Is wind chill affecting you?

It’s the start of Summer, right now and I’d love to go down to the beach. The temperature isn’t exactly balmy though, and down on the coast, with a stiff breeze, the wind chill factor will make it will feel even colder. I’m better off staying put in my back garden.

The wind-chill factor is the bane of my life sometimes. On a recent trip to Mallorca, even though the temperature was around 20 degrees. I would normally be sunbathing on the beach at that temperature but the wind chill meant that I was actually too cold. I couldn’t stay on the sand for any length of time.

Why does it feel colder when it’s windy?

Apparently, when there is no wind, our bodies create a protective layer of warmth around the skin. When the wind blows across our skin, this protective layer is stripped away and we feel cooler than it actually is. The greater the difference in temperature between the wind and the air around us, the greater the loss of heat.

Reading this fact put me in mind of a similar effect. When something unexpected happens – a negative event, it naturally knocks us back. It may take time to recover, but if other aspects of life are going okay we can often regain our balance, take action where possible, and recover.

But what if life is already out of balance? If we are struggling with loneliness, lack of direction, or inability to control our lives, we may find it much harder to cope with any new problem that is thrown at us. Our protective layer has been blown away, and the more out of sync we are with our best selves, the harder it will be to bounce back.

What if you get too cold to warm up again?

I don’t know if you have noticed, but if you get cold, it is really hard to warm up again. It is so much better to wrap up in advance than it is to put layers back on once the chill has penetrated.

So the time to build your networks, take control of your life and find your direction in life is now. If things are okay, but a little ‘meh’, you may be tempted to just let it tick over. Be warned – if you do, you will be putting yourself at risk of a psychological wind chill effect.

And if you are really struggling with a bad experience, work on fulfilling your basic psychological needs. This is a vital part of the recovery process.