3 Ways You Can Use Lavender To Boost Your Mood And Beat The Winter Blues

I don't know about you, but I hate winter.

Sure, the holidays are nice and all (if you can call getting bombarded with questions at family events, getting food stuffed down your throat at Thanksgiving and seeing your uncle who's high on crack cocaine showing up with a mysterious plastic bag and stealing butter right off the table nice).

But, I'm referring to the cold weather. The cloudy days. Those first snowflakes. The fact that you can feel your soul getting crushed with every icy blast of wind.

So, I'm here to talk about how a herb can totally change your perception of winter and make it beautiful rather than dreadful.

What is lavender?

Lavender is a herb that's actually part of the mint family. It's rather bushy and adorable. It blooms bright purple flowers and smells fantastic. This herb has been shown to help people better cope with life and relax.

1. Lavender fends off depression.

Lavender may help you have a better outlook on life, and it has even been shown to improve the quality of life in people who suffer from PTSD. Just smelling this herb or the essential oil of lavender can help you to feel better, both mentally and physically.

Whether or not you suffer from depression, anxiety or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), lavender can just help you feel better about the shorter days and colder nights.

Those winter blues don't stand a chance against a life infused with lavender.

2. Lavender can make you feel better about yourself.

Lavender may actually help improve your self-esteem and your general outlook on life, according to research. A simple lavender massage (whether alone or with other essential oils such as rosemary and lemon) can help you feel better.

Pretty amazing, huh?

You can make a lavender perfume or just use the essential oil by itself. You can use it in the tub, dab it on your wrists or just take it along in your purse and smell it on occasion.

It'll definitely improve your drab winter experience.

3. Stress less with lavender.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by life, especially when it's dark in the morning when you leave the house, and you get home at night and it's still dark.

Stressing about stuff at work and at home isn't going help you get through the holidays, girl.

So get some help from our friend lavender. Lavender has the ability to help you feel better about things and improve your ability to cope with stress, especially at work.

Have a winter wedding coming up and you're so stressed out that you can't sleep? Lavender can help you there, too.

It helps to relax you and may even help people suffering from insomnia. Forget about stress when you have some lavender hanging around the house. It's admittedly the best winter friend to have.

Using This Herb

Using lavender is easy. If you're not a master gardener, don't worry. You don't have to be to grow lavender.

But if you're just plain lazy, buy some lavender essential oil. You only use a couple drops at a time, so that little bottle lasts a while. Make some perfume. Buy a tincture. Make friends with lavender tea.

As a winter hater, I can honestly say lavender has made this season bearable for me. Those family dinners and stuff still aren't magical, but hey, I love my family. Lavender just makes them all seem a little less crazy.

Try lavender to make winter better this year. Improve your mood, self-esteem and stress with this herb.