Here in the Northeast, our summer vacation reaches all the way to the sweet and melancholy end of August when the nightly symphony of cicadas and katydids signals the end of long, warm days and a few red leaves start to appear on the trees. In these final days, I spend most of my time on my porch attempting to absorb all of the sunlight, colors, and warmth to bolster me through the upcoming season.

As I write this, these relaxing days are coming to a close, and by the time you read it, they’ll feel like a distant memory. As a warm-weather-ONLY kind of person, I start to get a little anxious this time of year about the impending doom, er, cold, descending upon us. My seasonal affective disorder starts to kick in just as the year goes into fast-forward—Halloween, kid-related tasks, the holidays approaching—and things start to feel a bit harder as the number of meetings, social events, and organizational tasks skyrockets.

It’s taken me years to learn how to flow with these shifts rather than fight against them. Instead of spending six months in grumpy defiance, I’ve developed a routine of self-care that I start in September and continue through March. What works for me is a combination of the following:

Cold exposure: A few years ago I started going outside each morning in my pajamas for a minute or two. I call this routine my “cold therapy”—I’m sure my neighbors call it eccentric. I take my coffee, put on boots if there’s snow on the ground, and step outside with my dog. I invariably feel invigorated afterward. In addition to any health benefits, the practice has helped me to embrace the cold a (tiny) bit more in general and made winter more bearable.

Light therapy: I make sure I get at least 15 minutes of bright light every morning—either during “cold therapy” or from a light-therapy lamp (see link, right). The light filtering through your eyes increases serotonin and stimulates your brain to stop melatonin production—staving off depression. This was literally a lifesaver for me when I discovered it 11 years ago.