It’s finally December, which means everyone is scrambling to find the perfect gifts, decorations, and everything needed to get into the holiday spirit. Unfortunately, however, this season proves to be the most difficult for us because we tend to sacrifice our mental health for the sake of the “holiday spirit.” As a result, we forget to take breaks, stay active, and even check in with our emotional selves during one of the busiest times of the year.
While the holidays are supposed to be fun and jolly, that doesn’t mean you should ignore your mental health needs. Your mental health matters year-round, including during the holidays, so today, I will share a few tips for managing your mental health during the holidays.
Tips For Managing Mental Health During The Holidays
Take a Break From Gift Shopping & Wrapping
I’m not the only one who drives themselves crazy buying and wrapping Christmas presents all month. However, I know how to take a break and separate myself from it for a bit. Remember that It's okay to skip gift shopping this year. But, it's not worth the stress. You can say no to the gifts and instead enjoy the wonders of the holiday season.
Check-In With Yourself
“How am I feeling?”
“Am I doing okay?”
These are the questions you should always ask yourself this holiday season. So take some time in the morning or right before bed to ask and answer these two simple questions. This will help you check in with yourself, acknowledge how you’re genuinely feeling, and comfort yourself when feeling out of it.
Drink Water
Believe it or not, drinking water is the most important thing you can do this season. As the weather gets colder, your body is more likely to become dehydrated. Your physical health equally impacts your mental health by your emotions. Drinking water helps the body to regulate body temperature and keeps you warm during the winter.
Create A To-Do List & Stick To It
Prioritizing your holiday tasks and everyday tasks is key to any successful holiday season. Creating a to-do list and schedule helps to ensure that you don’t feel overwhelmed by daily tasks and deadlines. But, of course, it’s okay to say no to anything that is unrealistic or makes you feel bad.
Make Time For Yourself
Like I mentioned previously, sometimes, we tend to put ourselves on the back burner for the sack of the holiday spirit. But that is not okay. One of the best things you can do to manage your mental health during the holiday season is to schedule some time for yourself. This can be anything like having a spa day, video gaming day, and even a social media detoxing day. Regardless, make sure you schedule things that will help your mental health improve and not become worse.
Set Proper Boundaries
During the holiday season, family dynamics and friendships become complicated. People start to overstep their boundaries, treat your crappy, and even become entitled to gifts and other materialistic items. Setting boundaries early in the holiday season will help you control your role, life, and how others react to you.
Stay Physically Active
Daily exercise reduces stress, depression, and anxiety. So outside of gift shopping and holiday errands, it’s essential to stay active through regular exercise. Now, if you’re not fond of going to the gym, there are other ways you can do this.
Going on a walk
Doing active household chores
Playing with the kids
Going for a jog
I hope you enjoyed these seven tips for managing your mental health during the holiday season. This season is full of craziness, and you must keep tabs on where your mental health is. Not doing this will result in experiencing feelings of burnout, depression, anxiety, and even overwhelming stress.
Your mental health matters and you should always make sure to take proper care of it, even during the busiest time of the year.
If you loved this post, do read more amazing posts on Riyah's blog. She writes about self-care, mental health, wellness and more. I love the way she writes and inspire us through her words. Her blog is very pretty and her posts are always a great read. Do check out Riyah's blog and social media by clicking the links below.
Are you managing your mental health okay? Let us know in the comments.
~Thank you for reading & happy blogging ~
This is good advice. Holiday burdens fall unfairly hard on women and can be very heavy. When we feel overwhelmed, we need to pull back and care for ourselves. Happy holidays.
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