Fresh Take: Dr. Greg Hammer on the Winter Blues—and How Mindfulness Can Help

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood

Kids & Family, Comedy, Parenting

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why does winter affect our mood—and why are teens especially vulnerable? Amy talks with Dr. Greg Hammer, author of the book A MINDFUL TEEN, about the science behind the winter blues, teen mental health, and how simple mindfulness practices can help families feel better. Dr. Hammer explains how reduced sunlight, disrupted sleep, less physical activity, and holiday stress all contribute to seasonal mood changes—and why teens, who are already sleep-deprived and under pressure, can struggle even more during the winter months. The conversation explores the difference between everyday winter blues and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and when parents should consider professional support. Amy and Dr. Hammer also discuss the definition of "mindfulness" and the GAIN method—Dr. Hammer's practical, accessible framework built around Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and Non-Judgment. Dr. Hammer shares how mindfulness can be practiced in as little as three minutes a day, why self-judgment fuels stress and burnout, and how parents can model emotional regulation without lecturing their teens. Here's where you can find Dr. Hammer: www.greghammermd.com www.amindfulteen.com Buy A MINDFUL TEEN: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9798881806118 @greghammermd on IG What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables. We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/ What Fresh Hell podcast, mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, winter blues, seasonal affective disorder, mindfulness for teens, teen mental health, parenting teenagers, teen anxiety and depression, mindfulness practice, mental health in winter, Dr. Greg Hammer, A Mindful Teen book Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:04.8	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand.
0:12.4	Marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time.
0:17.4	From startups to scaleups, online, in person, and on the go. Shopify is made for
0:22.8	entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:32.5	Hey everybody. Welcome to Fresh Take from What Fresh Hell Laughing in the Face of Motherhood. This is Amy.
0:55.4	Today I'm talking to Dr. Greg Hammer, a recently retired professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, a pediatric intensive care physician, pediatric anesthesiologist, and a wellness and mindfulness lecturer. Greg has been a visiting professor and lecturer on wellness at institutions worldwide. Today, we're going to be talking about the winter blues and about his latest book,
1:02.3	A Mindful Teen, Helping Today's Teenagers Thrive Through Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and
1:09.0	Non-judgment. Welcome, Greg. Wonderful to be with you. So let's start
1:13.7	with the winter blues. Everybody knows what they are. We're soaking in it, as we like to say. We all
1:18.0	feel it. But why? What does this happen? Why does winter make us more prone to these feelings?
1:22.8	I think really there are several reasons. One is that we just don't get enough sunlight in many cases,
1:29.4	depending on where we live, of course, to some extent. And light is so important. When I moved to
1:34.7	California from Chicago, I actually was just taken aback by the brilliance of the light here, the
1:41.2	brightness of the blue in the sky and the brilliance of the green all around
1:46.6	me. And I realized how important light is. And especially to me, I'm somebody who's very much
1:52.2	affected by my surroundings, visual as far as sound, et cetera. So I think one issue in the winter
1:59.8	is that we just don't get enough sunlight. Light is a very
2:02.6	interesting physical phenomenon actually. You know, our visual spectrum goes from violet on the short
2:09.6	wavelength end to red on the long wavelength and beyond that it's infrared which we don't see and ultraviolet which we don't see.
2:19.8	Blue light, as many people know, is very activating and that's why people wear blue light blocking
2:25.9	glasses when they're looking at a computer screen, especially at night when they don't want to be
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.