Tis The Season To Care For Yourself
On the week up to Christmas, my mind becomes something of a rollercoaster – I’m high about the fact I’ll be spending time with my loved ones, eating all the delicious food and having some time away from work. The lows are the overwhelming pressure to hit targets, ensuring that the Christmas day food is perfect and worrying that my presents are ‘just right’.
I know I’m not alone…
There are things we can change; like we can take a step back to remember it’s not all about gifting and showing love in a materialistic way. I used to spend so much time aiming for ‘perfect’, but actually this year I’m going to accept some help (!) and forget trying to prove that I’m superwoman. We’ll be aiming for the best we can do and we’ll aim to make everyone smile, at least once.
I think the problem is, we spend so much time trying to please everyone else and impress, that we completely forget to make time for ourselves too.
For me, it’s about spending time with people we love, enjoying the time off work and completely disconnecting from the faster/more hectic side of life. I’m hoping to sleep in, enjoy important moments with G, spend more time working on my blog, long walks, watching rubbish TV and eating whatever I fancy.
It’ll come as no surprise, I’m absolutely sick and tired of infographics telling me how far I have to run to work off that extra mince pie or those crispy roast potatoes. During boot camp, our instructor kept reminding us about how many calories we’d consume over Christmas, to be aware of excess and keep a healthy balance. Whilst I enjoyed the class, I felt nothing but sadness for the fact her life revolved around remaining a certain weight, we spend so long bullying ourselves, it’s important to just take a break?
If you’re finding it hard:
*There’s no set rule that you *must* feel festive, if you don’t then it really doesn’t matter, just focus on planning something you’ll enjoy. Which can be anything, regardless how small it might sound – It could be a meal, catching up with someone, a new bath bomb, or just a lay in.
*It’s okay to excuse yourself; go for a walk, read a book or just have some time alone from festivities.
*If you don’t fancy a third mince pie, that’s just fine and if you do, that’s fine too! We shouldn’t pressure people into eating excessively, however, we shouldn’t feel guilty for just enjoying ourselves too.
*This is a great time to take a break from social media, rumour has it that Facebook is bringing out a ‘snooze’ button and this could be a great time to try it out.
What’s your advice for practising self-care over Christmas?
Katie
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