The season is in full swing, with holiday decor from your neighbor’s house to the mall, traffic backed up a mile-long with frantic holiday shoppers, the air smelling of either sugar cookies or a cold, crisp breeze, and the leaves completely gone.
This is the holiday season. With finals out of the way, Christmas near and the year coming to a close, it’s time to slow down, reminisce, reflect and regroup.
But most importantly, it’s time for all of us to take a break. A break from unwarranted stress, from our own high standards, and a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
This is the time to focus on re-centering yourself and relaxing in preparation for the upcoming new year.
Being productive is always important, but you can only use your phone for so long before the battery dies. This applies for us humans, too. All year long we were overcoming great obstacles, battling our fears, challenging our limits and shoving in every second of work we could, when maybe a little sleep could have helped, too.
Now our battery is low, and it is time for us to sit by the fire with a nice cup of hot chocolate and recharge our internal flames, level our heads and take a deep breath.
I think it is hard for a lot of us to feel like we deserve a break, to even be OK with relaxing for a full day. But no matter if you ran a marathon, worked a 10-hour shift, finished your last exam, or took care of a newborn all day, you deserve to rest and reset.
You deserve to thank your body for all the work it has done, to thank your mind for taking you farther than you felt you could handle, and your spirit for not cracking when you’re trying to keep yourself and others in high spirits.
If no one told you this today, you deserve to relax. You deserve a hot shower with some clean pj’s, and your favorite meal to eat while watching your favorite holiday movie.
Relaxing isn’t necessarily easy for everyone, so here are some different ways you could relax this holiday season before the start of 2022.
- One, read a book. This is a great way to relax for those who love to be transported to another world and use their brain in a calming way.
- Two, binge-watch the new TV series you have been holding off on. This is the perfect time to focus on something other than your day-to-day with no interruptions.
- Three, treat yourself to a spa day. A facial, mani-pedi, massage or some sort of detox can really refresh the body and make you feel rejuvenated.
- Four, put together a puzzle. A puzzle is a great way to kill some hours while still working those brain muscles; no rush, just the pleasure of seeing something scattered made whole.
- Five, sleep. Sleep 8 hours, sleep 12. Sleep all day, then sleep some more. There is nothing more important to the body to feel recharged than sleep. It gives your mind and body time to recoup and be ready for action.
This holiday season, remember how much you do, how much you’ve done, and all that you deserve.
