Holistic Wellbeing Underneath the Christmas Tree: How to Celebrate Yourself during these Unprecedented Holidays
Robyn’s reflections on how we can be our healthiest selves during this challenging festive season.
‘’Tis the season to be jolly’ had a slightly different ring to it this past festive season. The global pandemic has left its historical mark, and many families have been dealing with a visceral feeling of loss. With more time off for reflection in a world that seems to have come to a halt, the holiday blues have a sneaky way of kicking in.
In other words, we have all had good reason not to feel jolly all season long.
Before I kicked my festive season off, I took a mindful pause so I could tend to my wellbeing. Without doing so, I wouldn’t have been able to make room for the joy, love, and peace I was looking forward to for the holidays.
This was how I prepared for the festive season.
Taking time out for solitude
It’s usually around the holidays when social fatigue sets in for me. With the rush of shopping and all the social gatherings with friends and family, it’s difficult to catch my breath and just take a moment out for myself. It seems all too easy to put others’ needs before mine, leaving me with not much to give. But after a year of living with everything that’s resulted from the pandemic, I’ve learned to take better care of myself by cultivating stillness amid all the chaos. I’ve learned that taking care of my needs first means that I have a greater capacity to give to others. So this year, I gave myself the gift of self-care. It certainly wasn’t easy the entire time, but I’m grateful for the time I spent refuelling my energy.
Keeping my body healthy
I’ll be honest with you. It was tempting to abandon all the healthy eating habits I had taught myself during 2020, even though I put some mini-goals in place for the end of the year. Most of us already know that more social gatherings filling up our calendars means more drinking and eating. I can’t tell you how much mindful eating and mindful drinking helped me to slow down when I needed to. I didn’t want to deprive myself of anything, so having these practices in place gave me the freedom to eat and drink in a way that supported my health.
I tend to overindulge on Christmas, so I mindfully prepared what I ate beforehand. As a child, I grew up filling every corner of my plate, going for seconds, and then stuffing my face with dessert. This time around, I added more nutritious (not to mention delicious!) foods to my plate; I listened to my body, ate slowly, and could allow myself some dessert afterwards without feeling a tinge of guilt.
And then there was New Year’s Eve. It would have been easy and socially acceptable to drink away the year, but I wanted to do it differently. After a life-altering year like 2020, where our physical and mental health have been brought into the global spotlight, I wanted to prioritise my overall health. So, I thought it may be the ideal time to practice mindful drinking before the year reset. With holistic health being a priority for me, I entered the new year with more intention, gratitude, and clarity. And it certainly felt good to wake up feeling fresh and ready to take on the new year.
Spending time in nature
Instead of walking a thousand steps at a closed-in shopping mall to get in those last-minute presents, I skipped the lines, bought fewer presents, and got my body into nature. Breathing in the fresh air, soaking up the sun, and moving my legs on the earth was a short and sweet getaway from the world. Allowing myself time to experience the beauty of nature was my way of cultivating inner peace and staying physically active over the holidays.
Changing up traditions
Traditions are subject to change, right? Since I wasn’t able to see all my family members on Christmas Day, I altered the traditions a little and extended an invitation to other expats who didn’t have the chance to celebrate with their families. Opening the dinner table to others in what is normally a family tradition was a heartwarming and wholesome way of adapting to one of last year’s many difficulties. It felt rewarding to include more people at my Christmas lunch by revamping the established traditions in a novel way, and I more than highly recommend it!
Reflecting (a lot)
It was a fitting time to reflect on the year we’ve just had, and boy was it a year for the books! I felt it was necessary to set up a time to reflect on all the things that went well — and all the things that went not so well. It gave me a sense of calm to reestablish my goals, my priorities, and my vision for the future, despite having learned just how uncertain the future can be. More importantly, if the last year has taught me anything, it is that wellbeing should be at the top of my list every day.
How did you take care of your holistic wellbeing over the holidays?
