Christmas Self-Care | Blogmas2017

Christmas is the religious holiday that puts a lot of expectation and pressure onto people, more than any other holiday I have seen. Whether you are hosting and feeding the whole family round on Christmas Day or simply struggling to buy a present for your loved one, the stress mounts quickly during the winter time. The emotions of Christmas can be daunting for a lot of people including those who feel isolated and those with mental illness.

This Blog Post is for everyone, whether you are surrounded by family or feel all alone, whether you have a mental illness or not, whether you worry a little or a lot during the festive period. Here are some top tips that will help you to look after yourself and feel a little less overwhelmed.

🎄 Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
It's become the norm in the western world for everyone to constantly be in competition with each other. Relationships, friendships, and families are branded as '#goals' or 'the ultimates', there is an in-group out-group association for everything that people hold dear. As relatives, old friends and new come together, the comparing and analysis of each other's lives will come into play. Comparing ourselves to others can be a good thing and encourage us to do more, however, if you start to view yourself negatively or feel you cannot meet others expectations this can have a huge impact on your mental health and well being. Let's use 'Bridget Jones' as an example: the woman constantly compared herself to her relatives around Christmas and family occasions and wasn't very happy with it. When she started to believe in herself, she became happier. 'Keeping up with the Joneses' is a term that comes to mind here, you're just as important as everyone else in your life. (There are even two films: 'The Joneses'(2009) and 'Keeping up with the Joneses'(2016) based on this concept ). Limiting the amount of advertisement and social media you consume during the festive period can also help.

🎄 Start Accepting Who You Are
This may seem a little more difficult to do, but ties in perfectly with the tip above. You may be the funny one, the host with the most, you may have the biggest family or it may only be a few of you, everyone is and lives differently. For some reason, we feel pressured that we have to 'be more' around Christmas and really, this shouldn't be the case. Allow yourself to do what you can and want to do, you do not have to go overboard, and should not feel pressured to do any more than you can do. Christmas is only one-day out of the whole year, just be who you are the rest of the time and everything will be alright.

🎄Take a Break
If you need time away from a social gathering or the people there, if you're at work stressing about deadlines, if you cant figure out how to wrap that present properly without ripping the paper, any reason big or small remember you can take a break. Do not compromise on your well-being over the holidays, it isn't worth it. Whether taking a break means time away from your desk to have some food and a natter with a friend, taking time away and traveling somewhere away from home, or simply going for a walk. A rest can do you the world of good, help you to relax and help you find solutions to the many problems your stressful mind made up. It's important to look after you as well as everyone else, a mindful activity could be just the treat you need.

🎄 Do Something You're Good At
Doing something you find enjoyable and are good at can be a great 'pick me up' in the holidays. Enjoying yourself can help tackle the stress of the holidays, the comparison to the relatives and their lives, it can give you back a sense of self -worth and boost your confidence. So what are you good at? If you have a hobby or activity you do all year round take time to continue that over the holidays. Or make an activity out of the holidays, if you like singing you can go Caroling if you like baking there are lots of festive treats you can create. If you're not sure what you're good at; have a look at some mindful activities, they can be really simple and give you a sense achievement afterward.

🎄 Let's Raise a Glass
Christmas time means the amount of fizz -both alcoholic and non- are bought by the bulk load. The number of sugary drinks and alcohol you consume over Christmas can affect your mood and health much more than you think. The sugary and fizzy drinks can give you a sugar rush, however after sugar levels have spiked they will reduce and potentially crash depending on the amount of sugar in the drink. Why not make yourself drink a certain number of glasses of water and then treat yourself to a Christmas drink after? Alcohol should also be consumed in moderation, this may be easier said than done for a lot of people over Christmas, with toasts, needs to 'taking the edge off' and relax and wants to get in a merry mood. However, it's important to remember that alcohol is actually a depressant and drinking excessive amounts can cause mood swings, irritability, aggressive behavior, and a horrendous hangover the next day. No one wants to cause a fight or be ill in front of the whole family, do they?

🎄Bon Appetit
Christmas food is one of my favourite parts of the festive holidays, especially Christmas Dinner and 'Bubble and Squeak' on Boxing day, I cannot get enough! The festive holidays seem to come hand in hand with over-indulgence, the clever marketing, and social desirability entice people to spend more and create a lavish spread and provide snacks and sweet treats for all. The term 'oh go on, it's Christmas!' comes to mind here. Don't worry I'm not going to tell you, you cannot have that candy cane or extra chocolate bar, what I will say is that whilst enjoying a few treats it's important to remember that portion of fruit, veg, carbs, protein, and omega 3. Maintaining a healthy balanced diet will improve your mood and energy levels throughout the whole season.

🎄 Let's get Physical
Just in case we overindulge a little we can always use a failsafe option to help maintain a healthy lifestyle with exercise. Not only will exercise help to maintain a good weight, it will also make you happier. When we exercise we release endorphins, endorphins are chemicals that make you feel good and help you relax. Now don't worry I'm not expecting anyone to run a marathon on Boxing day, simple things like dancing around the house to Christmas songs, going for a winter walk, going ice-skating at your local rink or Christmas market, or giggling your way through a family Yoga session all count as exercise. There are so many fun activities that won't even feel like exercise and you'll reap all of the benefits.

🎄Stay in Touch
It's very important, whether you are alone or surrounded by family not to isolate yourself. Stay in touch with loved ones, and anyone else that you need to. It's important to talk to people, whether face to face, over the phone or online, it can be great to have a catch up with someone. Christmas is also a brilliant time to reconnect with people who you may have lost touch with and could be a unexpected way to resolve a problem. If you are worried about something do not keep it to yourself! If you feel like everyone is busy or you don't want to trouble someone: Samaritans is open 24 hours a day and they are open all over Christmas, just call 116 123 and they will be happy to listen and help if they can.

🎄Do Good
Christmas is a time of giving and sharing, but that doesn't just mean presents under the tree and jokes around the table. There are so many charities and community projects that need help over the Christmas period. Not only will helping others give you a sense of achievement and help you feel good about yourself, you'll also be helping someone who really needs it. There are lots opportunities to get out and about: feeding the homeless, Christmas caroling to raise money for charities, helping to sort donations over the festive holidays and delivering Christmas boxes and packages for those in need. There are also so many options you can do without even leaving your house; you could become a friend to someone through a charity and just have a chat with them on the phone, a lot of people are very lonely, especially at Christmas, a simple phone call could make their day. Age UK is just one example of a charity that runs a befriending service. Get in touch with your council, and/or local charities and see what's available. I mentioned Samaritans above and they do some wonderful work all year round and especially at Christmas, why not see how you can help them?

🎄Sleep
My favourite activity, nothing is better than a good nights sleep, when you wake up feeling refreshed energised and ready for the day! With parties, catching up with friends and family, and dinners to attend, sleep patterns get messed up. Sleep is known to affect our mental health and general mood, so keeping a regular sleeping pattern is the best for our well being. How on earth do we do that over Christmas? Try to establish a night-time routine, and set a time at which all electronic devices are switched off, on the nights where you are at home go to bed at your bedtime, don't stay up late just for the sake of it. Most of the tips above will all help towards better sleep during the festive period, the best thing I can advise is to take time out before you go to bed and do something you love to do or that gets you in a sleepy mood (eg, read a book, complete a word/Sudoku puzzle, listen to an audiobook or music).

I will be doing my best to live by my Top 10 Tips, Christmas Self-Care guide over the festive holidays. Let me know if you try anything mentioned above and how it helped you over the holidays? What's your biggest worry this holiday, and has this guide helped you in any way? Let me know in the comments below. Before you go, please remember you're amazing, there's no need to let the holidays frazzle you or your personality, you're allowed to take a break and relax.

Thanks a lot for reading this post,
I know this little guide I made has already helped me, but I really hope it helps you too.

Remeber to Come Back Tomorrow to Open Another Post on the Blogmas Calendar
XO