Winter wellbeing for unpaid carers
- Claire Cook
- Oct 30
- 5 min read
With the longer dark nights with us, the Mobilise community of carers have been sharing how we can nurture ourselves through winter, alongside our caring roles. Below you can find some simple ways to look after our wellbeing, connect with others, and make each day a little better. Sometimes just a tiny shift in how we’re feeling can create a beneficial momentum.
1. Get outside if we can
And especially if the sun is out! Soak up some much-needed vitamin D, feel the breeze, enjoy the crisp air, and marvel at the beauty of winter.
As well as doing wonders for our immune system, studies have found that 75% of people reported an improvement in their mood after getting outdoors, and time spent outside has been linked to a 38% reduction in stress.
Why not take a mindful walk around our area, noticing the small stuff, the few red berries on the bare tree, fresh conkors on the ground, the frosty cobwebs.
Why not try Forest Bathing, an ancient Japanese method of being calm in nature. Believed to invoke feelings of calm and to be a natural wellbeing boost.
Top tips
Put it in the diary. Making sure our daily walk is in our diary is a helpful way to ensure it actually happens, and the time doesn't get eaten up with other responsibilities.
Get accountability. We might want to consider signing up for a little challenge, to support a new walking habit. A quick Google will bring up lots of 'virtual' walking challenges, where we can commit to a specified number of miles over a certain timeframe. We get to be part of a supportive community and can track how far we've gone.
For those of us unable to get outside, why not do some virtual forest bathing. While we might not benefit from the vitamin D and full sensory experience, there is certainly something very calming about these images.
2. Practise Gratitude
Find three things each day that we're grateful for. The roof over our head, our health, that perfect cuppa, a phone call with a friend, our comfy bed, our hot shower. Practising this every day is a wonderful way to shift the balance. And as the saying goes,
"You get more of what you focus on"
And that really is the beauty of gratitude practice. Once we've really got going, we notice more and more to be grateful for and it can really lift our spirits. If we capture our gratitudes in a little notebook or journal, then they make the perfect read on a tough day.
"I always read my gratitude journal when I'm feeling low. It really lifts me. It reminds me that good things can and do happen."
We can find more on the power of gratitude in ‘Embracing gratitude: Finding moments of joy while caring’.
Top tip
Treat ourselves to a new and beautiful notepad - who doesn't love new stationary? Find a time each day that works for us. For me, I love to do this at bedtime, it sets me up for happy dreams. It can take weeks or even months to embed a new habit. By making sure we choose a 'good' time of day for us, we can associate the new habit with good vibes, rather than just 'another thing to do'.
3. Stay connected
Have a daily action to reach out to people every day. Those of us who look after someone can experience greater levels of isolation and loneliness. But we should be mindful that we spend our precious energy reaching out to people that enhance our wellbeing. Not everyone will!
Here's a snapshot of how many of the carers in our community are staying connected via technology:
Simple WhatsApp chats
Using WhatsApp to stay connected with friends and family. It can feel like less pressure than an actual phone call, and can be as simple as sharing fun stuff, like pictures and memes.
"My sister and I watched all of the Friday night 'the show must go on musicals' - we sent each other messages the whole way through - chatting about the costumes, songs and childhood memories - we were brought up on musicals! It was really up-lifting."
Chat in a safe and uplifting online community
Many carers find the Mobilise Community a helpful place to hang out and reach out to other carers.
Not that tech savvy? No problem! Try reading 'Digital Skills for Carers' to find ways that connecting online can be really simple.
Top Tip
Grab our diaries again! Pop in a daily connection, whether that's a WhatsApp message, a walk with a friend, or a simple "hi" in a safe online community.
4. Being creative
Carers in our community have been sharing that winter is their time to pull out the arts and crafts box. Tips on making art easy for carers can help get us started. We don’t need to be arty or creative to benefit.
We can find more on the benefits for our wellbeing creativity has in ‘Creativity and wellbeing; Writing’.
5. Getting sensory
Other carers said they get their big warm blankets and essential oils out. Creating a warm and soul soothing room. (Whilst watching guilty pleasure TV, like Christmas movies).
For ways to really embrace our time indoors this season we may wish to read ‘Free and low-cost ways for carers to feel cosy this season’.
6. Winter gardening
Some carers in our community turn to their garden or window boxes. Planting up colourful winter plants and bulbs. Along with topping up the bird feeders to watch the robins.
Colin, a carer from the community, has shared some lovely thoughts on how gardening has helped him in his caring role.
Embedding good habits
It can take a while for new habits to embed. Don't give up. When we do notice we've forgotten, congratulate ourselves for noticing!
We've prepared a daily checklist to help us! We can print this off, save it to our own device to use online, or simply copy it into our diaries. We can also add other daily habits we would like to take up!
If you are feeling really low during the winter
Please reach out to someone. No one should struggle on alone.
For immediate support contact: :
111 - NHS now have an option for urgent mental health support
Samaritans: Available 24 hours a day by phone
Shout: available 24 hours a day via text; text SHOUT to 85258
We can find more support for looking after our mental wellbeing in ‘Mental health support for carers’.
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