10 self-care tips to prepare you for the holidays

Here are 10 tips to prepare for the holidays and help you enjoy the joys of the season.

1. Plan: It is important to plan for the holiday. Make a bucket list of things you want to do. Set realistic expectations and prioritize the items on your list.
2. Don’t stress: During the holidays, your calendar entertains more updates than at any other time of the year. If it’s a holiday, play or sleep. Let invitations come, but don’t stress the body. Know when to say no politely to anything that would be exhausting.
3. Rest: See that you have regular sleep, about 7- 9 hours sleep every night. This is very important for your health as it helps your body replenish itself for the next year’s activities.
4. Make out time for yourself: The holiday should not just be all about others, make out time for yourself, use some quiet environment. Reflect on all that may have happened since the beginning of the year. What are the things you love or the things you want to change and would want to do in the coming year? Your journal should be with you so you can jot new ideas as they spring forth from a relaxed state of mind.
5. Exercise regularly: Be deliberate about exercising daily. It doesn’t have to be vigorous or a workout session at the gym. You can do a 30mins walk around the park, cycling, or even swimming. Exercise is a proven way to help reduce stress and increase productivity.
6. Spend quality time with family and friends: Quality time improves one’s physical health. While lonely times are beneficial for meditation, they do not affect your health as positively as the former. Go on vacations with your loved ones, for example, as vacations lessen the risk of coronary disease. The joy and happiness are indescribable, and this is good for your total well-being.
7. Be creative and try out new hobbies: What is that thing you have a passion for? Or that thing you have been longing to do for a long time now? You can do it during the holiday or learn something new entirely, something stress-free. You could learn new skills like knitting, bead making and design, baking among others. For the fun of it, give life to your creative imagination. Just do it all.
8. Make new friends: It is okay to make some new friends outside work, meet new people, and form relationships. This can be soothing. You connect to new friends who will listen and cheer you on. This helps decrease depression and anxiety.
9. Read a book: Reading is very beneficial to your mental health. Whether fictional or non-fictional or anything that you derive pleasure from. Reading keeps the brain active and increases your knowledge capacity.
10. Have the spirit of gratitude: Be thankful for everything and everyone you have. This brings contentment, wards off unnecessary stress and depression.