Winter Survival Guide

Between holiday stress, grim weather, and seasonal depression, winter can be a difficult time for a lot of us. It’s easy to curl up in a blanket and wait for spring. However, trying to hibernate isn’t always the best choice for your body or your mood. 

Reduced levels of sunlight in fall and winter disrupt your body’s circadian rhythm and your routine. Less sunlight can also cause a decrease in serotonin, a brain chemical that affects your mood, and an increase in melatonin, which makes you feel tired. This is especially difficult because our life schedules—school, work, and other commitments—don’t shift to accommodate seasonal changes.  

One of the best things you can do for yourself this winter is maintaining a healthy routine in your everyday life. Here are some tips and resources to help you look after your mental and physical selves this season. 

It’s easy to stick to carbs and sweets while you feel like sleeping all day, but maintaining a healthy diet will make your body and mind feel better and strengthen your immune system.

The best way to make sure your body gets everything it needs is to plan meals and prep ahead so you don’t run out of food mid-week. When you’re making a menu, keep in mind: 

• Fruit and veggies. Fruit and vegetables contain important antioxidants (and taste delicious). If fresh produce is hard to find, frozen and canned fruit and vegetables contain many of the same nutrients. 

• Garlic. Garlic not only tastes great, but it helps your body fight disease. Dice up a few cloves and toss it in your pasta sauce, soup, or stir-fry. 

• Vitamin D. During the darkest months of the year, your body can quickly become vitamin D deficient, which causes bone pain, muscle weakness, and makes you susceptible to a whole slew of health problems. Fish, mushrooms, egg yolks, and fortified orange juice are all great ways to treat yourself to some vitamin D. 

• Spinach (and other leafy greens). Green leafy vegetables are rich in iron and zinc, which boost your immune system against viruses--really important right now! If spinach and kale aren’t your favorite snacks, toss them into a soup or stir fry and you’ll barely notice. 

• Citrus. No one wants scurvy this holiday season. Citrus fruit like oranges and clementines, along with sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and red peppers, are an important source of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps strengthen your immune system and improves your energy levels. 

• Don’t forget to hydrate. It might be the season of hot chocolate and cider, but your body needs water too. Spice up your plain H2O with some chopped berries or cucumber for a fancy twist.

Another important thing to include in your winter routine is exercise. Studies suggest that 30-40 minutes of moderate physical intensity a day can have long-lasting positive effects on your mood and health, so don’t let the cold weather stop you! 

Try seeking out an exercise partner to keep you motivated and make time to exercise in the morning or on your lunch break when it’s still light. Even if you’re following a Zumba video in your living room, exercising during the daytime helps you stay focused and complete your workout. You can also plan four ten-minute dance breaks to groove along to favorite songs throughout the day, or mini-yoga sessions. Exercise doesn’t have to feel daunting. You can break it up into small, doable chunks of time. 

Some ways you can incorporate mental wellbeing into your daily winter routine: 

• Shift your schedule to accommodate the sun. Spending time outside, especially within two hours of waking up, is incredibly important. Wake up early and go for a walk before your commitments or make sure you’re blocking off an hour to soak up the sun during your lunch break. 

• Welcome light into your home. Open your blinds, set up a workspace in the sunniest spot in your house, and make sure you have plenty of lamps for when the sun goes down.

• Practice affirmations. You can write, speak, or simply focus on a phrase that promotes positive thinking and manifesting joy. 

• Meditate with your favorite app (we love Calm, Headspace, and InsightTimer), a YouTube video, or guide yourself on a short daily meditation to center and focus yourself. Start with 3-5 minutes a day right when you wake up. As you get more comfortable, try meditating a little longer until you feel completely settled. 

• Join an online community. Whether it’s a Discord for Animal Crossing, a Zoom knitting club, or a Facebook mindfulness group, dependable activities from the safety of your home gives you something to look forward to every week.

Winter can feel long with the dark, cold nights, but there is still a lot of light and joy to be found if you know how to look for it.

What are your favorite ways to get through the season? Let us know in the comments below. 

Voting 101

A Comprehensive Guide to Everything from Registration to Mail-In Ballots

Elections are complicated in the best of times. Like everything else, 2020 is making them more challenging to navigate. Luckily, we’ve got your back whether you’re a first-time voter, changing your registration, or just trying to figure out how COVID-19 will affect election day for all of us. 

Not sure if you’re already registered to vote? Check your status by selecting your state here. 

How to Register

If you’re a first time voter, visit vote.gov. While 40 states plus the District of Columbia let you register online, these states require a mailed-in registration form:

• Arkansas

• Maine

• Mississippi 

• Montana 

• New Hampshire 

• New Jersey 

• North Dakota 

• South Dakota

• Texas

• Wyoming 

Find your state’s online registration system here. 

If you live in Arkansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, or Wyoming or don’t have access to a computer, you can download the National Mail Voter Registration Form in 15 languages here. Mail in your application to the address listed under your State in the State Instructions. Or, deliver the application in person to your local voter registration office.

What You Need to Register

1. Full name, address, and contact information 

2. A current and valid photo identification, such a driver’s license or passport that shows your ID number from a driver’s license, passport, passport card, or social security card 

   or

   A current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or government document that shows your name and address.

Even with all this documentation on file, your state may have additional identificationrequirements once you get to the polls, especially if you’re a first time voter or live in an area with strict voter fraud laws. 

In some states, you have to register with a party in order to vote in primary elections because there are different ballots for Democratic candidates vs. Republicans. If you don’t want to register with a party, leave the box blank on the registration form. 

If you do not register with a party, you can still vote in general elections and nonpartisan primary elections, but not primary elections. If you register with no party but change your mind, you can always change your party affiliation later. 

What is a Sample Ballot? And Where Do You Find Yours? 

The candidates and issues you’re voting on aren’t a secret! That’s where a sample ballot comes in. Even in a presidential election, there are more issues on the ballot then you might expect and it's always good to be prepared. Get ready for state and local amendments by looking up a sample ballot (ballotpedia.org) to get a preview of exactly what your ballot will look like on election day. 

Most candidates have websites or Facebook profiles, and local publications will often profile them as well. Vote411.org and usa.gov/voter-research are great resources for getting information on all kinds of candidates and issues. 

Doing 15 minutes of research on elections you’re not familiar with can make a huge difference. Maybe there’s a tight race for School Board seats or an amendment to increase minimum wage. While these issues aren’t as exciting as voting for the president, they’ll still have a big impact on your community. Being involved in local elections is a tangible way to make your civic voice heard on a level you can more easily access as a young person. 

How Do You Get Your Absentee Ballot (if You Need One)? 

An absentee ballot is exactly the same as a ballot you would receive at a polling station on the day of an election. Instead of filling it out at a designated school or gym, you fill out yours at home and mail it to your local election office. 

Absentee ballots are important if you’ve moved temporarily or are attending college in a different state—or if you experience accessibility or health challenges that restrict you from physically going to your polling place. This year, most states are allowing COVID-19 as a valid reason to vote by absentee ballot, so prepare to receive and send your ballot in early!

You can request a mail-in ballot with an application on your state’s voting website, which you can find by filling out a form at vote.org here. Then fill out the application and submit the request to your local election office. Do this far in advance and check your state’s mail-in ballot deadlines. 

Vote.org has a great list of absentee ballot deadlines by state. Just remember: Absentee ballot applications must be received by the deadline, not just postmarked by the deadline.

You can mail your ballot in or drop it off at your local election office, which is more secure and guarantees your ballot makes it in on time. 

Voting in Person 

If you want to get that “I Voted” sticker in person, check your local polling place and their COVID-19 guidelines. Many cities and states have changed their polling locations as a result of the pandemic, so you might have to travel farther than normal to cast your ballot. You can check your polling place here.

Bring a valid photo ID and/or an official document with your name and address in case you need them. We recommend voting early or mid-day if you can to avoid the afterwork crowds. Make sure to wear a mask and give yourself plenty of time to wait in line. The polls officially close at 8pm, but as long as you’re in line by then, you can still cast your vote! 

Important Dates for the 2020 Presidential Election 

November 2nd —  Mail-in ballots are due (either postmarked or delivered by, depending on your state), by November 2nd in AL, IA, LA, MS, NY, ND, OH, or UT

November 3rd — Mail-in ballots are due in AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NC, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY. 

November 3rd — In person voting in all states. 

Want to Become a Voting Genius?

Here are some more ways you can prepare for the fall election season and practice civic engagement in your everyday life: 

• Attend city council and school board meetings

• Call or email your elected or prospective officials

• Volunteer for the candidates you feel passionately about 

• Watch debates—especially for local and state officials!

How to Respond to Community Tragedies

Because life doesn’t exist without loss, it’s important to know how you can respond to the tragedies that occur globally and in your backyard. It’s important to give yourself permission to grieve. It’s normal to be upset and anxious over large issues like the pandemic, police brutality, and wildfires. Tragedies remain with us, but they don’t have to define or derail us. We can find ways to uplift ourselves and our communities in times of chaos. 

Here are some ways you can take care of yourself and support others: 

1. Accept and Understand Symptoms of Stress

Stress isn’t an emotional state you need to rush through. Allow yourself and your loved ones space to feel and process difficult, uncomfortable emotions as they occur. These feelings might not look the way you expect them to, and they might manifest differently in our friends and family than they do in us. Be gentle with yourself. Be gentle with others. 

Symptoms of stress include: 

• Disbelief and shock 

• Panic attacks 

• Crying episodes 

• Disorientation 

• Difficulty making decisions or concentrating 

• Changes in appetite 

• Insomnia and nightmares 

• Emotional numbing 

• Irritability and anger 

• Headaches, back pain, stomach problems 

Allowing yourself to address the source of the stress rather than treat the symptoms individually will help your whole body work again in union. 

2. Stay in Touch

Make time to connect with friends and family, even if it feels too difficult to initially reach out. Write a letter, send a snapchat, or set up a phone call. Check in with each other. Create a space where you can process together. 

3. Care for Your Physical and Emotional Needs

While taking care of your responsibilities and loved ones is important and can be deeply rewarding, it’s vital that you meet your own needs and accept love and support from others. Are you getting enough sleep, exercise, mood-lifting foods in your diet? Take one thing at a time. You don’t need to be as productive, busy, and creative as you are in times of certainty (and you don’t have to shame yourself if your productivity remains the same). We’re all different in how we respond to tragedies. Take time to nourish yourself. Take news breaks, enjoy a walk, journal, watch a funny TV show, or do anything else that replenishes your being. 

4. Embrace Familiarity

Stick to familiar routines as much as possible, even if you’re displaced or your life is interrupted. Find stability in the instability. Can you keep going to bed at the same time? Can you eat your meals at the same time? Keep the rhythm of your life as much as you can as you process. 

5. Give and Receive Help

If you are able, help. Tragedies can ignite outpourings of support in our communities. Sometimes the outpourings are short spurts. Once the collective attention shifts, can you keep helping? Can you give blood, volunteer with an aid group to prepare care packages, or donate to individuals in need or organizations that are helping people on a scale you can’t. Be a helper in what ways you can.  

Six Ways to Recycle Your Footwear

It’s easy to wear out soles in a few months and shred zippers when you’re a speed walker or you live an active life. Even if you’re not a footwear demolisher, with autumn approaching your wardrobe is probably ready for a change. Whether it’s back to school or back to Zoom conference calls, now might be the time to retire your old footwear.

If you’re ready to say goodbye to your formerly crisp white Converse, you have a few options (besides the dumpster) to make room in your closet and give your running shoes a beautiful new life:

1) Support an Entrepreneur

Soles4Souls not only donates your unwanted shoes and clothes to families in need, they actively help break the cycle of poverty in communities across the U.S. and around the world. Soles4Souls empowers and supports entrepreneurs, especially women, in under-resourced communities in launching their own small businesses (selling donated shoes and clothes). In Haiti and Honduras, one donated pair of shoes can help provide food, shelter, and education for a family for one day.

Soles4Souls also protects the environment by reusing shoes and clothes. They keep products out of landfills, lower the carbon footprint of small businesses by providing them with donated items, and use your Adidas to put money into struggling economies. It’s a win on all sides.

If you’re super into Soles4Souls, you can set up a dedicated shoe drive to give more than the contents of your closet or buy a super cute T-shirt from their website to show your support.

2) Make Some Turf

If you’re too much of a sole crusher to donate your shoes, Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program accepts even the most ragged running shoes and has donation centers in stores around North America and Europe. Salvaging materials from worn-out athletic shoes, Nike creates new footwear as well as builds walkways, turf fields, courts, tracks, and playtops for playgrounds. 

Reuse-A-Shoe is part of Nike Grand, an initiative by the company to move toward zero carbon and zero waste manufacturing to help protect the future of sports. You can nerd out by reading their Climate and Sport Study through Climate Impact Lab, which exhibits the connection between a stable climate and high athletic performance. 

Reuse-A-Shoe accepts any brand of athletic sneakers, but unlike Souls4Souls, cannot accept dress shoes, flip flops, booties, or anything else you wouldn’t go to the gym in.

You can find your local Nike donation center here.

3) Give a Runner New Kicks

Purchased the wrong size of sneakers and too late to return them? You can donate those too. Your new or near-new sneakers can be donated to One World Running, which donates sneakers to runners around the world. One World Running is a Colorado-based, 100% volunteer organization. They collect soccer cleats and sports equipment in addition to running shoes and organize 5K walk-run events to promote health, fitness, and an exercise community across the world.

Each $195 One World Running raises sends 50 pairs of shoes to sub-Saharan Africa. The same amount of money sends 100 pairs of shoes to runners in Haiti and Central America.

As a volunteer nonprofit a little bit smaller than Nike, One World Running’s donation centers are less readily available. You can check out a drop-off center list on their website or mail your shoes directly to them.

4) DIY Your Shoes

You can always revive instead of recycle. Sometimes just replacing the laces can make an old pair of sneakers look like they've just stepped out of the box. You can also try finding a local cobbler to fix your boots in time for fall or buy new soles and insert them yourself. Get a refurbishment kit and start a new hobby restoring Doc Martens. 

In this video I'll show you how to paint simple white canvas shoes and make them into beautiful colorful ones. I hope you are able to follow my instructions ...

If you’re feeling extra ambitious, you can join the trend of painting Canvas shoes with everything from Disney characters to Van Gogh masterpieces. Instead of paying for a wine and paint night, get some friends, a bottle of whatever you have, and go to town turning your faded Vans into a homage to your favorite TV show.

5) Stock a Thrift Shop

It might be time to give back to your neighborhood thrift store. Most thrift stores accept donations of gently used clothes and shoes for store credit so you can turn around and buy those embroidered jeans you’ve had your eye on. Some big thrift chains like Buffalo Exchange will even pay you! They’re more selective and might not take everything you want to get out of your wardrobe, but you can make a drop-off appointment at your nearest store here.

Poshmark and ThredUp are other good options to sell used clothes without ever leaving the house. If handling your own sales is too much work, Buffalo Exchange also has a Sell By Mail program so you can buy and sell clothes in quarantine.

6) Start a Garden

If you’re unable to drop your shoes off or mail them to Souls4Soles, Nike, or One World Running, you can always repurpose your footwear as planters! Flowerpot shoes or boots are a fun and inexpensive way to spruce up your decor and give your succulents a comfy new home.

Vintage, leather, or other quirky shoes make great displays for cut flowers. Just fill a small vase with water and your preferred plant food, secure it into your boot, and admire. A cowboy boot full of sunflowers would be a fun centerpiece for a picnic or brunch date. Who needs mason jars when your desk can have roses in a granny boot?

For longer term plant homes, you can easily DIY a pair of old rain boots or other sturdy rubber shoes into inexpensive planters for your living room or your garden. Fresh Patio has a tutorial we love, and there are tons of inspirational pics on Pinterest. They make us wish we still had our iconic frog boots from kindergarten.

 Whether you want to spread some good, make a little cash, or turn your living room into a quirky jungle, there are tons of options to give your unwanted footwear a new life this fall. And you’re making the planet a better place while you do it!

What’s your favorite way to reuse old clothes and footwear? Let us know in the comments below!

A Conversation with Afro Flow Yoga Founders Leslie Salmon Jones and Jeff W. Jones

Afro Flow Yoga Founders Leslie Salmon Jones and Jeff. W. Jones stand firmly rooted in intertwined tree pose.

Q: How would you describe Afro Flow Yoga to someone who's never done it? 

A: Afro Flow Yoga is a practice of yoga, dance, and live music that's open to everyone! All ages, level, genders, sizes, races, abilities, and socioeconomic backgrounds are welcome in a non-judgmental environment. It's a safe space where you can be yourself and find freedom of self expression without being and feeling judged. It's a heart opening experience that helps to release stress and anxiety and create a compassionate connection between self, others, and the earth, raising the vibration of love.

Q: Where did the idea for Afro Flow Yoga come from? How did it manifest?

A: After having long careers—Leslie as a wellness professional, dancer, and activist—Jeff as a professional musician and engineer, and having traveled throughout Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean in pursuit of understanding our ancestry, we were inspired to combine our gifts by creating Afro Flow Yoga which integrates the practices we love and has helped us both grow and heal along our journeys.

Q: Can you talk about some of your proudest moments?

A: An example of our proudest moments was teaching Afro Flow Yoga at the Bali Spirit Festival in 2017 in Bali Indonesia. We had approximately 200 people in a circle speaking different languages, having different abilities, and being different sizes and ages. The power of the drums along with the movement creates a universal expression that transcends cultural barriers. Bringing people together from many corners of earth and all walks of life in a circle is part of our Afro Flow Yoga mission. Seeing people bond during and after each session is gratifying. Afro Flow Yoga is a heart opening, non judgmental experience. Often times, when people first come to the practice, whether they are in our youth groups, retreat setting, trauma healing or during a workshop etc, there is a natural tendency to feel resistant and fearful of trying something new.  Over the past decade, we've had the honor of witnessing several moments of transformation as people experience the freedom of self expression and self acceptance and are pleasantly surprised with how well they did and how much they enjoyed the experience.  We have built a beautiful diverse community of people who are committed to self care, caring for others and our planet.

Q: What motivates you both? 

A: Our connection to the community keeps us going and flowing; when we witness people benefiting and thriving from the practice of Afro Flow Yoga, connecting to their truth, their gifts, promise, and potential—and most importantly with each other, it's exciting to see the community grow and thrive in an organic way. We love when people embody the practice of AFY off the mats and incorporate the practices in their everyday lives and therefore spread the love.

Q: Can you talk about your latest weekly online class offerings? 

A: Once COVID happened, we converted our living room into a studio and have been live streaming Afro Flow Yoga from our virtual platform, on FB and IG every Sunday at 1:30 - 2:30pm EDT. The classes are by donation and we choose a charity each week to donate partial proceeds. So far we've raised funds for NOKIDHUNGRY.org, etc... and have donated approximately 6,000 meals through FeedingAmerica.org.

Q: That’s amazing. On the subject of Covid, what's something easy people struggling during this time can do to release some of that tension and stress?

A: Breathe! Breath is life. It's essential to our well-being, and it's a practice that’s portable. There are many benefits to having a daily breathing practice. For example, when we focus on our breath, it not only calms the nervous system but it also brings our awareness to the present moment, relieving anxiety of the future and pains of the past. Also, a simple practice of gratitude can help relieve stress. For example, starting each day off by focusing on one thing you're grateful for and continuing to build a list can set you up for an attitude of gratitude.

Q: What's a lesson you've both learned that changes the way you view the world? 

A: No matter where you are in the world, what your background is, how much money and success you have, COVID is teaching us that we are all connected. For every action there is a reaction. This is a moment in history to take a pause and reflect on what connects us rather than focus on what divides us. Everyone is born with unique gifts and has something to offer the world.  

Q: What are you both looking forward to?

A: Continuing to grow our online community and spreading the practice of Afro Flow Yoga around the world. We're looking forward to the day there is more balance, harmony, and peace in this world and all Beings will be free.

ProjectME loves partnering up with Afro Flow Yoga to offer free yoga to participants. To attend the upcoming class led by the stunning Leslie Salmon Jones and Jeff W. Jones this Saturday, May 9th at 4:30PM Est, register here. If you can (and only if you can) we encourage donating to Prevent Child Abuse America. Either way, we are delighted to look forward to seeing you this Saturday. Thank you Leslie Salmon Jones and Jeff W. Jones and their Afro Flow Yoga team in continuing to spread the light!