Re-evaluating Christmas

Looking after yourself during the festive chaos.

If we are not careful, this time of year can leave us feeling stressed, burnt out, ill and miserable in the lead up to the festive holidays because we don’t listen to our innate instincts to slow down, rest and hibernate.

Thanks to electricity and commercialism we feel the need to push ourselves to the brink of exhaustion where we can’t wait for it all to be over so we can crash in January and start again. 

So how can we protect ourselves during this time? As ever by listening to our body and saying NO to things we feel pressured to do that are not serving us. This is especially important if you have been on a particular difficult journey trying to conceive and/or are grieving.

I had a client who at the end of October was already stressing out because she couldn’t face hosting Christmas Day when she was going through IVF. She hosted every year and that was the pattern and expectations placed on her and she felt she couldn’t say no…. She felt completely responsible for everyone’s Christmas which made her feel angry and resentful becuase she wasn’t putting her needs first.

I helped move her into a good mental and emotional place so she could have conversations with her family going through IVF and how she may find the pressure of hosting so close to her test day so difficult. By reducing her nervous system enabled her to have open communication and resulted in her feeling supported, considered and with different plans in place that help ease the pressure on her.

How can we protect ourselves during this time? By……

listening to our body and protecting our energies and being selective of what we say YES to.