Taking Care of Yourself During the Holidays
/Taking Care of Yourself During the Holidays
Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash
The holidays can be full of wonder and joy. They can also be overwhelming and stressful. Either way, it’s important to show yourself some love and practice good self-care throughout the holiday season.
Here are a few tips to help you take care of yourself this season.
Prioritize your well-being. This tip is number one for a reason. Many of us are so used to prioritizing everyone else that we feel guilty taking care of ourselves. The holiday season only exacerbates this as we focus our attention on our loved ones.
Prioritizing our own well-being is not selfish. It’s a necessity. If we don’t make our own well-being a priority, no one will do it for us and, more than likely, it will dampen our holiday joy when we’re left feeling depleted.
If this is a particular struggle for you, try remembering that, when you take care of yourself first, you have more to give to your friends and family.
Spend time in nature. If you love the cold weather, this one probably comes naturally. For the rest of us, it can be a struggle to get outside in the winter.
There are many mental and physical health benefits to being in nature, away from the hustle and bustle. For this reason, if you take away only this tip from this entire list, you will likely notice a significant improvement in your mood, energy level, and overall holiday spirit.
So, bundle up and get outside. Go for a walk, try snowshoeing, build a fire, watch the stars or make a snow angel. Turn your phone off and observe the sights, sounds, smells, and take a deep breath of the fresh crisp air. Notice how you feel before and after. I recommend spending at least 20 minutes a day outside to get the full health benefits.
Say ‘no.’ It sounds so simple, right? But saying ‘no’ can be a challenge on the best of days. During the holidays when we’re stressed, tired, over-stimulated and feeling the pressure of meeting everyone’s requests and expectations, we might say ‘yes’ simply because we don’t have the energy to think through what we really want and need.
Practice early and practice often. Saying ‘no’ is something we all have to get comfortable with. It’s important to get used to setting boundaries when we have the flexibility so that we don’t let them slide when we need them the most.
If saying ‘no’ is still too uncomfortable for you, begin by asking for time to respond. You can say something like, “Let me take some time to think about it and I’ll get back to you ASAP.” This will allow you the time and space to really consider whether a request is something you are able and willing to say ‘yes’ to. If not, remember that ‘no’ is a complete sentence and you don’t owe anyone an explanation. Often people are much more comfortable when we say ‘no’ than we expect.
Set a budget. We’ve all been there. We get caught up in the excitement of finding the perfect gift and the holiday sales and later feel the sinking feeling of “buyer’s remorse.” Really spend some time thinking about what you can afford to spend on gifts and events and set a realistic budget.
Remember that when it comes to gift giving it really is the thought that counts, not the price tag. And, it’s okay to opt out of the office gift exchange or the expensive holiday dinners if you need to (See tip #3).
Enjoy holiday treats mindfully. One of the purest joys of the holiday season is the food. This can be one of the biggest challenges and overindulgence can not only lead to physical consequences but emotional consequences, as well.
Enjoying holiday treats mindfully means that you are allowed to partake in your favourite holiday foods but that you will do so while staying fully present and conscious of the experience. Pay attention to your body’s signals, your motivations for eating, all of your senses, and your connection with your food.
Here are some more tips on mindful eating.
Spend time with your chosen family. Unfortunately, not all of us have the healthy relationships we desire with our family of origin. If this is the case for you, it is very likely that you have people in your life that give you the love, support and comfort that you didn’t receive from your own family. These people are what I call your chosen family.
Whether you forego the holidays with your family of origin altogether or you just need a break to be around the people that fill you up, make it a priority to spend time with your chosen family. If geography is an obstacle, set up a FaceTime or Skype date and connect with the people who “get you,” and let them know how much they mean to you.
Schedule alone time. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed and overstimulated by the constant traffic of people and social events during the holidays even for extroverts.
Taking time to be alone is critical during the holidays and often overlooked. Build alone time into your schedule whether it’s 20 minutes reading a book before bed, taking a hot bath in the morning, or going for a quiet walk after dinner.
Use this time to check-in with yourself and process any emotions you are feeling. Make it part of your routine or set a reminder on your phone.
Read a book. The holidays are a great time to catch up on some reading for pleasure or reading for personal development. Lucky for you, I have curated a list of personal development books you can check-out over the holidays. You can find it here.
This tip coincides nicely with my next tip. . .
Limit your screen time. We all know we should do it. We all catch ourselves reaching for our phones at times when we should be a little more present with ourselves and the people around us. This is just a friendly reminder of what we already know; taking a break from our phones, tablets, computers, and TVs improves our mood and gives us the gift of time.
Try leaving your phone in the car, setting it to airplane mode, setting a timer, or turning off your notifications. It will all still be there when you get back, but you might find that you enjoyed the freedom from your electronic companion a bit more than you expected.
Rest. If nothing else, get some rest. Your mind, body, and family will thank you for it. Take a nap. Go to bed early. Sleep in a little later (if you have that luxury). Just close your eyes for a few minutes. This will give you the energy to keep going and to squeeze a little more joy out of the holiday season.
Practice gratitude. Gratitude is not just a cliché or the latest wellness trend. Being grateful has been proven to improve your mood, improve sleep and even improve your immune system. If things aren’t going smoothly or you caught the seasonal flu that’s going around, it might be hard to identify something to be grateful for.
Practicing gratitude means we are opening up our awareness to the things that we often take for granted on a daily basis and noticing the many ways we are supported even when it seems like nothing is going right.
We might be grateful for a warm bed to sleep in, a body that knows how to heal itself or even the ability to enjoy a wintery sunset. The more we start to notice the things we have to be grateful for, we begin to welcome in more of what we want and focus less on our challenges.
Give it a try. Identify 3 things that you are truly grateful for and reflect on how it feels to think about these things.
Stay present in the moment. Ahh…, mindfulness; staying present in the moment. It’s so easy for any of us to worry about the future or get stuck in the past. While it can be helpful to plan for what’s to come and reflect on where you’ve been, it can also take away from being fully present and engaged in the moment.
Staying present allows us to fully embrace, absorb, and experience what is happening right now, right here, in this exact moment. It is the essence of what it means to be fully alive. We can’t expect to stay present in every moment. Yet, it is important that we find presence throughout our day to ensure that we are not missing the experiences that truly matter to us.
If you have a favourite holiday activity that you don’t want to miss, practice presence by focusing your attention on your breath. This allows you to center yourself. Then spend time taking in each of your 5 senses, what do you hear, smell, taste, feel, and see? Tell yourself, “I am going to remember and cherish this moment.”
Laugh. What makes you laugh? Your comedic cousin? Your favourite holiday movie? Sledding with the kids (or without the kids)? Reminiscing about past holidays? Whatever it is… do that! Laughter is one of the best forms of self-care.
Reflect on your achievements. Every year it feels like December sneaks up on us. Most of us are so busy throughout the year that we rarely take time to pause and reflect on how much we’ve accomplished or overcome. The holiday season is a great time to look back on the past year and acknowledge where you were this time last year and how far you’ve come. Honour and celebrate your achievements and the challenges you overcame. You deserve it!
Set an intention. Rather than a New Year resolution, consider setting an intention. An intention is less specific than a resolution but rooted in our deeper desires and values. It is our north star that guides our decisions and align our actions with our desires.
Some examples of an intention for the New Year are:
To honour my authentic self.
To get outside of my comfort zone.
To discover who I am and what I enjoy.
To assertively and unapologetically communicate my needs and desires.
To be more connected to the people and world around me.
Have your own self-care practices or an intention for the New Year? Share it below.