Balancing family obligations with personal well-being during the holiday season is an art. The holidays are filled with both joy and stress, making it hard to figure out the right amount of family time and self-care. At Lotus Counseling Group, we understand the pressure to be present for loved ones while also nurturing yourself. That’s why we want to support you by offering some key strategies for fine-tuning the juggle between individual and family needs, helping you create a fulfilling and balanced holiday season.
Honor Self-Care During the Holidays
Prioritizing self-care during the holiday season is a foundational need, not a frivolous want. Holiday self-care might look like setting time boundaries with family members, honoring your own holiday budget for finances, or just taking time to yourself to reflect on what’s most important for you during the holidays. Practicing good self-care can actually allow you to be more present in relationships with loved ones, as you radiate a peaceful mood rather than feeling resentful of things stealing your time.
Prioritize Quality Time Over Quantity Time
Building meaningful family moments is part of what makes the holiday season so special. With so many gatherings to attend, it can be difficult to focus on present moment interactions with loved ones. Through selectively deciding what events are most important, you can allow yourself the cognitive and emotional space to reserve energy for the holiday traditions that matter most.
Quality family moments don’t have to take a whole lot of time to plan, or do. Some simple ideas are taking your kids down the street to a local bakery for hot chocolate, involving the family in a crafting hour for homemade gifts, or inviting your partner to spend alone time after hosting family or friends.
When you prioritize quality family moments rather than trying to split your attention and time, you actually give yourself space for social self-care. You are gifting yourself the opportunity to be fully present and involved in building meaningful family moments.
Questions to Build Insight:
- What family traditions leave me feeling refreshed and joyful?
- What family events leave me feeling connected? What about disconnected?
- What family members respect my boundaries? Which do I need to work on setting boundaries with?
- What are examples of quality family moments I have had?
- Why are these examples of quality family moments? What patterns do I notice?
The Holidays and Mindful Self-Care
How do you stay grounded during the holiday hustle? This holiday season, use mindfulness as an anchor to carry you through the festive chaos and re-focus on the magic of the season.
Incorporate Mindfulness and Relaxation Practices
A busy holiday schedule might not support yoga or meditation for hours on end, but you can always fit in five minutes of mindfulness or relaxation strategies on a daily basis. Mindfulness during holidays might look like choosing not to shop on Black Friday through honoring your own financial boundaries or choosing to turn off your phone while you wrap gifts so that you can focus on one task at a time. It is important to reset and recharge during the holiday season, as we are inundated with ads to buy more, work projects usually ramp up, and we are faced with many conflicting family priorities.
Tips for Incorporating Mindfulness, Meditation, or Relaxation:
- Remember there is no “wrong” way to do meditation. It is simply time for you to focus on returning to and honoring your breathing.
- You might want to start with guided meditation and then switch to unguided meditation when the time feels right for you. You might also want to start with 3-5 minutes of meditation daily, as it is sometimes a shock to the system to simply sit and breathe in such a busy world. Increase your time when it feels right.
- Remember quality over quantity is best with meditation. A few minutes daily is better than one hour of sitting meditation weekly. Find a manageable routine you can stick to throughout holiday obligations.
- If meditation is not something you’d like to try, you can use mindfulness as a daily practice by setting an alarm on your phone to remind you to pay attention to the present moment. When it goes off, go through each of your five senses and return to your breath for a few moments.
Recent Comments