It’s been an interesting few weeks! I’ve been to Canada and the UK, as a family we’ve been supporting my Mum’s recovery from a fractured spine and pelvis and work has continued in the midst of all of it. And the holiday season is upon us!
It’s been a busy time! And I know from my own experiences and from conversations with clients this week, that it’s very easy to get caught up in the holiday hustle and to lose connection with yourself, your needs and what supports you to be at your best no matter what is going on in your life.
So today I want to share with you some thoughts and tools that have been supporting me, and that I trust will support you, to navigate this holiday season with a sense of calm and ease. I invite you to approach the holidays with intention, care, and a deep commitment to honouring your own wellbeing while also being able to enjoy the festive season.
To that end, let’s just clarify from the outset that self-care and equally important, self-love, are not selfish. Self-care and self-love form the foundation that allows you to fully show up for yourself and others, especially during this busy and meaningful time. You can read more about both in this earlier blog. For today, please know that when you are at your best personally, you are much more likely to be able to be present with and for others.
Here are three practical and compassionate ways to support your self-care and self-love during the holiday season.
Set Your Intention
What would you love to experience this holiday season? It’s easy to say “yes” to everything during the holidays: invitations, obligations, and traditions that may not align with your current energy or needs. What would you love? Even if it is different to how things have been up until now, your willingness to be intentional about what you’d love to experience this year over the holiday season is the first step in creating that outcome.
For me, I love the holiday season as down time. I grew up in a shop and the only two days of the year that we were closed was Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day. As a result, I always see Stephen’s Day as a pyjama day, even before pyjama days became a thing! And to be honest, in recent years, I’ve failed to have my pyjama day on the 26th and it just doesn’t work for me! This year, our usual St Stephen’s Day commitments are being nudged a bit later into the holidays and I’m taking my pyjama day – it’s official now that it’s here in black and white. I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that I have put in place a strategy to make that work. I honestly believe it will set me up to enter 2025 with a whole new level of pep in my step.
So what would you love?
Maybe you want time in nature, time at home by the fire? Time alone or time with others? Maybe you want to dance your socks off in a club more nights than not? It doesn’t matter what you would love, it just matters that you know it and take steps to achieve it!
And when other people invite you into their preferred activities, give yourself permission to pause and reflect before committing. Ask yourself if you would love it? Does this invitation nourish me, or does it drain me? Have some phrases pre-prepared that you can draw upon in the moment if you’d like to say a polite ‘No’ or give yourself some time to think. Practice saying: “I’d love to, but I can’t this time” or “Let me get back to you on that.”
Consider also whether you’d prefer to just pop in to some parties or events for an hour rather than stay for the duration. As a non-drinker, I have perfected the art of leaving early to go home to feed the dog, drop older or younger members of the group home at their bed time, etc.
🔑 Play to your strengths and show up when and how works for you.
Keep up the practices that support you during the rest of the year!
The holiday season can pull us away from routines that keep us balanced, such as rest, exercise, healthy eating choices. Remember, rest is a radical act of self-care and a necessity, not a luxury. Even during the holidays, I encourage you to prioritize sleep.
Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash
And when things are busy, it is even more important to plan time for small moments of peace and rest:
🍵 a quiet cup of tea,
🌿 a walk in nature,
🕊️ 10 minutes of deep breathing.
Making time for these activities can really be preventative measures to ensure against overwhelm or resentment and to stay healthy.
I was talking with a client today and her gym closes over the holidays. So, we talked about putting a plan in place to build in walks in nature over the holidays. I even encouraged that she would make a schedule for her walks and not leave it to chance! And we talked about being able to enjoy the food and treats of the holiday season without losing all the progress gained from healthy eating this year. Part of that was to have healthy options in the fruit bowl and some options in the fridge or packed for the car to stay healthy on days out or journeys to visit family and friends.
If you’ve been working with me and have a morning practice in place, what can you do to maintain your practice over the holidays? One tip for that is to consider shortening the amount of time you normally spend in meditation or journalling to make sure you still do a bit of it rather than skipping it altogether. That said, the Masters say that when things are most challenging, that’s the time to knuckle down and spend even more time in meditation or doing the practices that serve you. You’re the highest authority on what will work best for you, my role today is simply to encourage you to enable this side of your self-care and self-love practices during the holidays.
Connect to Spirit in the moment
One of the ways that can really enhance the good times is to connect to Spirit in the moment. What that looks like in practice could be to simply pause and take a moment to appreciate all the good that is in your life currently. Even if you have a big vision to create lots of new results, be mindful of, and grateful for, the good that is already here this holiday season. Be grateful for the food and the decorations and any gifts that are being exchanged. Be grateful for the things that you might often take for granted – electricity, central heating, hot and cold running water, a roof over your head. Fill yourself with gratitude for the people you love. Even if there are problems and challenges in the mix, remember that what you focus on expands.
Make it a conscious choice to focus on the good that already exists, allow the sense of gratitude and appreciation to be felt and expand it within and around you.
In moments of challenge, I also encourage you to connect to Spirit. Whether it is a moment of frustration with a loved one, a sense of disappointment or let down with a friend or family member, feeling lonely despite or even because of all the festivities, take a moment to connect to Spirit.
🕊️ Take a mindful breath or two, simply pay attention to the in-breath as you are breathing in and to the out-breath as you are breathing out. Bring your attention to your feet on the floor. Notice the feeling of your feet in your shoes/slippers and the feel of the floor beneath. Notice how the moment you do this your energy drops down into your body and you move out of your mind and the story you are telling yourself about this moment.
As you experience that shift in your energy, ask yourself:
What would love do here?
What would the person in my vision do in this moment?
And go do that.
This holiday season, I trust that these tools will support you to give yourself the gift of calm amidst the hustle. When you prioritize your well-being, you not only nurture yourself, but you also create a ripple effect of calm and connection for those around you.
Take a moment to reflect each day:
✨ What is one small way I can love and care for myself today?
Self-care is about honouring yourself and creating space for what truly matters. As you move through this holiday season, may you find joy in the moments, peace in the quiet, and love in your connection to yourself and others.
If you’d love some support further with this type of intention setting and to create your vision, bring it to fruition with more ease and speed, I invite you to explore these options:
January Masterclasses – live on Zoom January 6, 2025 @ 7:00 PM
Make Your New Year Your Best Year E-Book – empowers you to finish strong in 2024 and create a new year you’d love.
January Vision Workshop – live on 24, 25 & 26 January 2025