Low energy doesn’t mean you’re lazy or broken. Especially in winter.

In this episode, we talk about how to cope on low-capacity days when everything feels heavy. The days when motivation disappears, anxiety symptoms feel louder, loneliness and isolation creep in, and even simple tasks feel overwhelming. The days when stress and guilt show up and pushing yourself only makes things worse.

You’ll learn why winter can intensify fatigue, anxiety, seasonal depression, and emotional withdrawal, and why the goal on low-energy days isn’t productivity. It’s nervous system regulation. This episode offers six gentle, supportive strategies that work without motivation, discipline, or forcing yourself to feel better.

We cover:

• Why energy drops in winter and why it’s not a personal failure

• How anxiety, stress, and guilt drain capacity

• How to lower the bar without giving up on yourself

• Micro-actions that actually help when energy is limited

• Letting rest be active instead of something you have to earn

• How to borrow regulation when self-regulation feels impossible

This is not a pep talk. It’s a permission-giving, trauma-informed episode for days when care needs to be simple.

If all you do is listen, that’s enough.

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Keywords:

• coping strategies for low energy days

• anxiety and low energy in winter

• seasonal depression and fatigue

• mental health support during winter

• coping with loneliness and isolation

• stress and emotional exhaustion

• guilt and burnout coping strategies

• low capacity days mental health

The character strengths you were born with can become a quiet, powerful pathway through depression, anxiety symptoms, seasonal depression, stress, and the loneliness and isolation that often comes with them.

In this introductory episode of the Not Broken. Equipped series, we explore the VIA (Values in Action) Character Strengths Survey. What it is, where it came from, and the science behind it. Developed through decades of research, the VIA framework identifies 24 universal character strengths found across cultures and life stages. These strengths aren’t traits you have to earn or fix. They’re capacities that exist even when life feels heavy.

We also talk honestly about the shadow side of strengths. How perseverance can turn into burnout, kindness into self-erasure, or curiosity into restlessness when the nervous system is overwhelmed. Strengths are meant to support you, not push you.

Throughout this series, each episode focuses on one character strength. How it shows up in everyday life, how it can help with depression, anxiety symptoms, isolation, loneliness, guilt, and stress.

This isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about using what’s already there.

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Take the free, Values in Action Survey and discover your Signature Character Strengths: 24 Character Strengths List | VIA Institute

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Keywords:

• depression support

• anxiety symptoms

• anxiety coping tools

• living with depression

• mental health podcast

• emotional regulation

• stress relief

January is often framed as the time to get serious about goals. But for many people living with anxiety symptoms, seasonal depression, PTSD, or chronic stress, winter brings low energy, brain fog, isolation, loneliness, and guilt instead of motivation.

In this episode, we take a trauma-informed look at goal-setting through the lens of seasonal biology. You’ll learn why winter can elevate stress hormones, reduce cognitive flexibility, and make planning feel unsafe, and why late spring and early summer are often more supportive for long-term goals.

Rather than pushing through, this conversation offers a gentler framework for winter: stabilize, rest, and protect your nervous system so you’re resourced enough to move forward when the season shifts.

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Keywords:

• anxiety symptoms

• seasonal depression

• winter depression

• mental health podcast

• trauma-informed healing

• PTSD and anxiety

• nervous system regulation

• burnout recovery

• goal setting anxiety

• New Year pressure

• winter motivation

• mental health in winter

• isolation and loneliness

• guilt and self-criticism

• emotional resilience

When anxiety symptoms rise, seasonal depression sets in, and isolation or loneliness feel heavier, many of us carry quiet guilt for needing comfort, reassurance, or rest. As we close out the Cozy in the Chaos series, this final episode brings everything together in one gentle, grounding practice. .

In this concluding episode, Lori Owens guides listeners through creating a simple hygge routine rooted in their primary love language. This personalized ritual is designed to calm the nervous system, ease anxiety symptoms, and offer steady support during seasons marked by loneliness, emotional fatigue, or seasonal depression.

Rather than pushing through or striving for more, this episode invites you to create warmth, safety, and connection in small, intentional ways. If you’ve been navigating isolation, carrying guilt for slowing down, or longing for a sense of grounded comfort, this final chapter offers a compassionate path forward—one cozy ritual at a time.

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Keywords:

• anxiety symptoms

• seasonal depression

• SADs

• loneliness

• isolation

• guilt

• nervous system regulation

• trauma-informed care

• emotional regulation

• mental health during winter

January often brings more than a new year. It brings pressure. Resolutions, expectations, and the quiet belief that you should be doing better by now. For many people living with PTSD, anxiety symptoms, or seasonal depression, this time of year can intensify loneliness, isolation, and guilt when energy is low and motivation doesn’t match the cultural push to start fresh.

In this episode, we step away from resolution culture and rethink what progress looks like in winter. Through the lens of hygge, we explore stabilization as a form of growth. Warmth, sensory comfort, and gentle routines can support the nervous system, ease anxiety symptoms, and reduce the shame that often accompanies winter isolation.

This conversation is for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the New Year, quietly struggling with seasonal depression, or carrying guilt for not keeping up with goals that never fit the season in the first place. Rather than forcing positivity or productivity, we focus on creating safety, connection, and steadiness during the coldest months.

Progress in winter doesn’t have to look like transformation. Sometimes, staying present, supported, and less alone is more than enough.

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• #SeasonalDepression

• #AnxietySymptoms

• #WinterMentalHealth

• #TraumaInformed

• #NervousSystemRegulation

• #MentalHealthPodcast

Healing from trauma, anxiety symptoms, seasonal depression, isolation, loneliness, and guilt rarely looks like a dramatic “before and after.” In this episode of Practical Solutions for PTSD, we explore why progress isn’t always loud, why quiet victories matter, and how small, subtle shifts in your nervous system can signal real healing.

You’ll learn how to recognize the gentle signs of recovery — from pausing before reacting, noticing triggers, setting small boundaries, to regaining a little more ease after difficult moments. If you’ve ever wondered, “Will healing ever come?”, this episode offers reassurance that even when progress feels slow or invisible, it is happening.

Whether you’re managing anxiety symptoms, seasonal depression, isolation, loneliness, or guilt, this episode reminds you to honor every subtle step forward. Healing doesn’t always shout — sometimes it whispers.

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Keywords/Topics: PTSD recovery, trauma healing, anxiety symptoms, seasonal depression, isolation, loneliness, guilt, quiet progress, nervous system regulation, small wins, mental health

Physical touch can be a powerful source of comfort during seasons marked by anxiety symptoms, seasonal depression (SAD), loneliness, and emotional isolation. When stress is high and connection feels harder to reach, the body often craves safety, warmth, and reassurance — not explanations or solutions.

In this episode of the Cozy in the Chaos series, host Lori Owens unpacks how the Physical Touch love language supports emotional regulation, calms the nervous system, and helps ease feelings of guilt or disconnection that often accompany anxiety and depressive seasons. Through a hygge-inspired lens, we explore how simple, safe forms of touch — like a hug, shared warmth, or gentle presence — can create grounding, restore connection, and help the body feel secure again.

This episode offers practical, compassionate insights for anyone navigating emotional overload, relationship strain, or the quiet loneliness that can come with darker seasons. Whether you’re seeking comfort for yourself or learning how to show up for someone you love, this conversation reminds you that healing doesn’t always require big changes — sometimes it begins with warmth, closeness, and feeling truly held.

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Keywords:

• anxiety symptoms

• seasonal depression

• seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

• loneliness

• emotional isolation

• physical touch love language

• hygge and mental health

• nervous system regulation

This Christmas, a small, imperfect tree became an unexpected teacher.

In this episode, we explore what a twice-rejected Christmas tree can reveal about belonging, purpose, and hope. For anyone struggling with anxiety symptoms, depression, isolation, loneliness, or guilt, this gentle Christmas reflection offers reassurance that you are not broken or forgotten.

Just as the greatest gift entered the world quietly, in a stable rather than a palace, healing often begins in humble places. Through a cozy, hygge-inspired story and a faith-centered message, this episode invites you to stop striving, release the weight of guilt, and discover the comfort of being exactly who you were created to be.

If the holidays amplify anxiety, deepen loneliness, or stir feelings of isolation or depression, this episode offers warmth, perspective, and hope found in Christ, the greatest gift of all.

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