The Best Holiday Wellness Tips to Survive the Festive Season
Even with so much festive cheer in the air, this season can be tough and stressful. Between family and friends, events, gift searching, and gift giving, it’s a lot. Here are the best holiday wellness tips you need to survive!
No matter what you celebrate, you may need some of these tips and habits to help you feel your best. Use these holiday wellness tips in any situation where you need a bit of extra cheer!
Holiday Wellness Tips to Survive the Festive Season
Let’s jump right into it, here are holiday wellness tips to help you survive this festive season. It should be a time for happiness and joy and learning how to manage the stress that comes around this time of year is important to help boost overall health, both physical and mental.
1. Plan
If there’s one thing that should happen this holiday season, it’s planning. A lot of the time, we go to events without a plan and we end up feeling overwhelmed and underprepared. Having a plan can help us manage stress and expectations. This will help you know what you need to do, what you need to buy, where you need to go, etc. Having a plan and writing it down can help give you more mental bandwidth for you to enjoy the holidays.
2. Set Boundaries
Everyone’s always talking about boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. What are boundaries besides something physically blocking off an area? Well, boundaries for oneself are a set of rules and guidelines that we get to make to feel comfortable, safe, and happy. Because these are so personal, it’s usually important to check in with yourself and think about what your needs and wants are. The next big step, and it’s a tough one, is clearly communicating your boundaries to the people around you so that you feel safe and understood.
3. Enjoy Food
I’m going to say it, the holiday seasons are mostly about family yes, but also good food and enjoying treats. In years, you’re not going to remember that you skipped dessert just to stick with a diet. You’re going to remember your Aunt May’s special apple pie, the people you were with, and the joy you felt in sharing food and happiness. It’s important for us to eat mindfully. This means being fully present and enjoying our food, savoring every bite and flavor. This way, we’re less likely to overindulge and binge, yet we still get to enjoy the delicious treats we love.
4. Rest Well
The holidays can feel like an ongoing sprint, with too much to do and too little time. We have to start treating it like more of a marathon. We have to pace ourselves and we have to give ourselves time to rest. Check out this article here on why sleep matters so much and what to do if insomnia is ever acting up!
5. Ditch Socials
Social media is bad for our mental health. Social media is only about highlighting the high points in someone’s life. It doesn’t show you behind the scenes, and it doesn’t show you struggle. When you compare your own life to social media, you start to find your own lacking. Ditch the socials and start making memories in the moment.
6. Mindful Moments
Along that same vein of thought, it’s important for us to be more mindful. Mindfulness is a habit in which you focus on the present moment without worrying about the past or thinking about the future. Mindful moments have been found to change the brain for the better, allowing us to regulate our emotions with more ease and enjoy life more. One of the best holiday wellness tips that you can do is simply being more mindful!
7. Self-care it Up
Holiday time is the time to be selfless. It’s about giving, but we should also think about receiving. One of the best gifts you can receive is the one you give yourself. Remember to practice some simple self-care whenever you have the chance this holiday season. This could be something as simple as buying yourself your favorite pumpkin spice latte, giving yourself time to catch up on that podcast you love, or watching your favorite holiday specials.
8. Prepare for Drama
Some people have perfect cookie-cutter families. I don’t know them, but I’m sure they exist. If you have family, friends, etc., it’s best to prepare for drama. This can be any sort of drama, from new relationships, issues between individuals, or personal beef. No matter what, being ready for drama can make it less scary and will emotionally prepare you to deal with the situation.
9. Find Time to Move
With how busy we are during the holiday season, we start to neglect our physical health. One good thing to do no matter what is to include some form of daily movement. Even if you don’t have time to head to a gym or exercise for an hour, find some free time to move. This can be a simple 5-minute yoga session in the morning, a short evening walk, or a quick 15-minute high-intensity cardio workout. Add movement into your life that fits your busy schedule.
10. Set Goals
Finally, the best holiday wellness tip that you can do is to set goals for the upcoming month. Check out this guide to a December monthly reset that you can use even in the middle of the month for more help and motivation on goal setting and self-reflection. Don’t wait until New Year’s to set resolutions. Start making daily changes now. Set goals and break those goals up into smaller steps that are more achievable. That way, you’re able to celebrate little victories along the way to your destination.
The Takeaway
These are the best holiday wellness tips you can use to survive this festive season. While this is a time for cheer, it can also be highly stressful. Try these tips out and watch how overall wellness flourishes!
Remember that health comes from within. Eat nutritious food, exercise when you can, and take care of your mental health. The small daily habits you cultivate become the basis for overall wellness. Don’t forget about microbiota health too! Gut microbiota affects the entire body, from the skin to muscles, to immune and mental health! Get all the resources you need about microbiota health for free here!
