Take Care of Yourself This Holiday Season
The holidays can be draining for many reasons, but can also feel extremely fulfilling. It is typically when we stress significantly over buying gifts for the people in our lives, look forward to spending quality time with loved ones, and carry on family traditions while eating delicious food. For some folks, it can also bring an immense sense of dread with strained family dynamics, loneliness due to not having people to spend this time with, or the emotional heaviness of grief that surfaces.
There are many different emotions that may arise during the holiday season. When we struggle to deal with our emotions on a regular basis, it sets us up for feeling more overwhelmed in the throes of a major holiday event. Learning how to be proactive, set boundaries, and cope with stress within your body will best support you over the next several weeks.
It would be impossible to tailor to every person’s situation surrounding the holiday season, so I wanted to compile a helpful list that at least helps you feel more emotionally regulated. With emotional regulation, it is not aiming for just being “calm”, but feeling flexible with the circumstances you are facing.
Holiday Self-Care Basics:
Set boundaries that promote your well-being. These do not have to be rigid boundaries with family members pertaining to politics, but can be simple boundaries about how you spend your time. Hold boundaries with situations or people that feel too draining. If the holiday season is typically high stress for you, identify areas over the next several months that would help it feel less stressful. Set up boundaries that support those limitations.
Try a Progressive Muscle Relaxation. This is one of my favorite self-regulation practices because it can be abbreviated for any situation. In the long version of this exercise, you are focusing on each muscle from your feet to your head and progressively working to tense, then relax each area. In moments of high stress, I will remove myself from a situation to a quiet place and tense all my upper body muscles for 5 seconds, then slowly control the release for 5 seconds. I will do this for up to 3-5 minutes until I feel more in control of my body.
Embrace moments of mindfulness. Be present with your thoughts and feelings. Lean into yourself when you feel overwhelmed or disconnected. Enjoy the moments of happiness and laughter. Slow down the pace for yourself. Take deep breaths. Be mindful of your speech with others around you.
Create a calm environment. This can be done in reality or through visualization. Imagine your safe place, describe it to yourself in detail. Know that you can always drift off to this place when feeling consumed with the stress of the holidays. Or make time to sit in your safe place at home when you are done visiting family.
Journal about it. When you are having an episode of anxious or sad thoughts, begin writing what you are thinking into the Notes app in your phone as an immediate way to express yourself. Journaling is also an amazing way for our brains to process emotions in the aftermath of situations from another perspective. Journal the heaviness you feel during the holidays. Journal about the joy you experienced. Journal what happened either good or bad. It’s your space to feel emotions.
Get proper sleep and nutrition. This last one may be the most important. Our bodies struggle to function properly if we are not meeting basic necessities of eating balanced meals or sleeping 7-9 hours a night. It also feels impossible to have quality sleep when you are stressed during the day. Drink bedtime tea, do some light stretching, read a book. Eat a good breakfast, focus on greens and protein each day, and indulge in desserts!
Take what you will from these tips and techniques. Make a plan to work more on these next year if it feels like too much in the coming weeks. But most importantly, take care of yourself the next month and stay regulated.
