As we fully enter the holiday season, one thing is sure. Each of us carries our unique experiences, and with that comes different needs. You might be coming from a place of recent joys, or you might currently be in a period of grief. You might even be trying to make the most of the season alongside health challenges, trying to figure out how to segment your energy or how to recover when you perhaps don’t make the best decisions for you.
If these situations sound familiar, I invite you to follow these five strategies below to guide your actions and decisions from a place of greater alignment and health this holiday season.
If you want to delve deeper into these strategies, I’m sharing an oldie but goodie as a holiday gift. I’m giving you my BalanceUP® for the Holidays program at no charge. Simply enter HOLIDAYJOY in the coupon code and hit apply. You will immediately gain access to the online course at no charge.
Here are the five strategies to support your well-being this holiday season and beyond.
1. Stay grounded through the holidays
There are two parts to staying grounded. The first is to focus on being you. Drop any masks and facades and allow yourself to be. The second is to know how you want to BE, the presence you want to feel and embody. What is it you want to share with others? Are you looking to feel calm, joyful, or centered? Pick one word, such as compassionate, and focus on that word each day. When things get a little stressful, remind yourself of this word. In this case, remind yourself that you desire to be compassionate. Then, take a deep breath and exhale the opposite of what you wish to feel, such as anger.
2. Create your own story for the holidays
If your holiday season could be anything you wanted, what would it be? What do you envision? (For this exercise, let’s keep this realistic: no traveling to an overseas castle in the perfect little Christmas town🎄). As you think about this vision of yours, what needs are being fulfilled? Is the scene hectic or calm? Full of people, or do you have more solitude? Really pay attention to the details. Now consider two points:
- What new tradition can you incorporate that feels aligned with your heart? This new tradition can be as simple as sharing coffee with someone special at your favorite coffee shop. In my case, the new tradition I incorporated years ago was to put our Christmas tree up on the beach, put on our Santa hats, and hand out candy to beachgoers. Sharing a Christmas experience with others aligned with my choice to focus on JOY, as I enjoy seeing others happy. This experience is known as sympathetic joy – the happiness we get from observing another’s joy.
- What is one old tradition that no longer serves you? How can you cut back on your participation or eliminate it together? For example, if it’s a family tradition where you feel the need to attend, consider if you can show up for a smaller amount of time and let everyone else have fun. This isn’t about starting family arguments; this is about you taking care of yourself. Another example involves wrapping gifts. If wrapping gifts causes physical pain, it’s time to find new solutions.
3. Know your holiday triggers
Knowing your holiday triggers is crucial to supporting your well-being! Suppose you are prone to being overwhelmed, stressed, or experiencing physical symptoms when you step outside your regular routine. In that case, you must become aware of what actions or inactions result in (i.e., trigger) your symptoms. This level of honest self-awareness can change your life. For example, if eating a lot of chocolate results in migraines, don’t eat a lot of chocolate. Remind yourself of the type of season you wish to enjoy. If you chose peace or joy as your holiday word for this season in the first point above, does getting sick because you chose to eat too much chocolate feel like an aligned decision for your well-being?
Identify Your Triggers:
To help you identify your triggers, take a moment and think about a day you were feeling your most intrusive symptoms, fatigue, or stress. Close your eyes. What are you feeling? What type of symptoms? Now, think back to your prior days. What did you do differently? What played a role in having that challenging day? Consider physical, emotional, environmental, work, and relationship factors. Consider changes to your routine. Now consider this in conjunction with the holiday season.
What triggers will throw you off your desired holiday faster than you can say pepperoni? Is it staying up too late watching Hallmark Christmas movies, engaging in tenuous conversations with loved ones, cooking a huge dinner that will put you in bed for a day, or not keeping up with your daily walk or yoga? What potential changes in your routine do you need to avoid at all costs if you want to feel well? Honoring these is honoring your well-being.
Once you have identified a couple of your holiday triggers, you can take action to avoid or diminish their effect on you.
4. Commit to a holiday wellness plan that works for YOU
At this point, you have committed to how you wish to experience the holidays and have identified key triggers that could have an adverse impact on your holidays. Now, it’s time to commit to supporting your health and well-being with a plan by picking a few wellness activities to support your well-being. Keep this simple! There is no need to add to any overwhelm.
What is ONE daily wellness activity to help you feel your best? Examples might look like 5 minutes of solitude, a commitment to a minimum amount of daily sleep, or a pledge to avoid one food trigger for the season. Committing to a holiday wellness plan is all about making decisions to help you more consistently feel your best.
Sometimes, going beyond our capacity is unavoidable. You get a bonus point for having a Holiday Recovery plan if you happen to overdo it or have a flare-up of symptoms.
It’s better to show up your best for 60% – 80% than to show up exhausted and sick for 100% of the holiday activities, traditions, and events.
5. Set boundaries around your well-being and practice enforcing them
These boundaries come from a place of love and caring for your well-being. They can be boundaries around your time, energy, work, and even holiday activities that do not serve your well-being. First, focus on setting boundaries around activities that result in your symptoms or overwhelm, as you identified above. These boundaries are about saying YES to YOU so that you feel well, and so you can also give your best to your loved ones.
A gift for you: BalanceUP® for the Holidays online course at no charge
Again, I’m giving my course to you as a holiday gift. You can click here to access my BalanceUP® for the Holidays program at no charge. Be sure to enter HOLIDAYJOY in the coupon code and hit apply. You will immediately gain access to the entire program at no charge, including the five training videos and worksheets on the above topics and additional bonuses noted below.
With this 5-day planning and support program, I hope you can spend more quality time with family, friends, and loved ones this holiday season by minimizing flare-ups, experiencing less fatigue, and lowering your holiday stress.
In addition to the 5 Creative Strategies to Help You BalanceUP® and Enjoy the Holidays! – you’ll also receive a bonus mini-course, Prioritize Your Holiday Activities & Experience More Joy, and additional bonuses, including:
- 🔔Holiday Travel Tips for Your Well-Being
- 🔔Twelve Days of Relaxation, Rejuvenation and Gratitude
- 🔔 Art & Meditation on The Power of The Pause
These videos are created in a way to help you gain insights quickly so you can begin to apply the benefits immediately. This offer is valid through December 24, 2024. If you know someone who might benefit from this, please share this free program with them.
Click here to access my BalanceUP® for the Holidays program at no charge. Be sure to enter HOLIDAYJOY in the coupon code and hit apply. This offer is good through December 24, 2024. For ongoing inspiration, strategies, and stories on creating and living a life of balance and well-being, signup for BalanceUP Community News.
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