12 Ways to Take Care of Yourself Over the Holidays

12 Ways to Take Care of Yourself Over the Holidays

by Courtney Carver

If you’ve ever gotten sick or felt rundown over the holidays, you’ve experienced the fallout of holiday stress. We could attribute it to the weather, or being around more people, but we can’t ignore that the increase of colds, illness, and fatigue over the holidays is directly connected to the stress that comes with this magical time of year.

In November and December you are likely- 

   •     socializing more

   •     spending more

   •     doing more

   •     eating more

   •     sleeping less

 If self-care doesn’t come naturally, and you still insist on putting everything else before your own needs, you probably go into over-serving mode during the holidays. You go out of your way to make sure everything is ready, and everyone has the “best holiday ever.” Sound familiar?

If you fall into that camp, or if you are just interested in taking extra good care of yourself over the next 2 months, try one of these 12 simple ways to take care of yourself during the holidays.

1. Morning Routine

If every day, you make a little time for yourself first thing, you can move through your day with more grace and intention. Your morning routine might only be 5 minutes long to start, but even that will help. Use the time to sit quietly with a cup of tea, meditate, journal, walk, or include other activities that feed your body, mind, heart, and soul.

2. Candlelight

I love listening to music with candles burning or just sitting quietly in candlelight. As the days get darker, add light to your day.

3. Take a walk

Go outside and take a walk. Bundle up if it’s cold and head out with the intention of noticing the magic. Don’t worry about burning calories or tracking steps, just enjoy yourself.

4. Eat well

Indulge in your favorite holiday treats, but eat really well during 85-90% of the time. Eat greens at every meal, even breakfast. Don’t eat the junk you don’t really care about just because it’s there, and savor the first few bites of your all time favorites. You’re an adult now so you don’t have to clear your plate, try everything, or eat as if you’ll never get another chance. This isn’t the only time of year to eat cookies. (that’s mostly a reminder for me)

5. Write

Emotions run high during the holidays, but much of what runs through our heads never needs to be said out-loud. Instead, write it down. Write down how you are feeling, and what makes you happy, sad, angry, or frustrated. Putting it on paper gives you a chance to clear your mind and move through your day with less bottled up stress.

6. Nap

Give your body and brain a chance to recharge on those go-go-go holiday marathon days. Even 20 minutes will make a big difference.

7.  Respect your budget

Once you figure out what you can spend on extras like holiday gifts, events, and other holiday things, honor that. If you splurge now, you pay even more later. And later comes sooner than you think.

8. Only decorate with your favorite things

If you’ve been accumulating holiday decor for years, or decades, chances are your most meaningful, favorite things don’t get a chance to stand out. Start by only decorating with your favorite things instead of all the things. If that resonates with you, box up the rest or donate it if you love the simpler holiday wonderland you create.

9. Breathe

Frustrated? Breathe in. Breathe out. Worried? Breathe in. Breathe out. Overwhelmed? Breathe in. Breathe out. Confused? Breathe in. Breathe out. Exhausted? Breathe in. Breathe out. Start there and you can often avoid over-thinking and over-reacting.

10. Be grateful

Directing more of our attention towards gratitude for the things that make our lives wonderful are scientifically proven to make us healthier, more energetic, less stressed and anxious, and help us get better sleep.

 11. Let go

There are benefits to moving through life, work, and relationships with a lighter step, a lighter look, and a lighter heart. If we want to be light, we have to let go.

12.  Full stop

If you’ve already overdone it, consider a full stop. Sometimes backing off isn’t enough. Take a whole day to yourself and vow to do nothing more than take care of yourself all day long.

Take care of yourself over the holidays. It’s the best gift you can give yourself and everyone you love. 

8 Tips for Dealing With Difficult Relatives During the Holidays (By Gretchen Rubin)

The holiday season tends to be a time when we focus on home. Maybe you’re going “home” to where you grew up—which may be fun for you, or not. Maybe you’re making an effort to arrange the holidays the way you experienced them as a child—or the opposite. Maybe you’re feeling sad, or happy, about whom you will or won’t be seeing.

It seems that one of the biggest happiness challenges of the holidays is dealing with difficult relatives. You want to have a nice dinner, but Uncle Bobby makes you crazy. What to do?

1. Plan ahead.

Spend a few minutes thinking about how youwant to behave ahead of time. If you’ve had unpleasant experiences in the past, think about whythey were unpleasant and what you could do to change the dynamics of the situation. Get more sleep. Give yourself more travel time. Choose a seat far away from Uncle Bobby.

2. Be conscientious.

Think about how topics that seem innocuous to you might upset someone else. You may think you’re showing a polite interest, but some questions will rub a person the wrong way: “So do you have a girlfriend yet?” “When are you two going to get married/start a family?” “Can you afford that?” Show an interest with more open-ended questions, like “What are you up to these days?” or “What’s keeping you busy?” 

3. Avoid drama.

Some families enjoy arguing passionately amongst themselves; however, most don’t handle arguments very well. If you know Uncle Bobby’s view of the election is going to drive you crazy, don’t bring it up! And if he brings it up, you don’t have to engage. Try to make a joke of it, and say something like, “Let’s agree to disagree,” “Let’s not talk about that, and give the rest of the family something to be thankful for,” etc.

4. Drink in moderation.

It can seem festive and fun to fill up your glass, but it’s easy to lose track of how much you’re drinking. Alcohol makes some people feel merry, but it also makes some people feel combative, or self-pitying, or lowers their inhibitions in a destructive way.

5. Be accommodating.

For some people, traditions are very, very important; for others, no. You may feel irritated by your brother’s insistence on having exactly the same food every Thanksgiving, or by your mother’s extreme reaction to your suggestion that you eat dinner an hour earlier. Try to be patient and play your part. In the long run, traditions and ritualstend to help sustain happiness and family bonds. On the other hand…

6. Let go and let live.

If you’re the one who wants everything to be perfect, try to ease up on yourself and everyone else, so you can enjoy the day, whatever happens. Even if the day isn’t exactly the way you hoped it would be, try to enjoy what it is.

7. Find some fun.

Just because something is fun for someone elsedoesn’t mean it’s fun for you, and vice versa. If the time with your relatives is meant to be fun, make sure you’re spending at least some time doing something that’s fun for you. Working in the kitchen, playing touch football, sitting around talking, running errands, watching the parade on TV—these things may or may not be fun for you, no matter how the rest of the family feels.

 8. Find reasons to be grateful.

Be thankful that you get to cook, or that you don’t have to cook. Be thankful that you get to travel, or that you don’t have to travel. Be thankful for your family or your friends. Be grateful for electricity and running water. Find something. Studies show that gratitude is a major happiness booster.Also, feeling grateful toward someone crowds out emotions like resentment and annoyance.

Wait, you might be thinking, these strategies don’t tell me how to deal with my difficult relatives—they tell me how to behave myself. Well, guess what? You can’t change what your relatives are going to do; you can only change yourself.But when youchange, a relationship changes as well.

10 SCIENCE-BACKED HABITS PROVEN TO RECHARGE YOUR LIFE

10 SCIENCE-BACKED HABITS PROVEN TO RECHARGE YOUR LIFE     

When you take time for self-care, you have more energy. When you have more energy, you are more productive. When you’re productive, your mood improves. When your mood improves, your confidence grows. When your confidence grows, you make more time for self-care. Rinse and repeat.

CHOOSE ONE OF THESE EVIDENCE-BASED ACTIVITIES AND MAKE IT A PART OF YOUR ROUTINE THIS WEEK. 

1. DETOX FROM NEWS AND SOCIAL MEDIA 

Stay away for an hour or stay away for a week, but remove yourself from the toxic news space, and never start your day reading the headlines. 

2. SPEND TIME IN NATURE 

Exposure to green space reduces risk for many chronic diseases and improves overall good health. So hit the trails and feel better. 

3. EXERCISE

You know it improves your heart, but did you know it improves your brain? Exercise clears brain fog, while improving memory and focus. 

4. MEDITATE FOR 10 MINUTES 

Even a few minutes a day to sit quietly can make a difference. MRIs find that brain benefits last long after the meditation session has ended. 

5. TAKE DEEP BREATHS

Relax your shoulders. Inhale to the count of 5. Hold for 5. Exhale to the count of 5. See what a difference that makes in how your body feels. 

6. TAKE A LONG BATH 

If you don’t have a bathtub, soak your feet or try a cold shower. Feel refreshed. 

7. SAY THANK YOU

Make a list of 10 things you are grateful for. Be specific. When you focus on what’s going well in your life, it takes power away from what isn’t.

8. SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO SUPPORT YOU

Bonus points if there are hugs and laughter involved. Connection reduces stress and improves your mental wellbeing. 

9. FUEL YOUR BODY

When you’re good to your body, your body pays you back. Eat whole foods that fuel you. 

10. MAKE TIME FOR A HOBBY 

Not every part of life has to be a hustle. Hobbies reduce stress, improve creativity, and boost mood. Make time to do something you love. 

By Mel Robbins

7 Stress-Relieving Intentions To Set This Fall!

Article by Ko Im

We're all getting back into the grind, but the fall—aka the start of school, a new quarter, Fashion Week, pumpkin spice latte season—doesn't have to feel so frenetic.

Setting intentions can help, especially in the swirl of autumn. They give us a second to pause and anchor the day, the week, even the entire season. They can help us take a moment, stick to our goals, and accomplish our dreams.

You can repeat intentions as a stress-managing mantra meditation any time of the day—as many times as you need.

An intention shouldn't feel like dead weight or hard-and-fast rules, but a kind reminder. You can set an intention or repeat intentions as a stress-management mantra meditation any time of the day for as many times as you need. Or, write them down and post them somewhere you can see them, as they surprise and delight you—like on the kitchen fridge, in your bathroom mirror, or even as a background for your phone.

Here are a few starter intentions and how to live them:

I will pay attention.

It's easy to lose sight of things when there are a lot of obligations, tasks, and people to manage. Pay attention to what's grabbing your attention. Take a step back with a mental snapshot, look at the big picture, then narrow down into the necessary details. Listen to what's going on around you and within you, so you don't miss anything. 

I will slow down.

We're already lamenting on summer's passing, and time may feel like it's zooming by. Slowing yourself down helps change the pacing of your day. It's nourishing to find a few moments when you can take it down a notch. Move as if you're in slow motion instead of rushing. Or find a few minutes to sit down to catch the chaos around you instead of adding to it. Plowing through the bucket list can feel great, but you can also be the eye of the storm when it comes by.

I will remember to take care of myself.

Taking a timeout isn't just for kids. You have to take care of yourself to take care of others. Recharge by carving out some time in your schedule—in advance—for solo, quiet, or even bath time, or by taking advantage when a time slot arises.

I will stay grounded.

Stick with your passions, principles, and must-do's so you can prioritize. Having boundaries with friends and other commitments is a healthy way to maintain a sense of balance and centering, so you don't feel pushed, taken advantage of, or out of sync. Plant your symbolic feet on the ground and feel free to walk away.

I will celebrate small wins.

Making it every day and every season is a huge accomplishment! It's so easy to get down on ourselves when we don't get anything, or all of it, done. One small step and win at a time. We are always evolving.

I will be flexible.

On that note, not everything will go our way every time. Don't get bogged down by the inevitable changes, schedules, and, let's say, traffic, that is out of our control. Instead, pivot with them and make it a chance to practice your creativity and management skills. Face a new task or challenge with ease and focus rather than frantic energy. Flexibility is strength. Stretch your mind.

I will move with love.

Why are you doing what you're doing? How are you doing it? Bringing compassion vs. criticism into your everyday can have a significant impact on your thoughts and, therefore, your moods. Gather the love without judgment in your life.

Set your intentions, and flow freely through the fall. Pick the ones that speak to you, or feel free to shift them as needed. Move forward—with intention.

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