December 22, 2025 • 34 mins
The day after the solstice feels different for a reason: the light begins to return, and with it a chance to reset our bodies and our outlook. We dive into what short days really do to mood, immunity, and motivation, then map out simple ways to bring light back into daily life—through sunlight, sleep, food, and community.
We start with the science behind seasonal affective dips and why morning light is a powerful anchor for your circadian rhythm. From vitamin D’s role in immune strength to the mental lift of bright light therapy, you’ll hear practical tactics that work in any latitude: get outside early, stack short daylight breaks, and consider D3 with K2 if your levels run low. We talk about aligning sleep with longer nights to improve recovery, using evenings for slower tasks, and guarding your wake time with morning sun so your rhythm stabilizes without heroic discipline.
Then we head to the kitchen and the table. Winter favors nourishing choices: soups, stews, legumes, roots, and greens that keep blood sugar steady and the microbiome happy. Small upgrades—garlic, ginger, turmeric, leafy add-ins—turn comfort food into a health habit. Just as important, we look at the social medicine built into solstice traditions. Blue Zone patterns show how connection and chosen family buffer stress and lengthen life. If your biological ties feel heavy, curate your circle; host a simple meal, share stories, and practice gratitude or journaling to anchor your inner weather while the outer world stays dim.
We close by treating the solstice as a marker, not a myth. Each day grows a little longer; meet it with small, repeatable steps that compound: sunlight in your eyes, earlier wind-down, a pot of soup, a text to someone who matters. If you’ve got a story about navigating health challenges or seasonal shifts, we’d love to hear it—reach out and join the conversation. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a winter lift, and leave a review to help this community grow.
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SPEAKER_00 (00:13):
Well, hello and welcome to the Healthy Living
Podcast.
I'm your host, Joe Grumbine, andtoday I want to share some uh
information from nature and thegardens and uh its relationship
to the time of year.
So we just passed the wintersolstice and um it's I want to
(00:38):
talk about the significance ofthis time of year and how it
relates to health and how itrelates to everybody.
And here, you know, at NickArdens uh we deal with uh the
elements we deal with the mooncycles and the sun cycles and
those sorts of things affect usmore maybe than people that live
(01:03):
in the city.
And a lot of reasons for that.
But first of all, the solsticeis the shortest day and the
longest night, and it's the timewhen the earth poles have its
maximum tilt away from the sun,and so it's the time when the
(01:24):
least amount of sunlight hitsthe northern hemisphere.
Of course, we live in thenorthern hemisphere, so that's
important here.
Uh in the southern hemisphere,everything's backwards, so
winter is summer, and summer iswinter, and all of that, but
we're talking about the northernhemisphere here.
(01:44):
And you know, it's it's kind ofinteresting because you get to
this time and it's right aroundChristmas time, right around New
Year's, and uh it's it's kind ofinteresting if you know the
history of these holidays.
Generally, most of our holidaysthat are you know
(02:05):
Christian-centered today um camefrom holidays that were
nature-centered or you know,even pagan or origins, and the
winter solstice was uh you know,technically a pagan, which means
non-Christian um origins,because long before there were
(02:28):
Christians, the peoplerecognized the cycle of the sun
and the importance of the sun,and you know, the sun was
revered and even worshipped bysome people.
But the truth is, you know, allhere on earth, all life does
come from the sun.
And so when we're in a time whenthere's less of it, it affects
(02:53):
us, it affects the plants, itaffects the weather, it affects
our mood, it affects our abilityto receive vitamin D naturally,
um, and so many other things.
And then, you know, the farthernorth you are, the more extreme
that is.
So when you get up, you know,around Alaska, northern Canada,
(03:18):
Iceland, you know, around theArctic Circle, um, the days are
really short and the nights arereally long.
And this goes on for a while.
And it's not like um, you know,all of a sudden, boom, it's it's
solstice, and you get this oneshort day, and then all of a
(03:39):
sudden, you know, whatever,everything goes back to normal.
The days have been gettingshorter here, you know, since
autumn, or actually since uhsummer solstice, and that's when
the longest day is.
So, right after the longest day,days start getting shorter, and
(04:01):
you don't notice it for a goodlong while.
And they get shorter and shorterand shorter, and then you get
into fall, and you get into theuh the equinox where the days
are even, 12 hours sunlight, 12hours darkness, and then they
keep getting shorter untilfinally you get to the winter
solstice.
And um throughout history,there's been traditions that
(04:28):
honored this time, you know,that included lighting candles
and feasting and and expressinggratitude, you know, for the
light returning.
So when you get past this day,like today's the day after
Solstice here right now when I'mrecording this, and so
technically we got a little morelight today than yesterday.
(04:50):
So, I don't know, there'ssomething to celebrate.
And, you know, if you thinkabout it, um the reduction of
sunlight affects the mood, andthere's even uh a syndrome, I
(05:12):
guess you could call it, ordisorder.
You know, everything's adisorder these days, but um it's
funny, it's actually the acronymis SAD, and it's for seasonal
affective disorder, and it's atype of a depression that it
affects people, uh some peopleduring the winter months, and it
(05:34):
can include you know, lowenergy, irritability, sleep
issues, changes in appetite, um,and and these are things that
happen, you know, the farthernorth you go, the longer the
nights are.
And there's all kinds of uhexamples of that, even in places
that are you know cloudy a lot,you know, Seattle, Oregon, um,
(05:58):
there's all kinds of ofdepression um incidents, cases
that that arise from the lack ofsunlight.
And in places where it's sunny alot and they tend to be vacation
places, places where you knowthe cultures are happy.
(06:20):
Um there's a lot of uh there'ssomething about the sun that
brings uh more than just life inthe sense of we get to live, but
life in the sense of the thingsthat make life worth living, the
joy and the the goodness thatcomes out of living.
(06:44):
So let's look at this a littlebit.
Um, you know, recognizing theimportance of this time, not
just the solstice, but you know,the winter time when the days
are short.
Um I think it's important.
(07:05):
It can encourage individuals tofocus on finding joy and
connection during the darkerdays.
Um you know, if you think aboutit and you focus yourself on
being grateful, finding joy inthings.
And that's maybe one of thethings at the holiday season,
when regardless of what youcelebrate, if it's Christmas or
(07:26):
Hanukkah or or um the Saturnaliaor or festivus or whatever, um
finding community and family andjoy and things that you're
grateful for.
You know, Thanksgiving time is atime where people think about
(07:49):
the things they're grateful for.
Christmas is a time where giftsare shared.
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, all thesethings.
There's all there's giftsinvolved, and there's joy that
comes from giving and receivinggifts.
And so maybe there's some uhlogic and and reason behind
(08:14):
these holidays beyond justcelebrating something that was
recognized way back when.
Um maybe there's maybe there wassome good reason for it.
Maybe, maybe the people of oldrecognized that this was a time
when it was easy to bedepressed, easy to be uh to go
(08:36):
into your own, I don't know,darkness, into uh spiraling down
into depression and all of that.
And uh maybe they realized thatjust sharing some time together,
sharing a meal, sharing a gift,presenting somebody with
something brought a little joyand kind of counteracted all
that.
Um so let's get into it a littlebit.
(08:57):
So, you know, light exposure.
This is something that it'sfunny.
Recently I've seen an upsurge ofawareness around the value of
sunlight as opposed to umthere's been a lot of negative
marketing about the danger ofsunlight and the need to put on
(09:22):
sunscreen and protect yourselffrom the sun, and it's so
harmful.
But the truth is, if you're notgetting burnt, which obviously
you can avoid by your choices,um, sunlight is crucial.
You know, you it's it's crucialfor vitamin D synthesis.
And if you don't get enoughsunlight and you're you know not
(09:46):
taking whatever supplements tooffset that, you're gonna get
deficient in vitamin D.
And maybe more than that, butcertainly vitamin D is really an
important element, uh, animportant piece of our health
(10:07):
puzzle.
And there's all kinds ofsymptoms that come from lowered
um levels of vitamin D in thesystem, including weakened
immune function and mooddisorders, which makes perfect
sense, right?
And maybe that's one of themajor contributing factors in
(10:29):
the depression that's associatedwith this time of this time of
the year, this the seasonal umsyndrome.
And so what can you do about it?
You know, there's a lot ofthings you can do about it.
There's light therapy, there's,you know, you can do um
infrared, there's all kinds of,you know, we have technology now
(10:52):
has um lights of all thespectrum, and you know, we have
LED grow lights, we have moodlights, we have lights that can
mimic the sun pretty well.
And maybe it's not perfect, butcertainly it's a way to offset
um some of the negative stuff.
(11:13):
So if I lived in a place furthernorth than I do, you know, I
live in Southern California, sowe're not too affected.
You know, days are short, theyseem short.
It gets dark about 4:30, 445,and doesn't get light till 6.30
(12:19):
or so.
And that's that's short enoughdays for me, that's for sure.
But the further north you get,the shorter those days get, and
the longer those nights get.
And uh, you know, so this iscertainly focused on people that
live north of where I do, butthat's a lot of people.
(12:41):
Um so you can you can you can dooutdoor things during daylight
hours as much as you can to helpoffset that, you know, get
outside.
This is, you know, ecotherapy,garden therapy, therapeutic
(13:03):
horticulture is all about that,you know, even if the days are
short, even if you've got eightor ten hours of sunlight, well,
great.
Spend a couple of them outside,you know, take your shirt off or
put on a bathing suit, even ifit's a little chilly.
Um, get that sun on your skin,you know.
Wear some shorts if you can.
(13:24):
Um, at very least, you know, ashort sleeve shirt and and uh
you know, get as much exposureas you can this time of year.
I don't think you're gonna havemuch of a problem of getting
burnt.
And, you know, we don't here inSouthern California, especially,
we have plenty of warm days,even in the winter time, and you
know, you can certainly dealwith that.
(13:46):
And also, there are foods thathave a lot of vitamin D, and you
know, we can get into that.
I'm gonna probably do a fewsections on nutrition and uh
start talking about where to getcertain elements, and we're
gonna talk about microgreens andyou know, growing vegetables and
(14:08):
all that kind of stuff, butwe're not there right now.
Um, but definitely do theresearch.
There are plenty of foods thatdo have a lot of vitamin D in
there, and then if you have to,um, you know, there are
supplements.
Do your research.
Uh, there's a lot of there's aD3K2 combination that's supposed
(14:31):
to be pretty good, and I I takethat from time to time.
Um, it's it it helps to benefityour immune system, it helps
your body to be able to absorbnutrients and um to work better.
So um occasionally, I don't Idon't do a lot of supplements,
but definitely from time totime.
(14:54):
So think about this, right?
Summertime, the days are long,we stay up late, we work longer
hours, we play longer, weprobably sleep a little less,
you know, and you you getyourself tired out.
Maybe you you you wear yourselfout a little bit over the course
(15:15):
of the summer and the fall.
So definitely you can use umthese long nights as a time to
get yourself back on track, getyour catch up on that sleep.
You know, I find it's supereasy.
I go to bed in the wintertime,usually by nine o'clock, and
(15:38):
it's already been dark for fourhours.
You know, it feels like likeright now it's 6:30.
It's already been dark for anhour and a half.
I could probably go to sleep ina half an hour right now if I
really wanted to.
Um, and it doesn't mess up mycircadian rhythm working with
the sunlight because frankly,it's been dark for a while.
(15:58):
And so, you know, this is a goodtime to, if you're able to,
based on your schedule, maybekids or whatever it is, um, you
know, forge yourself a littlemore sleep.
Uh, the more I believe that youcan sleep with the darkness, you
know, the sun being down andbeing awake with the sun coming
(16:20):
up, I think personally itaffects my health.
And I generally am up all thetime when the sun is up, and uh,
I sleep as much as I can whenthe sun's down.
So in the winter time, Idefinitely get more sleep.
And, you know, aside from thiscancer, which is not contagious,
(16:44):
I generally don't get sick.
I haven't been, haven't caught aflu or a virus or a bug that was
going around for I think it'sbeen since 2012 when I was
locked up.
I got sick the last time fromsomething that was contagious.
And you know, I deal withallergies and stuff that is
environmental, but nothingnothing that I caught from
(17:09):
anybody.
So there's something I'm doing,and you know, that's helping
that.
And I believe prioritizing sleepis certainly a big part of my
health regimen.
And I've talked about sleep morethan a couple of times, and I'll
I'll probably get deeper into itfrom time to time.
(17:30):
But, you know, let's takeadvantage of this and get more
sleep.
Go to bed a little earlier andand uh you know, sleep in a
little bit more.
You can't make up sleep.
Like if you go days and days andyou're not getting enough sleep,
you can't just have one goodsleep night and catch up.
It just doesn't work that way.
The toll it takes on your bodyis accumulative, and um, you
(17:55):
know, you don't justaccumulatively make it up.
So definitely I would say umtake this time to be more
mindful of prioritizinghealth-related activities.
Uh you know, we realize, well,we've only got so many hours of
(18:18):
the daytime.
Like I know that when I get up,I try to get my butt outside
earlier and earlier because Iknow I've only got so many hours
to be outside right now.
And, you know, I can if I needto do uh, you know, some lab
work or making products orwhatever, um, I can do it after
(18:39):
dark.
I can go in the lab and justwork.
So I try to do as much of myoutdoor stuff as I can during
the waking hours and um, youknow, take on other projects
that can be done insideafterwards.
So that's a thing.
But being mindful, I think, atthis time of the value of the
(19:03):
daylight time and making sureyou make time for health
promoting activities and maybesay, well, I'm gonna definitely
get some exercise today, and andor I'm gonna, you know, do this
some gardening, or I'm gonna,whatever it is, you know, I'm
gonna get outside and and seesome nature, I'm gonna go
fishing, I'm gonna go on a hike,I'm gonna do that thing that
(19:26):
brings me some joy and gets mesome sunlight.
Um paying attention to that thistime of year, I think, is
important.
Um then there's nutrition.
So in the summertime, you know,there's a lot of delicious
fruits that are ripe, and thepeaches and the apricots and the
(19:49):
berries and the melons and allthat stuff is local and ripe,
and we eat, um, you know, we'regoing out to eat a lot, you
know, the days are long, go outand grab a piece of pizza or go
to the beach and have a picnicor whatever it is.
And, you know, we eat maybe notas good during the summertime
(20:12):
for that reason.
Maybe we eat more sugary foods,maybe we eat uh, you know, we
drink a lot of drinks.
We drink more, I think, in thesummertime, and we tend to like
drinks that have a littlesweetness to them.
So um, you know, I think there'sdefinitely a propensity to eat
(20:33):
more and maybe eat a little notas good during the summertime.
But in the wintertime, I think alot of times we we shift
ourselves to foods that are justnaturally hearty and warm and
delicious, like soups andchilies and stews and um those
(20:54):
are kinds of foods thatgenerally might have, you know,
some good root vegetables inthem.
We Probably eat more morevegetables maybe in the
wintertime.
I don't know.
You know, there's summertime anda lot of salads and things like
that, but definitely the soupsand the hot food is really good.
Like we had a celebration uhceremony over the weekend.
(21:15):
And uh, you know, we do apotluck out here after the uh
the teepee ceremony.
And uh I don't know, I thinkfour different people brought
soup and four different kinds ofsoup.
And uh yeah, it was tasty.
Some chicken soup and some uhvegan chili and a couple of
vegetable soups, and just youknow, really warm, tasty, hearty
(21:38):
food that's just full ofnutrition.
So I think this is a good timeto focus on that.
Um here's another thing maybethat's important about this time
of year, you know, with all thedarkness, it's a good time to
reflect.
You know, I talk aboutjournaling a lot.
(22:00):
Um and I think reflecting is agood this is a good time of year
to do that, to look back on theyear and and see what you've
done, and maybe look at goalsand start writing things down.
And it's also a time where umcommunity is important.
(22:23):
Um and and the our connection,the human connection.
I've talked many times about thevalue of community, and when it
comes to longevity and it comesto health, um the the blue zone
communities are generally veryfamily-centric.
Um there's an a focus oncommunity in the areas of the
(22:47):
world where people live thelongest.
And it would seem, to meanyways, I would say that it's
kind of a I don't know, we couldwe could establish that it's a
truth that human beings tend tobe more healthy when they're
(23:09):
engaged in a good community.
And so this is a time that youknow people get together.
You get together forThanksgiving, you get together
for Christmas, for Kwanzaa, forHanukkah, for any of the high
holy days for for New Year's,um, you know, a lot of things
that people celebrate this timeof year.
(23:30):
Maybe it's not a coincidence,you know, maybe we've stacked a
bunch of holidays this time ofyear because in the summertime
it's easy to get together and goon a vacation and get out and go
to the beach and go do funthings.
But in the winter time, um, Ithink we've sort of made it a
priority.
(23:50):
And I think that that'simportant, and I think there's a
lot of value to it.
And so, you know, and it doesn'thave to be your biological
family.
I don't know.
I talked a little bit in publicabout my biological family, and
in my opinion, the dysfunctionof it.
(24:11):
And, you know, I have there aremembers of my biological family
that I'm connected to and andhave a relationship with, but
there are a lot more members ofmy biological family that I
don't, including those that areclosest to me biologically.
And that's okay.
(24:33):
It doesn't have anything to dowith my sense of community and
my sense of connection, becauseI have found other people that
are not biologically related tome and found that same
connection that I would.
And in fact, we call each otherbrother and sister and and aunt
and uncle and and nephew and andyou know, we we we use those
(24:58):
terms the same as if we werebiologically related, and we
treat each other the way wewould want to be treated in
those roles.
So I have people in my life thatI call nephew um and niece that
I have no blood relation towhatsoever, but um I treat them
(25:20):
with respect and uh affectionand caring the same as I would
uh a biological nephew or niece.
I have brothers and sisters umthat I'm not biologically
related to at all.
And and yet I feel for themcloser, much, much closer than I
(25:46):
do to any of my biological uhbrothers, brother or sisters.
And you know, it's it's choicesthat we make.
So find somebody, find thosepeople, whether you're related
to them or not.
You know, don't find yourselfstuck in a crappy family and
feel like you just are dealt badcards and you have to somehow go
(26:11):
through the motions of you knowdealing with the holidays and
the drunk uh, you know, nephewor aunt or brother or whatever
that you have to go and dealwith, or the dysfunctional, the
narcissism, the the drama, allthe problems.
You just don't need that.
And remember that, you know,these are all choices that we
(26:33):
make.
And I stopped hanging out withmy biological family on the
holidays almost 20 years ago,and I don't miss it at all.
And you know, there was a timewhen my dad was alive that I'd
go and visit, you know, I'd dropby sometime during the holidays,
but certainly it wasn't gonna beon the day.
And um I think when I realizedthat a long time ago, it it it
(27:00):
it it changed my perspective,and I I found people that I
could share those feelings withthat and that care and
compassion and empathy and allthe good stuff that you know you
want to have your family uh toshare with you.
So I thought that was kind ofimportant that I figured that
(27:23):
out.
And I think you know, beingmindful of these things, just
like everything, make a bigdifference.
Um so on that note, engaging inmindfulness and gratitude
practices this time can have uhvastly improving elements for
(27:45):
your emotional health and andhelp you to enhance feelings of
connections to others in thenatural world.
And just remember, you know,being mindful and grateful are
two of your most powerful toolsany time of the year for any
purpose.
But for this time of year, Ithink it's I don't know, maybe
(28:08):
it's easier because you havemore time that there's not
anything really going on.
You know, there's notnecessarily anything you have to
do, you don't have to scrollthrough the social media, you
don't have to watch TV, youdon't have to listen to a
podcast.
Of course, you should listen tothis one, but um you don't have
to find yourself um, you know,stuck with busy stuff.
(28:35):
You know, in the summertime it'sa lot easier.
So many places to go, so manythings to do, and people are
always you know busy during thesummertime.
So it's a good time to take sometime and and and go deep and get
mindful and remember theimportance of gratitude.
I've talked about gratitude.
(28:57):
I'll always talk aboutgratitude, makes all the
difference in the world.
So I would say that the wintersolstice, um, it's a significant
event, certainly.
It's a thing that happens once ayear.
And, you know, if you look atit, recognize it, and and
(29:17):
celebrate the fact that, youknow, we made it.
You know, the people of oldwould would recognize they got
to that day and they survived.
And now the days are gonna getlonger.
So their odds of making it allthe way through the winter
increase as the days are gettinglonger.
Every day the day is longer, yougot more time in the sunlight,
(29:41):
more more, more um potential toaccomplish.
And so, you know, maybe givingthat a little credit and and
understanding that theseseasonal changes affect us and
being mindful of what we can doto offset those effects or to
(30:05):
enhance those effects, dependingon what we're trying to do, I
think is important.
So I don't know.
I think that that's some goodstuff to think about.
And um we're gonna continue anumber of series or a number of
episodes that get into kind ofthe lessons of the season as
pertain to gardening, and we'regonna talk about pruning and
(30:28):
opening up sunlight and how thatcorrelates to um you know your
personal life, not just yourrose bushes.
And you know, this is kind offunny this time of year.
Um, you know, we have a surplusof guests in the summertime, and
(30:49):
um, you know, I stack upsometimes all the way for weeks,
uh, from the time I record tothe time that I publish an
episode.
But this time of year, you know,the guests get thinner.
And so I'm opening up the floorfor um any of you that have a
story to share.
(31:10):
You know, I've I've been bookingsome guests, people that I know
that have a life experience, andum people that are going through
something and maybe haven'tsolved it.
But and you know, just like Ishared my cancer experience and
how ultimately I did solve it,or I believe I've solved it
(31:31):
anyways.
We'll find out soon.
But um going from a diagnosisand all the steps I took along
the way and how I found answers.
Um I think it's important toshare those things.
So I've got a number of peoplethat uh we're starting to
schedule and book that maybearen't experts in their field,
(31:54):
but they're certainly experts inthe thing they're going through.
And maybe they haven't solvedtheir problem, but maybe uh
they're sharing their process.
And I think that's importantbecause we we have listeners of
all stages, people that are inevery aspect, every walk of
life, every um every littlefacet you can think of humanity.
(32:19):
We have somebody that fits that.
So um I would encourage you ifyou're interested in coming on,
being a guest, and sharing yourstory, get in touch with me.
I'm easy to reach.
In fact, I'll give you my phonenumber here.
It's 951-436-6312.
Email Grumbinejoe at gmail.com,G-R-U-M-B-I-N-E, J-O-E at
(32:43):
gmail.com.
And I will answer you if youreach out and we can schedule.
And uh, you know, I lookforward.
We've had over 200 guests onthis show since we started this
podcast, and uh I love that.
I believe it gives us arichness, and uh the community
that we're building through thispodcast is uh developing in a
(33:07):
beautiful way.
So, on that note, I want tothank you all that have made
this show possible and thank youfor listening and talking about
it and sharing it.
And if you really like thepodcast, consider supporting it
by uh being a subscriber.
And absolutely please share,tell people about this.
(33:28):
The more listeners thatdownload, the more exposure we
get and the better the show is.
All right.
Well, thank you, and we will seeyou next time.
Well, hello and welcome to the Healthy Living
Podcast.
I'm your host, Joe Grumbine, andtoday I want to share some uh
information from nature and thegardens and uh its relationship
to the time of year.
So we just passed the wintersolstice and um it's I want to
(00:38):
talk about the significance ofthis time of year and how it
relates to health and how itrelates to everybody.
And here, you know, at NickArdens uh we deal with uh the
elements we deal with the mooncycles and the sun cycles and
those sorts of things affect usmore maybe than people that live
(01:03):
in the city.
And a lot of reasons for that.
But first of all, the solsticeis the shortest day and the
longest night, and it's the timewhen the earth poles have its
maximum tilt away from the sun,and so it's the time when the
(01:24):
least amount of sunlight hitsthe northern hemisphere.
Of course, we live in thenorthern hemisphere, so that's
important here.
Uh in the southern hemisphere,everything's backwards, so
winter is summer, and summer iswinter, and all of that, but
we're talking about the northernhemisphere here.
(01:44):
And you know, it's it's kind ofinteresting because you get to
this time and it's right aroundChristmas time, right around New
Year's, and uh it's it's kind ofinteresting if you know the
history of these holidays.
Generally, most of our holidaysthat are you know
(02:05):
Christian-centered today um camefrom holidays that were
nature-centered or you know,even pagan or origins, and the
winter solstice was uh you know,technically a pagan, which means
non-Christian um origins,because long before there were
(02:28):
Christians, the peoplerecognized the cycle of the sun
and the importance of the sun,and you know, the sun was
revered and even worshipped bysome people.
But the truth is, you know, allhere on earth, all life does
come from the sun.
And so when we're in a time whenthere's less of it, it affects
(02:53):
us, it affects the plants, itaffects the weather, it affects
our mood, it affects our abilityto receive vitamin D naturally,
um, and so many other things.
And then, you know, the farthernorth you are, the more extreme
that is.
So when you get up, you know,around Alaska, northern Canada,
(03:18):
Iceland, you know, around theArctic Circle, um, the days are
really short and the nights arereally long.
And this goes on for a while.
And it's not like um, you know,all of a sudden, boom, it's it's
solstice, and you get this oneshort day, and then all of a
(03:39):
sudden, you know, whatever,everything goes back to normal.
The days have been gettingshorter here, you know, since
autumn, or actually since uhsummer solstice, and that's when
the longest day is.
So, right after the longest day,days start getting shorter, and
(04:01):
you don't notice it for a goodlong while.
And they get shorter and shorterand shorter, and then you get
into fall, and you get into theuh the equinox where the days
are even, 12 hours sunlight, 12hours darkness, and then they
keep getting shorter untilfinally you get to the winter
solstice.
And um throughout history,there's been traditions that
(04:28):
honored this time, you know,that included lighting candles
and feasting and and expressinggratitude, you know, for the
light returning.
So when you get past this day,like today's the day after
Solstice here right now when I'mrecording this, and so
technically we got a little morelight today than yesterday.
(04:50):
So, I don't know, there'ssomething to celebrate.
And, you know, if you thinkabout it, um the reduction of
sunlight affects the mood, andthere's even uh a syndrome, I
(05:12):
guess you could call it, ordisorder.
You know, everything's adisorder these days, but um it's
funny, it's actually the acronymis SAD, and it's for seasonal
affective disorder, and it's atype of a depression that it
affects people, uh some peopleduring the winter months, and it
(05:34):
can include you know, lowenergy, irritability, sleep
issues, changes in appetite, um,and and these are things that
happen, you know, the farthernorth you go, the longer the
nights are.
And there's all kinds of uhexamples of that, even in places
that are you know cloudy a lot,you know, Seattle, Oregon, um,
(05:58):
there's all kinds of ofdepression um incidents, cases
that that arise from the lack ofsunlight.
And in places where it's sunny alot and they tend to be vacation
places, places where you knowthe cultures are happy.
(06:20):
Um there's a lot of uh there'ssomething about the sun that
brings uh more than just life inthe sense of we get to live, but
life in the sense of the thingsthat make life worth living, the
joy and the the goodness thatcomes out of living.
(06:44):
So let's look at this a littlebit.
Um, you know, recognizing theimportance of this time, not
just the solstice, but you know,the winter time when the days
are short.
Um I think it's important.
(07:05):
It can encourage individuals tofocus on finding joy and
connection during the darkerdays.
Um you know, if you think aboutit and you focus yourself on
being grateful, finding joy inthings.
And that's maybe one of thethings at the holiday season,
when regardless of what youcelebrate, if it's Christmas or
(07:26):
Hanukkah or or um the Saturnaliaor or festivus or whatever, um
finding community and family andjoy and things that you're
grateful for.
You know, Thanksgiving time is atime where people think about
(07:49):
the things they're grateful for.
Christmas is a time where giftsare shared.
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, all thesethings.
There's all there's giftsinvolved, and there's joy that
comes from giving and receivinggifts.
And so maybe there's some uhlogic and and reason behind
(08:14):
these holidays beyond justcelebrating something that was
recognized way back when.
Um maybe there's maybe there wassome good reason for it.
Maybe, maybe the people of oldrecognized that this was a time
when it was easy to bedepressed, easy to be uh to go
(08:36):
into your own, I don't know,darkness, into uh spiraling down
into depression and all of that.
And uh maybe they realized thatjust sharing some time together,
sharing a meal, sharing a gift,presenting somebody with
something brought a little joyand kind of counteracted all
that.
Um so let's get into it a littlebit.
(08:57):
So, you know, light exposure.
This is something that it'sfunny.
Recently I've seen an upsurge ofawareness around the value of
sunlight as opposed to umthere's been a lot of negative
marketing about the danger ofsunlight and the need to put on
(09:22):
sunscreen and protect yourselffrom the sun, and it's so
harmful.
But the truth is, if you're notgetting burnt, which obviously
you can avoid by your choices,um, sunlight is crucial.
You know, you it's it's crucialfor vitamin D synthesis.
And if you don't get enoughsunlight and you're you know not
(09:46):
taking whatever supplements tooffset that, you're gonna get
deficient in vitamin D.
And maybe more than that, butcertainly vitamin D is really an
important element, uh, animportant piece of our health
(10:07):
puzzle.
And there's all kinds ofsymptoms that come from lowered
um levels of vitamin D in thesystem, including weakened
immune function and mooddisorders, which makes perfect
sense, right?
And maybe that's one of themajor contributing factors in
(10:29):
the depression that's associatedwith this time of this time of
the year, this the seasonal umsyndrome.
And so what can you do about it?
You know, there's a lot ofthings you can do about it.
There's light therapy, there's,you know, you can do um
infrared, there's all kinds of,you know, we have technology now
(10:52):
has um lights of all thespectrum, and you know, we have
LED grow lights, we have moodlights, we have lights that can
mimic the sun pretty well.
And maybe it's not perfect, butcertainly it's a way to offset
um some of the negative stuff.
(11:13):
So if I lived in a place furthernorth than I do, you know, I
live in Southern California, sowe're not too affected.
You know, days are short, theyseem short.
It gets dark about 4:30, 445,and doesn't get light till 6.30
(12:19):
or so.
And that's that's short enoughdays for me, that's for sure.
But the further north you get,the shorter those days get, and
the longer those nights get.
And uh, you know, so this iscertainly focused on people that
live north of where I do, butthat's a lot of people.
(12:41):
Um so you can you can you can dooutdoor things during daylight
hours as much as you can to helpoffset that, you know, get
outside.
This is, you know, ecotherapy,garden therapy, therapeutic
(13:03):
horticulture is all about that,you know, even if the days are
short, even if you've got eightor ten hours of sunlight, well,
great.
Spend a couple of them outside,you know, take your shirt off or
put on a bathing suit, even ifit's a little chilly.
Um, get that sun on your skin,you know.
Wear some shorts if you can.
(13:24):
Um, at very least, you know, ashort sleeve shirt and and uh
you know, get as much exposureas you can this time of year.
I don't think you're gonna havemuch of a problem of getting
burnt.
And, you know, we don't here inSouthern California, especially,
we have plenty of warm days,even in the winter time, and you
know, you can certainly dealwith that.
(13:46):
And also, there are foods thathave a lot of vitamin D, and you
know, we can get into that.
I'm gonna probably do a fewsections on nutrition and uh
start talking about where to getcertain elements, and we're
gonna talk about microgreens andyou know, growing vegetables and
(14:08):
all that kind of stuff, butwe're not there right now.
Um, but definitely do theresearch.
There are plenty of foods thatdo have a lot of vitamin D in
there, and then if you have to,um, you know, there are
supplements.
Do your research.
Uh, there's a lot of there's aD3K2 combination that's supposed
(14:31):
to be pretty good, and I I takethat from time to time.
Um, it's it it helps to benefityour immune system, it helps
your body to be able to absorbnutrients and um to work better.
So um occasionally, I don't Idon't do a lot of supplements,
but definitely from time totime.
(14:54):
So think about this, right?
Summertime, the days are long,we stay up late, we work longer
hours, we play longer, weprobably sleep a little less,
you know, and you you getyourself tired out.
Maybe you you you wear yourselfout a little bit over the course
(15:15):
of the summer and the fall.
So definitely you can use umthese long nights as a time to
get yourself back on track, getyour catch up on that sleep.
You know, I find it's supereasy.
I go to bed in the wintertime,usually by nine o'clock, and
(15:38):
it's already been dark for fourhours.
You know, it feels like likeright now it's 6:30.
It's already been dark for anhour and a half.
I could probably go to sleep ina half an hour right now if I
really wanted to.
Um, and it doesn't mess up mycircadian rhythm working with
the sunlight because frankly,it's been dark for a while.
(15:58):
And so, you know, this is a goodtime to, if you're able to,
based on your schedule, maybekids or whatever it is, um, you
know, forge yourself a littlemore sleep.
Uh, the more I believe that youcan sleep with the darkness, you
know, the sun being down andbeing awake with the sun coming
(16:20):
up, I think personally itaffects my health.
And I generally am up all thetime when the sun is up, and uh,
I sleep as much as I can whenthe sun's down.
So in the winter time, Idefinitely get more sleep.
And, you know, aside from thiscancer, which is not contagious,
(16:44):
I generally don't get sick.
I haven't been, haven't caught aflu or a virus or a bug that was
going around for I think it'sbeen since 2012 when I was
locked up.
I got sick the last time fromsomething that was contagious.
And you know, I deal withallergies and stuff that is
environmental, but nothingnothing that I caught from
(17:09):
anybody.
So there's something I'm doing,and you know, that's helping
that.
And I believe prioritizing sleepis certainly a big part of my
health regimen.
And I've talked about sleep morethan a couple of times, and I'll
I'll probably get deeper into itfrom time to time.
(17:30):
But, you know, let's takeadvantage of this and get more
sleep.
Go to bed a little earlier andand uh you know, sleep in a
little bit more.
You can't make up sleep.
Like if you go days and days andyou're not getting enough sleep,
you can't just have one goodsleep night and catch up.
It just doesn't work that way.
The toll it takes on your bodyis accumulative, and um, you
(17:55):
know, you don't justaccumulatively make it up.
So definitely I would say umtake this time to be more
mindful of prioritizinghealth-related activities.
Uh you know, we realize, well,we've only got so many hours of
(18:18):
the daytime.
Like I know that when I get up,I try to get my butt outside
earlier and earlier because Iknow I've only got so many hours
to be outside right now.
And, you know, I can if I needto do uh, you know, some lab
work or making products orwhatever, um, I can do it after
(18:39):
dark.
I can go in the lab and justwork.
So I try to do as much of myoutdoor stuff as I can during
the waking hours and um, youknow, take on other projects
that can be done insideafterwards.
So that's a thing.
But being mindful, I think, atthis time of the value of the
(19:03):
daylight time and making sureyou make time for health
promoting activities and maybesay, well, I'm gonna definitely
get some exercise today, and andor I'm gonna, you know, do this
some gardening, or I'm gonna,whatever it is, you know, I'm
gonna get outside and and seesome nature, I'm gonna go
fishing, I'm gonna go on a hike,I'm gonna do that thing that
(19:26):
brings me some joy and gets mesome sunlight.
Um paying attention to that thistime of year, I think, is
important.
Um then there's nutrition.
So in the summertime, you know,there's a lot of delicious
fruits that are ripe, and thepeaches and the apricots and the
(19:49):
berries and the melons and allthat stuff is local and ripe,
and we eat, um, you know, we'regoing out to eat a lot, you
know, the days are long, go outand grab a piece of pizza or go
to the beach and have a picnicor whatever it is.
And, you know, we eat maybe notas good during the summertime
(20:12):
for that reason.
Maybe we eat more sugary foods,maybe we eat uh, you know, we
drink a lot of drinks.
We drink more, I think, in thesummertime, and we tend to like
drinks that have a littlesweetness to them.
So um, you know, I think there'sdefinitely a propensity to eat
(20:33):
more and maybe eat a little notas good during the summertime.
But in the wintertime, I think alot of times we we shift
ourselves to foods that are justnaturally hearty and warm and
delicious, like soups andchilies and stews and um those
(20:54):
are kinds of foods thatgenerally might have, you know,
some good root vegetables inthem.
We Probably eat more morevegetables maybe in the
wintertime.
I don't know.
You know, there's summertime anda lot of salads and things like
that, but definitely the soupsand the hot food is really good.
Like we had a celebration uhceremony over the weekend.
(21:15):
And uh, you know, we do apotluck out here after the uh
the teepee ceremony.
And uh I don't know, I thinkfour different people brought
soup and four different kinds ofsoup.
And uh yeah, it was tasty.
Some chicken soup and some uhvegan chili and a couple of
vegetable soups, and just youknow, really warm, tasty, hearty
(21:38):
food that's just full ofnutrition.
So I think this is a good timeto focus on that.
Um here's another thing maybethat's important about this time
of year, you know, with all thedarkness, it's a good time to
reflect.
You know, I talk aboutjournaling a lot.
(22:00):
Um and I think reflecting is agood this is a good time of year
to do that, to look back on theyear and and see what you've
done, and maybe look at goalsand start writing things down.
And it's also a time where umcommunity is important.
(22:23):
Um and and the our connection,the human connection.
I've talked many times about thevalue of community, and when it
comes to longevity and it comesto health, um the the blue zone
communities are generally veryfamily-centric.
Um there's an a focus oncommunity in the areas of the
(22:47):
world where people live thelongest.
And it would seem, to meanyways, I would say that it's
kind of a I don't know, we couldwe could establish that it's a
truth that human beings tend tobe more healthy when they're
(23:09):
engaged in a good community.
And so this is a time that youknow people get together.
You get together forThanksgiving, you get together
for Christmas, for Kwanzaa, forHanukkah, for any of the high
holy days for for New Year's,um, you know, a lot of things
that people celebrate this timeof year.
(23:30):
Maybe it's not a coincidence,you know, maybe we've stacked a
bunch of holidays this time ofyear because in the summertime
it's easy to get together and goon a vacation and get out and go
to the beach and go do funthings.
But in the winter time, um, Ithink we've sort of made it a
priority.
(23:50):
And I think that that'simportant, and I think there's a
lot of value to it.
And so, you know, and it doesn'thave to be your biological
family.
I don't know.
I talked a little bit in publicabout my biological family, and
in my opinion, the dysfunctionof it.
(24:11):
And, you know, I have there aremembers of my biological family
that I'm connected to and andhave a relationship with, but
there are a lot more members ofmy biological family that I
don't, including those that areclosest to me biologically.
And that's okay.
(24:33):
It doesn't have anything to dowith my sense of community and
my sense of connection, becauseI have found other people that
are not biologically related tome and found that same
connection that I would.
And in fact, we call each otherbrother and sister and and aunt
and uncle and and nephew and andyou know, we we we use those
(24:58):
terms the same as if we werebiologically related, and we
treat each other the way wewould want to be treated in
those roles.
So I have people in my life thatI call nephew um and niece that
I have no blood relation towhatsoever, but um I treat them
(25:20):
with respect and uh affectionand caring the same as I would
uh a biological nephew or niece.
I have brothers and sisters umthat I'm not biologically
related to at all.
And and yet I feel for themcloser, much, much closer than I
(25:46):
do to any of my biological uhbrothers, brother or sisters.
And you know, it's it's choicesthat we make.
So find somebody, find thosepeople, whether you're related
to them or not.
You know, don't find yourselfstuck in a crappy family and
feel like you just are dealt badcards and you have to somehow go
(26:11):
through the motions of you knowdealing with the holidays and
the drunk uh, you know, nephewor aunt or brother or whatever
that you have to go and dealwith, or the dysfunctional, the
narcissism, the the drama, allthe problems.
You just don't need that.
And remember that, you know,these are all choices that we
(26:33):
make.
And I stopped hanging out withmy biological family on the
holidays almost 20 years ago,and I don't miss it at all.
And you know, there was a timewhen my dad was alive that I'd
go and visit, you know, I'd dropby sometime during the holidays,
but certainly it wasn't gonna beon the day.
And um I think when I realizedthat a long time ago, it it it
(27:00):
it it changed my perspective,and I I found people that I
could share those feelings withthat and that care and
compassion and empathy and allthe good stuff that you know you
want to have your family uh toshare with you.
So I thought that was kind ofimportant that I figured that
(27:23):
out.
And I think you know, beingmindful of these things, just
like everything, make a bigdifference.
Um so on that note, engaging inmindfulness and gratitude
practices this time can have uhvastly improving elements for
(27:45):
your emotional health and andhelp you to enhance feelings of
connections to others in thenatural world.
And just remember, you know,being mindful and grateful are
two of your most powerful toolsany time of the year for any
purpose.
But for this time of year, Ithink it's I don't know, maybe
(28:08):
it's easier because you havemore time that there's not
anything really going on.
You know, there's notnecessarily anything you have to
do, you don't have to scrollthrough the social media, you
don't have to watch TV, youdon't have to listen to a
podcast.
Of course, you should listen tothis one, but um you don't have
to find yourself um, you know,stuck with busy stuff.
(28:35):
You know, in the summertime it'sa lot easier.
So many places to go, so manythings to do, and people are
always you know busy during thesummertime.
So it's a good time to take sometime and and and go deep and get
mindful and remember theimportance of gratitude.
I've talked about gratitude.
(28:57):
I'll always talk aboutgratitude, makes all the
difference in the world.
So I would say that the wintersolstice, um, it's a significant
event, certainly.
It's a thing that happens once ayear.
And, you know, if you look atit, recognize it, and and
(29:17):
celebrate the fact that, youknow, we made it.
You know, the people of oldwould would recognize they got
to that day and they survived.
And now the days are gonna getlonger.
So their odds of making it allthe way through the winter
increase as the days are gettinglonger.
Every day the day is longer, yougot more time in the sunlight,
(29:41):
more more, more um potential toaccomplish.
And so, you know, maybe givingthat a little credit and and
understanding that theseseasonal changes affect us and
being mindful of what we can doto offset those effects or to
(30:05):
enhance those effects, dependingon what we're trying to do, I
think is important.
So I don't know.
I think that that's some goodstuff to think about.
And um we're gonna continue anumber of series or a number of
episodes that get into kind ofthe lessons of the season as
pertain to gardening, and we'regonna talk about pruning and
(30:28):
opening up sunlight and how thatcorrelates to um you know your
personal life, not just yourrose bushes.
And you know, this is kind offunny this time of year.
Um, you know, we have a surplusof guests in the summertime, and
(30:49):
um, you know, I stack upsometimes all the way for weeks,
uh, from the time I record tothe time that I publish an
episode.
But this time of year, you know,the guests get thinner.
And so I'm opening up the floorfor um any of you that have a
story to share.
(31:10):
You know, I've I've been bookingsome guests, people that I know
that have a life experience, andum people that are going through
something and maybe haven'tsolved it.
But and you know, just like Ishared my cancer experience and
how ultimately I did solve it,or I believe I've solved it
(31:31):
anyways.
We'll find out soon.
But um going from a diagnosisand all the steps I took along
the way and how I found answers.
Um I think it's important toshare those things.
So I've got a number of peoplethat uh we're starting to
schedule and book that maybearen't experts in their field,
(31:54):
but they're certainly experts inthe thing they're going through.
And maybe they haven't solvedtheir problem, but maybe uh
they're sharing their process.
And I think that's importantbecause we we have listeners of
all stages, people that are inevery aspect, every walk of
life, every um every littlefacet you can think of humanity.
(32:19):
We have somebody that fits that.
So um I would encourage you ifyou're interested in coming on,
being a guest, and sharing yourstory, get in touch with me.
I'm easy to reach.
In fact, I'll give you my phonenumber here.
It's 951-436-6312.
Email Grumbinejoe at gmail.com,G-R-U-M-B-I-N-E, J-O-E at
(32:43):
gmail.com.
And I will answer you if youreach out and we can schedule.
And uh, you know, I lookforward.
We've had over 200 guests onthis show since we started this
podcast, and uh I love that.
I believe it gives us arichness, and uh the community
that we're building through thispodcast is uh developing in a
(33:07):
beautiful way.
So, on that note, I want tothank you all that have made
this show possible and thank youfor listening and talking about
it and sharing it.
And if you really like thepodcast, consider supporting it
by uh being a subscriber.
And absolutely please share,tell people about this.
(33:28):
The more listeners thatdownload, the more exposure we
get and the better the show is.
All right.
Well, thank you, and we will seeyou next time.
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