Self-Care Ideas While Staying Home for the Holidays

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Image: Viktor Gladkov / Shutterstock.com

In the current climate, it’s not quite as easy as it once was to visit friends and family for the holidays. As such, many of us are staying home over the Christmas season. While it’s easy to think about what you’re missing out on, it’s worth practicing a little mindfulness this time of the year.

With that in mind, the following self-care ideas can help you appreciate the good times.

Go For a Walk

This may be the last thing you’ll feel like doing on a cold winter’s day but going for a walk can do wonders for your well-being. Even a daily 10-minute walk around your neighborhood is enough to improve your mood, boost your energy levels and reduce stress. Also, if it’s a sunny day, going for a walk should be a must. Exposure to sunlight will help your body metabolize vitamin D, which helps you deal with feelings of depression and anxiety.

Replace FOMO With JOMO

With so many gatherings normally filling the holiday calendar, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by FOMO (fear-of-missing-out). But focusing on it can have a negative impact on your overall well-being, resulting in low self-esteem, loneliness and depression. So instead, why not switch gears from fear to joy? The joy-of-missing-out is an excellent form of self-care focusing on the feeling of being content with staying in and enjoying a bit of personal time.

Celebrate How Far You’ve Come

As the end of the year draws near, make a list of what you planned to achieve in the past 12 months. Highlight your achievements, and don’t forget to add other small victories that weren’t part of your original plan. Then draw a line underneath, make a list of the things you haven’t yet had the chance to achieve, take a deep breath and add them to next year’s resolutions. Finally, accept the fact that it’s ok to need a bit more time, that what you’ve done so far is enough, and give yourself the chance to try again next year.

Dance Like No One Is Watching

Dancing is a fantastic way to release stress, anxiety and depression, and is guaranteed to raise your spirits higher than the star on your Christmas tree. Also, we’ll give you bonus mood points if you pick the cheesiest songs you can think of. So, hear us out: All I Want For Christmas may be the corniest, most overused Christmas song to hit the airwaves. But it’s also a fun song to sing and dance to, especially if nobody’s around to see you.

Give Yourself Time to Rest

Even when staying in for the holidays, December is the busiest month of the year for most of us. As a result, it’s very easy to forget that you need both mental and physical rest to stay healthy. So no matter how hectic your schedule gets, give yourself at least half an hour of “me time” each day. Take a nap, meditate, do a bit of yoga, read a feel-good book, or curl up with a warm blanket and a cup of hot cocoa and indulge in doing absolutely nothing else. These small mindful actions will help recharge your batteries and prepare you for tackling your to-do list with renewed purpose.

Stay in Touch

The holiday season can be a crushingly lonely time for many people. Yet, for you, it can be a great opportunity to make a difference. This time of year provides an excellent excuse to reach out to friends and family you hardly ever speak to and even rekindle relationships you might have neglected. A short message saying “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Year” may take a few seconds to type, but it can mean the world to someone spending the holidays alone. Also, knowing that you might have brightened someone’s day even a little bit is guaranteed to boost your own mood instantly.

Embrace the Holiday Spirit

You don’t need grand gestures and big plans to feel like you’re celebrating Christmas and New Year. Yet that doesn’t mean you should let the holidays completely pass you by, especially if you’re staying home. From small things such as putting up some tinsel and fairy lights to going all out on a Christmas roast and counting down the new year, allow yourself to be part of the holiday season and to really enjoy it.



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