5 Tips To Keep Yourself Healthy During Lockdown

It’s the most wonderful time of the year with cocktails and presents, parties and performances, and family and fun. All is merry and bright, right? Well, yes and no. While the holiday season is abundant with opportunities for connection, the endless energy demands, disrupted routines, late nights, and financial strain may leave you feeling drained, depleted, and disconnected. Fortunately, the following tried-and-true strategies can keep your mind, body, and spirit healthy throughout the rush of the holiday season.

* Be Intentional with Your Time

While it can be a delightful experience to reconnect with friends and family during the holiday season, an endless melee of activity can zap your energy and leave you feeling drained. Before committing to another party, gift exchange, or volunteer activity, check your intention. Are you doing something because it nourishes your spirit or are you doing it out of obligation? If it’s the latter, kindly communicate to the host that you are in need of some downtime but would love to schedule a time to catch up after the holidays. Then instead of heading out, head in: watch a movie with the family, sip hot cider by the fire, read a book, play board games, or engage in any other activity that lights up your heart.

* Practice Mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness involves cultivating present-moment awareness. According to mindfulness pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn, this kind of awareness arises by purposefully paying attention and refraining from judgment. What do you pay attention to? Whatever is happening at the moment. Whether you feel overwhelmed, angry, joyful, or content, simply notice those feelings without judging them or trying to change them.

* Find the Blessings of Imperfection

Do you have visions of sipping cocoa with your dreamy-eyed children by the fireplace, singing carols around the family room piano, or creating the perfect holiday meal? If so, you may be harboring expectations that set you up for disappointment. Idyllic holiday hopes often turn out more like spilled cocoa, crying children, and overcooked casserole. By adjusting your expectations, you liberate yourself and others from the pursuit of perfection and allow yourself to receive the gifts in imperfection.

* Eat Two Healthy Meals a Day

The holidays and food go together like Christmas trees and ornaments. During the holiday season, it can be easy to get carried away with indulgences. Yet those extra cookies, pastries, beverages, and meals may add inches to the waistline and a toxic burden to the liver.

* Maintain a Regular Sleep Cycle

Late-night parties, after-hours work functions, children’s holiday performances, and family events can infringe upon sleep hours. But sleeping less can do more than make you tired the next day. The short-term consequences of sleep disruption include increased stress, pain, and emotional reactivity, as well as decreased cognitive skills, memory, and performance.