I think we can all agree that this time of year can be a bit nuts right?! Like not the salted beer nuts, but the liquor soaked, sugar coated, Christmas spiced, extra crunchy, gourmet nut mix. It’s often just a bit too much.
And the number one thing I notice that suffers or falls by the wayside is all the good habits we have been working on all year.
The regular Pilates class- gone
The weekend early morning walks by the beach- gone
The mindful eating- gone
The meditation practice- gone
It’s such a juxtaposition, because on one hand Christmas is supposed to be about family and get togethers and appreciating the moments and the down time and giving and shared experiences, yet on the other hand, our lives speed up x 100 to get to this one moment of illusive ‘Christmas calm’. We run around writing lists, actioning said lists, delivering and wrapping and cooking items from the said list. We think about clients, and bosses and colleagues and celebrating the year that was with all the different people in our lives, we decorating the house, kid’s school responsibilities, planning for family get-togethers, who will bring what, do what and say what.
The list goes on, and actually they can and do all bring about wonderful things and create a lot of joy for a lot of people, but in the process, why do we have to stretch ourselves so damn thin?
We all know the saying you can’t pour from an empty cup. So why do our cups get so dry this time of year? If anything we need to be focusing on filling those cups to the brim so we can deal with all the extra ‘festiveness’ that December throws our way.
It’s called Self care. Self care is not selfish, it’s necessary.
By supporting your needs and valuing your worth and happiness, you are not being indulgent, you are prioritising your wellness both mental and physical. And shit yeah, don’t we deserve that after the hammering our mental health has taken over this pandemic!? Don’t let Christmas railroad that again!
Here are my top 3 tips for keeping a level of self care and sensibility in the silly season (notice I’m not advocating maintaining complete sense!)
Prioritise! Using Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand
If there is anything I have learnt about managing stress and busy-ness and overwhelm, it’s that we need to pre plan the things for ourselves that help deal with these external stressors. In other words, make sure our self-care is prioritised, especially at Christmas. There has long been a useful strategy described when it comes to prioritising. I remember hearing it at university, but most recently through a business mentor. It’s the Rock, Pebbles, Sand analogy. Its basic premise is to imagine that your life is a jar. Only so much fits in our jars. So be clever with what you put into your jar, aka your life. The rocks are the most important things to you and your wellbeing, the non- negotiables. The pebbles are important also, but there’s some flexibility with where and how they go into the jar, then there’s the sand, the things that are nice to have, but maybe not so important and can slide on in anywhere in the gaps. If you put the sand in first, you’ll never get all your pebbles, let alone rocks in the jar, it’ll be full too soon with sand. Here’s a nifty little video demonstration of this.
At Christmas and holiday times, your self care activities are your Rocks! Put them in the jar first.
2. 10 Minutes is Better than No Minutes
Time or lack of it, is a legitimate challenge this end of the year. Sometimes we think, oh I don’t have time for my hour long exercise today, so what’s the point! Well there is a point, a very big point! 10 minutes a day over 6 days is an hour a week. That’s an hour that you focused your mind onto your muscles, an hour that you activated, strengthened, and stretched your muscles, an hour that you breathed intentionally, an hour of self care that increased blood flow, happy hormones and mood. That is a darn good hour. All from 10 minutes a day.
I have a 10 minute Pilates workout you can do right here:
3. Don’t Wait for New Year’s Day
We might lose a few of our good habits in the silly season but they do come back, often under the banner of New Year’s Resolutions. Ergh, gawd, let me tell you a secret of mine, I HATE New Year’s Resolutions. I might be a planner but there’s something about new year’s resolutions (aka setting yourself up for failure) that really irks me. It’s not like the clock ticks over and all of a sudden you have all this motivation and ability to stick to amazing healthy habits, like, was it just lying dormant waiting for the clock to strike midnight?! I think not.
If we work at small, healthy, good habits all year round, then those are the springboards to more good habits the next month and the next month and the next month. You don’t need a date to start one good thing for yourself, you need an idea of what future you might look like, feel like and be like. What does this future you look like? Will she be drinking more water, will she be moving her body more, maybe she will be finally starting Pilates to work on her core strength to achieve that 5km fun run you always wanted to do?
Once you have the vision, then work back from there. If you want to move your body more, then today, park the car two blocks away from school and walk the rest of the way to pick up. Congratulations, you’ve moved your body more! Make sure you do congratulate yourself because our brains like pleasure, and if we internally give ourselves a high five and pump some feel-good hormones into that activity, your brain will want you to go back again and again and repeat! You don’t need the 1st of January to start this, your intention can start the moment after you’ve read this blog. Then put a reminder in your phone to do it again tomorrow or next week, then the day after or week after and make it a habit before 2023 rolls around, think about how far ahead of yourself you’ll be by 1st Jan next year.
If movement or Pilates is on your list of to-do’s next year, then get started with me on New Year’s Eve! 10am on Saturday 31st December, I’ll be running a live virtual Pilates class and everyone is welcome. Not only will you be doing something good for yourself but you’ll be doing good for the community too. $5 for every one who comes along will be donated to the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal. I love sharing this experience with others and I’m so proud of the people who show up and make time for themselves in what is the busy season. I hope you’ll be on the mat with me then!
Book your spot using the button below!
