “mood and energy.”
“Understanding how nature’s cycles affect us enables us to make sense of our behaviors and feelings,” she said.
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“This awareness leads to a deeper respect both for ourselves and the environment, recognizing its significant role in shaping our lives.”
Relaxation during the winter is “essential,” Welch said, as it “aligns with the body’s natural rhythm.”
A certified life coach said that “understanding how nature’s cycles affect us enables us to make sense of our behaviors and feelings.” (iStock)
“This period of rest is crucial for mental and physical rejuvenation,” she said. “It’s a time for reflecting, healing and conserving energy.”
“Additionally, the winter season often brings about a sense of calm and quietude, offering an ideal backdrop for relaxation and self-care activities,” Welch added.
“We underestimate how profoundly light affects all aspects of our health, our functioning and our sleep.”
Allowing yourself to relax during the winter could lead to “improved well-being, greater productivity and a more balanced lifestyle once the more active seasons return,” the life coach said.
Dr. Wendy Troxel, a Utah-based sleep expert and senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, pointed out that we live in a “chronically sleep-deprived society.”
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“About one-third of adults regularly don’t get enough sleep,” she said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “And a much larger percentage, about 70%, regularly don’t get good quality sleep.”
Winter should be a time to prioritize sleep, Troxel said, but added that it goes “beyond the season.”
Dr. Wendy Troxel, senior behavioral scientist at RAND Corporation, is the author of “Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep” and the scientific adviser for SleepFoundation.org. (Diane Baldwin)
“We need to change our attitudes about sleep more broadly,” she said.
Data supports the benefits of slowing down in the winter to accommodate major changes, Troxel noted, including less light exposure.
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“Human beings are truly creatures of light, and we underestimate how profoundly light affects all aspects of our health, our functioning and our sleep,” she said.
The expert recommended “having some grace with oneself” and recognizing that you may need more sleep during this season.
Less sunlight in a day can help facilitate earlier bedtimes, she noted — “that tendency to want to hibernate in the winter can be facilitated by the fact that it’s dark out at night.”
An expert encouraged people to seek out available treatments for seasonal depression or fatigue. (iStock)
Quality of sleep is just as important as quantity, however, noted Troxel.
While some people may feel more fatigued by the lack of sunlight and colder weather, excessive sleep may not always be beneficial in the long run.
“Although there might be a tendency to want more sleep in the winter, the quality of that sleep sometimes suffers,” she said.
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“We want to line up the strategies that will also support good sleep quality, so that doesn’t mean catching sleep wherever you can or sleeping in excessively.”
For those who are struggling with low energy in the winter, Troxel suggested increasing exposure to light by getting outside in the morning or investing in artificial methods like light boxes.
A sleep expert emphasized the importance of light exposure to boost energy levels. (iStock)
Rather than focusing on “winter” and “summer” versions of themselves, Troxel encouraged people to find a way to “recharge their battery” throughout the year and recognize the effects of light on their bodies, brains and behavior.
“So, have some grace with oneself, but … I think we need to recognize the mechanisms that are influencing those changes seasonally and try to find strategies to cope with that,” she said.
Some energy-boosting strategies include social interactions, physical activity and enjoyable activities and hobbies, Troxel suggested.
“That might mean taking time for oneself and engaging in self-care,” she said. “But I would say we need to think about that throughout the year. It’s not just a seasonal thing.”
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Feeling lonely may take a toll on older adults’ memory — but it may not speed up cognitive decline, according to a new study.
Researchers from Colombia, Spain and Sweden analyzed data from more than 10,000 adults ages 65 to 94 across 12 European countries and found those who reported higher levels of loneliness did worse on memory tests at the start of the study, according to research published this month in the journal Aging & Mental Health.
Over a seven-year period, however, memory decline occurred at a similar rate regardless of how lonely participants felt.
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“The finding that loneliness significantly impacted memory, but not the speed of decline in memory over time was a surprising outcome,” lead author Dr. Luis Carlos Venegas-Sanabria of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario said in a statement.
Loneliness may be linked to memory performance in older adults, a new study suggests. (iStock)
“It suggests that loneliness may play a more prominent role in the initial state of memory than in its progressive decline,” Venegas-Sanabria said, adding that the findings highlight the importance of addressing loneliness as a factor in cognitive performance.
The findings add to debate about whether loneliness contributes to dementia risk. While loneliness and social isolation are often considered risk factors for cognitive decline, research results have been mixed.
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The study looked at data from the long-running Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which tracked 10,217 older adults between 2012 and 2019. Participants were asked to recall words immediately and after a delay to measure memory performance.
Social isolation and loneliness could play a surprising role in cognitive health among seniors. (iStock)
Loneliness was assessed using three questions about how often participants felt isolated, left out or lacking companionship.
About 8% of participants reported high levels of loneliness at the outset. That group tended to be older, more likely to be female and more likely to have conditions such as depression.
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Researchers found that those with higher loneliness had lower scores on both immediate and delayed memory tests at baseline. Still, all groups — regardless of loneliness level — experienced similar declines in memory over time.
The results suggest loneliness may not directly accelerate the progression of memory loss, though it remains linked to poorer cognitive performance overall.
Researchers look at a brain scan at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Experts warn, however, that the findings should not be interpreted to mean loneliness is harmless.
“The finding that lonely older adults start with worse memory but don’t decline faster is actually the most interesting part of the paper, and I think it’s easy to misread,” said Jordan Weiss, Ph.D., a scientific advisor and aging expert at Assisted Living Magazine and a professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“It likely means loneliness does its damage earlier in life, well before people show up in a study like this at 65-plus,” Weiss told Fox News Digital.
By older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold, an aging expert says. (iStock)
He suggested that by older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold.
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“By the time you’re measuring someone in their late 60s, decades of social connection patterns are already baked in,” he said.
Weiss, who was not involved in the research, added that loneliness may coincide with other health conditions, and noted that participants who felt more isolated also had higher rates of depression, high-blood pressure and diabetes. The link, he said, may reflect a cluster of health risks rather than a direct cause.
“While they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia,” a psychotherapist says. (iStock)
Amy Morin, a Florida-based psychotherapist and author, said the findings reflect a broader pattern in research on loneliness and brain health, and that the relationship may be more complex than it appears.
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“The evidence shows there’s a link between loneliness and cognitive decline but there’s no direct evidence of a cause and effect relationship,” she said. “So while they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia.”
Morin added that loneliness, which can fluctuate, may not be the root of the problem, but rather a symptom of other underlying mental or physical health issues.
Researchers suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging. (iStock)
She said staying socially and mentally engaged is crucial for overall brain health.
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“It’s important to be proactive about social activities,” Morin said. “Joining a book club, having coffee with a friend, or attending faith-based services can be a powerful way to maintain connections in older age.”
The researchers also suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.
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Research continues to uncover new details on how fasting may help extend life.
A new study published in the journal Nature Communications investigated how intermittent fasting can boost longevity in small worms often used in aging research.
Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas compared worms that were fed normally to those that underwent a 24-hour fast in early adulthood and were then fed again, according to a press release.
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The scientists measured a variety of factors, including stored fat, gene activity related to fat metabolism and lifespan.
The results showed that the life-boosting benefit did not depend on the fasting itself but on the body’s behavior after eating again.
Experts say sustainability is key when choosing a long-term weight-loss strategy. (iStock)
Study lead Peter Douglas, associate professor of molecular biology and a member of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine at UT Southwestern, suggested that these discoveries “shift the focus toward a neglected side of the metabolic coin – the re-feeding phase.”
“Our data suggest that the health-promoting effects of intermittent fasting are not merely a product of the fast itself, but are dependent on how the metabolic machinery recalibrates during the subsequent transition back to a fed state,” he said.
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“Our findings bridge a gap between lipid metabolism and aging research,” he added. “By targeting aging, the single greatest risk factor for human disease, we move beyond treating isolated conditions toward a preventive model of medicine that enhances quality of life for all individuals.”
Lauri Wright, director of nutrition programs at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health, called this a “high-quality” study that adds an “important nuance to how we think about fasting and longevity.”
Intermittent fasting typically involves limiting meals to an eight-hour daily window or fasting every other day. (iStock)
The benefits of the refeeding phase after fasting were “especially interesting,” Wright, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
“The researchers showed that longevity was linked to the body’s ability to turn off fat breakdown after fasting, allowing cells to restore energy balance,” she reiterated.
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“From a scientific standpoint, that’s a meaningful shift because it suggests fasting is not just about burning fat, but about metabolic flexibility.”
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Fasting may support longevity through triggering metabolic switching, enhancing cellular repair and stress resistance and improving markers like insulin sensitivity, research shows.
Limitations and cautions
Although this study provides “important insight” on the power of refeeding, Wright noted that the findings should be approached with caution, as the study was done on worms and cannot always be translated to humans.
“Additionally, it explains how a process might work in a controlled lab condition rather than real-world eating behaviors,” she added as a limitation. “Finally, the study is short-term and doesn’t give us the long-term translation on lifespan outcomes.”
The review found intermittent fasting was barely more effective than doing nothing, according to the study authors. (iStock)
Wright cautioned that fasting is “not a magic solution for longevity, and how you eat overall matters more than when you eat.”
“I advise, first and foremost, to focus on diet quality, including a variety of fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and minimally processed foods,” she said.
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For those who are considering fasting, it’s better to stick with a moderate plan — like a 12- to 14-hour overnight fast — rather than going to extremes, Wright said. After fasting, she recommends focusing on well-balanced meals.
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Several groups of people should be cautioned against fasting, according to Wright, including those with diabetes who are on insulin or hypoglycemic medications, those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone with a history of eating disorders and older adults at risk of malnutrition.
Anyone considering intermittent fasting should consult with a doctor before starting.
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