I don’t know what’s going on at the moment, but absolutely everyone seems to be shattered.
And I’m including myself in that.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve lost count of how many people have sat down in the practice and said some variation of:
‘I’m just so tired.’
‘I could sleep all day.’
‘I don’t know why I’ve got no energy.’
There is also a LOT of yawning in my therapy room at the moment.
I choose to take that as a compliment.
I could, of course, decide that everyone finds me incredibly boring, but I much prefer the explanation that they’ve finally sat still, switched off for five minutes and their body has gone, ‘and relax, ahhh’.
And actually, November really can leave us feeling more tired.
Your body notices the darker days
Our bodies don’t simply look at the calendar, realise it’s November and decide to become difficult.
Light plays an important role in regulating our circadian rhythm, essentially our internal body clock.
That internal clock helps influence when we feel awake and alert, when we start winding down and when our body begins preparing for sleep.
Then the clocks go back.
Suddenly it’s darker in the mornings, daylight disappears ridiculously early and by late afternoon it can feel as though somebody has turned the day off.
Our brains notice that.
Melatonin, one of the hormones involved in regulating our sleep cycle, is closely linked to light and darkness. As it gets darker, melatonin levels begin to rise and help signal to the body that it is time to prepare for sleep.
So when winter gives us considerably more darkness, it perhaps isn’t surprising that some of us start feeling as though we could happily go to bed at 7pm.
The NHS also recognises the relationship between reduced winter daylight, our circadian rhythm, melatonin and seasonal changes in mood.
Why am I tired even when I’m sleeping enough?
This is probably one of the things I hear most.
‘But I’m getting eight hours.’
And sleep duration is important, but it isn’t the whole picture.
We don’t simply go unconscious for eight hours and wake up fully recharged.
Throughout the night our brains move through several different stages of sleep, including lighter sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep. The quality and continuity of those cycles matter too.
Recent UK research from the Mental Health Foundation found that the average adult reported getting good quality sleep on only three nights of the week.
So somebody can technically spend eight hours in bed and still not necessarily feel wonderfully refreshed the following morning.
Stress matters too.
If your brain is constantly busy, worrying, planning, processing and generally refusing to shut up, you can wake feeling as though you’ve been mentally working the night shift.
And then November adds darker mornings and less daylight into the mix.
No wonder everyone looks like they need a nap.
Does feeling tired in winter mean I have SAD?
Not necessarily.
Seasonal Affective Disorder, usually shortened to SAD, is a type of depression with a seasonal pattern. Symptoms can include persistent low mood, loss of enjoyment or interest in things, difficulty concentrating, changes in appetite and feeling more tired or sleeping for longer.
That is quite different from simply thinking:
I really cannot be bothered today.
Lots of people notice a change in energy and motivation during autumn and winter without having Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Sometimes we are simply adapting to a very different environment.
It’s darker.
We spend more time indoors.
We may move less.
We see less daylight.
And, by November, many people have also been running at full speed for most of the year.
Perhaps feeling a little tired isn’t always something we need to immediately turn into another personal failing.
We are very good at being annoyed with ourselves for being tired
This is something I notice quite a lot.
We don’t just feel tired.
We then become irritated with ourselves for feeling tired.
Why am I so lazy?
Why have I got no motivation?
Why can’t I just get on with things?
And suddenly tiredness has become evidence that we’re somehow failing.
But human energy isn’t supposed to remain exactly the same every day of the year.
There are times when we have loads of energy and feel motivated to do everything.
And there are other times when getting back off the sofa once we’ve put a blanket over ourselves feels frankly unreasonable.
There is probably room for both.
That doesn’t mean completely surrendering to hibernation until March.
Getting outside during daylight when possible, moving your body, keeping some consistency around sleep and waking times and continuing to do things you enjoy can all help.
But so can recognising when you genuinely need some rest.
Why do we yawn during in sessions?
This brings me back to all the yawning in my practice.
Yawning during a session is incredibly common.
People have usually arrived after work, school, parenting, studying, rushing around or simply spending the entire day thinking about seventeen things at once.
Then suddenly they’re sitting in a comfortable chair with nothing expected of them.
They start relaxing.
And the yawning begins.
Which I will continue to interpret as a glowing review of my ability to make people feel comfortable.
Another question I get very often is:
‘What happens if I start snoring during hypnosis?’
People seem genuinely worried about this.
Firstly, I really don’t care.
If you manage to relax enough in my therapy room that you start snoring, I'm taking that as another compliment.
But despite the name hypnotherapy, hypnosis isn’t actually sleep.
Most people remain aware of what I’m saying throughout the session. You might feel extremely relaxed, your thoughts may drift and you may occasionally lose track of exactly what I’ve been saying, but you are usually still aware of your surroundings.
And most people don’t snore.
Occasionally somebody does drift into sleep for a moment.
And if they do?
They probably needed it.
Sometimes your brain just needs to stop doing so much
Perhaps that is part of what so many of us are feeling in November.
It isn’t necessarily that anything is wrong.
Sometimes our brains and bodies are simply asking for a little less.
Less rushing.
Less pressure.
Less expectation that we should be endlessly productive.
And perhaps a bit more daylight, movement, rest and permission to slow down occasionally.
If your tiredness is persistent, unusually severe or accompanied by symptoms such as ongoing low mood, breathlessness, unexplained weight changes or anything else that concerns you, it is always worth speaking to your GP. Fatigue can have lots of causes and shouldn’t automatically be blamed on winter.
But if you’ve recently found yourself wondering why on earth you’re so tired when it’s only November…
You’re definitely not the only one.
And if you come into my practice and yawn?
I’ll take it personally.
In the nicest possible way.
Sources and further reading
The NHS has more information about Seasonal Affective Disorder, including the role of daylight, melatonin and circadian rhythm:
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/
The Mental Health Foundation published UK sleep research in 2025 showing that adults reported getting good quality sleep on an average of only three nights each week:
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/about-us/news/average-adult-has-only-3-days-week-good-quality-sleep