COLD COMFORT

You can loathe winter, or you can embrace it with these cool strategies.

- AMY MACLIN

IF THE WORD "winter" fills you with dread-the icy roads, the darkness, the freezing tempsKari Leibowitz, PhD, can relate. The author of the new book How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days always preferred summer sun. "I grew up on the Jersey Shore, a confirmed winter hater," Leibowitz says. Nevertheless, in 2014 she found herself in Tromsö, Norway, 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where the so-called polar night leaves the region in near darkness for about two months each year. Leibowitz, who was there to study how locals cope with winter, assumed that as the temperature dropped, so would the residents' emotional well-being. To her surprise, she found that instead of dreading the season, most welcomed it. "People were talking about all the things they liked about winter-coziness, firelight, warm foods," Leibowitz says. "It changes the experience when it's something you're working with rather than fighting against. And these things chipped away at my belief that winter is a limiting time of year."

Leibowitz later traveled to other chill destinations around the world, including Denmark, Scotland, and Japan, to observe how more folks adapted to wintertime. In her book, she outlines her findings, along with strategies to help winter haters everywhere warm up to the deep freeze.

Focus on Opportunities, Not Obstacles