Here are our tips to get you through Christmas and into the New Year feeling good.
Christmas is a great time of year for most of us. We get some time off work and a chance to relax and spend time with our loved ones. At the same time, it can be tough on our physical and mental health. We spend far too much time sitting down or on unsuitable seats because we’ve got visitors and everyone’s crammed in together. We’re eating different foods too, so our bodies get out of whack. The lack of a daily routine can impact our mental health.
Create a routine
When you take a total break, the absence of your regular routine can make you feel a bit
discombobulated. We all know that feeling of being somewhere between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve when we’re not sure what day it is. When Covid-19 hit, and we all had to stay inside, we were advised to create a new routine to protect our mental health, and the same approach will help over Christmas. You don’t have to plan every minute of each day. Just create a few anchor points, like going out in the morning to get a paper or having normal mealtimes most of the time.
Move around !
It doesn’t matter how you do it; just move! If you usually start the day with a run or some yoga, keep doing it. You can give yourself a day or two off, but it’s an excellent way to stick to your usual routine. Getting out in the morning to buy a paper gives you some exercise, and being outside in daylight is great for improving your mood. Of course, if you have a dog, you don’t really have a choice about the daily walk! If the weather’s awful and you’d rather stay inside, play some active games instead. Twister is consistently hilarious, and the kids will love it.
" Just move ! Don't overthink it, just do it ! "
Eat and drink in moderation.
Christmas is a time for celebration and indulgence, and food and drink play a big part in that. We’re not going to tell you to stick to lettuce and steamed broccoli. Every culture celebrates with food, so it’s perfectly fine to include a few treats. Just remember that eating a vegetable or two won’t hurt. Enjoy a drink but have your normal fluids as well. If you can’t remember when you last drank something that wasn’t Prosecco or Baileys, go and get a glass of water. It’s all about keeping everything in moderation.
Have the Christmas you want
Christmas is a good time for a break, but we can also feel pressured to catch up with everyone we haven’t seen for ages. It’s important to remember that Christmas is supposed to be a holiday. You’re not doing anyone any favours if you go back to work feeling more frazzled than when you left. Go and see people if you want to but don’t feel you have to. You can set boundaries, for example, only having people visit for a day rather than coming to stay over. It gives you less work as a host, and you’ll hopefully get part of the evening to yourself.
Conclusion
You don’t have to spend Christmas embedded in the sofa. Get out and about, enjoy your food and have the celebration you want, and you’ll feel better for it in the new year. However you spend it, have a happy and peaceful Christmas and a great new year!
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