By Kate Downes, LAc TCM Practitioner
Winter blues got you down? Turn to a new self-care ritual to pick yourself up!
By this time of the year, many of us are feeling as gloomy as the weather forecast. Thankfully, rose quartz and aromatherapy offer two powerful, natural ways to replace those blues with a brighter outlook. Read on to learn more about these powerful natural mood boosters and how you can integrate them into your winter self-care routine.
Rose Quartz: Invoke Self-Compassion
Rose quartz has been used for thousands of years to enhance feelings of unconditional love, self-love, and joy. Ancient Egyptian women even used rose quartz to keep their skin supple and smooth!
So, how does rose quartz invoke love and self-compassion? By connecting with and opening the heart chakra. When the heart chakra is open and flowing, we feel secure enough to share our love, trust others, and honor ourselves.
In winter, rose quartz can be particularly helpful for fighting the self-doubt and limiting beliefs that creep in with seasonal depression. The rosy hue reminds us to see ourselves (and our lives) through rose-colored glasses.
Using this stone in your daily rituals can help boost your self-confidence so you feel safe sharing your beauty, love, and gifts with the world.
Aromatherapy: Awaken Your Inner Joy
If the winter blues feel impossible to shake, aromatherapy can clear your head. Studies show that certain scents can quickly reduce stress levels and improve seasonal depression by communicating with the areas of our brain that relate to memory and emotion.
By simply incorporating uplifting and stress-relieving essential oils into your daily self-care routines, you could help reprogram your mind for positivity!
While all essential oils have their superpowers, some are better for managing seasonal depression than others:
To fight fatigue: peppermint, lemon
To relieve stress: bergamot, ylang-ylang
To feel more joyful: grapefruit, tangerine, lemon
To feel more confident: bergamot, rose
3 Self-Care Rituals to Soothe the Winter Blues
🕯️Write in your gratitude journal by candlelight.
Studies prove it: a gratitude practice primes your brain to see the world in a more positive light. The result? Less blues, more cheer. That’s one powerful self-care technique!
Get even more out of your gratitude practice this winter by setting the scene with intention. Place a rose quartz stone and an aromatherapy candle in your journaling space. The rose quartz reminds you to be gentle with yourself, while the warm glow and invigorating scent of the candle turn your gratitude practice into a mind-body experience.
🛁Infuse your bath with energy, positivity, and self-love.
A regular self-care bath helps warm you up from head to toe, quiets the mind, and gives you the opportunity to reflect.
To infuse your bath with even more positive vibes, use an uplighting citrus essential oil. Just add a few pumps of our Midnight Melody 4-in-1 Oil, place your rose quartz stone in the bath, and turn on the Pink Moon Bath playlist.
💆🏽♀️Use rose quartz gua sha to improve your confidence inside and out.
Facial gua sha uplifts dull winter skin and infuses your ritual with the self-love energy of rose quartz. This simple habit that only adds a few minutes to your skin care routine, but has a lasting impact on your skin’s radiance. A daily gua sha ritual also helps you relieve stress and tension while stimulating your natural energy.
Bonus winter wellness tip: Beyond boosting your mood, gua sha also relieves those cold-weather headaches and sinus pressure. Press the long end of the gua sha tool in between your eyebrows and hold for 10 seconds.
Want to learn more self-care tips and wellness rituals? Follow Pink Moon on Instagram and subscribe to The Journal!
