CHRISTMAS - it's all about the balance
The festive season has many wonderful things about it - sparkly lights and decorations, delicious treats, and social events with family and friends.
However, can be only too easy to lose our feet in the festive season’s many activities and responsibilities, and our health is often shunted to the back of our minds as we try to keep up with everything. If you are tired of feeling utterly wrecked by Christmas Day, perhaps you might like to try instigating some of the following self-care tips for keeping balanced at this busy time of the year:
* Plan your appointments ahead of time. Book your massage, your osteo, your physio, or any other health appointments you need plenty of time in advance, and stick to it. No cancelling because you have ‘too much to do’. If you’re that busy, you need the self care that much more.
* Commit to a minimum number of alcohol-free days per week. As the number of social activities and parties increase, the amount of alcohol consumed may creep up too. Perhaps setting a goal of two or more ‘dry’ days a week could be helpful in maintaining balance here.
* Hydrate. This one is always important, but if your consumption of alcohol is greater than usual, the amount of water you need to drink increases to counteract the associated dehydration. Also, if you are having more coffee than usual to keep awake after late nights out, even more water is required as coffee is additionally dehydrating.
* Prioritise social engagements. If you find yourself looking at your diary, scratching your head, wondering how you are going to fit it all in, the answer is – don’t. Decide which events you really can’t miss, and prioritise them. For the rest, consider taking a tactful raincheck, and curling up on the couch instead.
* Indulge – in moderation. There are many delicious reasons to love Christmas, and I am by no means suggesting omitting these treats altogether; but perhaps a little restraint in how much and how often you consume them wouldn’t go astray.
* Take time out. If your immediate reaction to this is ‘I can't do that', then this one is for you. Nobody can fire on all cylinders all of the time, and those that try, inevitably find themselves experiencing burnout. Besides, productivity often improves when you take breaks in which to reset, meaning that if you take time to rest, you will likely get more done overall. How can you counter that logic?
So go ahead and practice productivity wisdom and give yourself that time out, whatever that looks like for you – whether it’s a night off, a weekend away, or just stopping now and then to take some deep belly breaths.
