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How do you cope with the dark days of winter?

Mike Dole

We’ve made it past the psychological hurdle of solstice, so we can look forward to more daylight – eventually. But in the weeks before we really can notice a difference, how do you cope with the darkness?

Folks in downtown Seattle shared their tips, including:

"I don't care if it's raining or not, if I have to go out to run, I go out and run," said Kassonga Mwamba, who's originally from South Africa.

"I go walking, being outdoors is great," said Sonya Bailey, who also teaches an outdoor boot camp class at Golden Gardens Park in Ballard. "When you work out outdoors, you really get that increased feeling of wellbeing, so I think it's really important that people remember to get outdoors. And they can just use an umbrella or bundle up."

"I know it sounds really silly, but I'm reading goofy romance novels," said Tupelo Bahir.

And then there are always seasonal affective disorder lights. Linda Levoy has one at work and one at home. "Took me a while to figure out why I want to sleep all winter long, and when I finally figured out - well, I'm from San Diego, so you know, no light was a huge change for me."

In July 2017, Ashley Gross became KNKX's youth and education reporter after years of covering the business and labor beat. She joined the station in May 2012 and previously worked five years at WBEZ in Chicago, where she reported on business and the economy. Her work telling the human side of the mortgage crisis garnered awards from the Illinois Associated Press and the Chicago Headline Club. She's also reported for the Alaska Public Radio Network in Anchorage and for Bloomberg News in San Francisco.