It’s challenging to go through the holidays without feeling overwhelmed or stressed out. You want to remain loving, peaceful, and move through the holidays with ease and grace. But, how do you stay calm, centered, and energized at this time of year? You consciously slow down, create sacred space, and give yourself precious self-care.
Precious self-care requires that you nurture yourself with all the kindness and love you would shower on someone you cherish. Too often during the holidays, you set aside your own needs while caring for others or put off self-care in favor of the endless holiday to-do lists, expectations, and obligations. However, disregarding your needs to focus on holiday activities you consider more important can take a toll on you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Putting off self-care may seem noble and selfless—until you become stressed, exhausted, or ill, and suddenly lack the energy to care for anyone let alone enjoy the season.
Here are 5 Ways to Preciously Care for Yourself During the Holidays:
- Keep Energetic Boundaries: By setting energetic boundaries, you become a more loving, compassionate person. Such “love fences” allow you to compassionately engage with others during the season, but still protect yourself from any unwanted energy. It is possible to be loving with another person while still holding them accountable for their behavior. Not holding them accountable for their energy or choices actually impedes their personal and spiritual growth.
- Practice Restorative Self-care: Such restorative self-care doesn’t require a lot of money or time. Take a few minutes at the beginning and end of every day to meditate, journal, or relax; transform your daily shower or bath into a ritual to detox your energy field after a stressful day; or engage in activities such as walking, yoga, massage, acupuncture, tai chi, or energy work.
- Release Your Reactions: When you react negatively to situations, bless yourself, and release blame, resentment, and judgment. Coach yourself by using supportive self-talk to clear negative thoughts and reactions such as “Bless and release,” and “Open your heart and let go.” Focus on the aspects of yourself you love. As you move through your day, notice any negative or self-deprecating thoughts, and replace them with positive affirmations such as: “I am kind, I am generous, or I am trustworthy.”
- Slow Down and Be Present: Be mindful of any transition whether it’s between one thought to another, one movement to another, or one choice to another. When you slow down, you become more aware of your breath, thoughts, feelings, and choices in any moment. Slow down so you can notice every moment and what kind of energy you are bringing to it. Some of the spiritual practices that can assist you are: mindfulness movement, meditation, yoga, and breathwork.
- Engage in Self Compassion: Your heart center is vulnerable to congestion because of the emotional processing that occurs here. Such emotional congestion can create compassion fatigue resulting in feelings of depression, anxiety, and lethargy, particularly if we are over-sensitive to others’ energies Rephrase “self-care” as “deep rest,” so you can stop beating yourself up for not being or doing enough. When you are tempted to ignore your needs, you must remind yourself that you are more than enough, no matter what you do or don’t do. It’s about your being and being in high vibe energy!
Taking precious care of yourself is no longer optional, it is an essential part of your self-love practice which then ripples out to others. Embrace the mantra: “Precious self-care is non-negotiable.”
