Mental health at the holidays
I’m working on a workshop for mental health/survivng the holidays and I thought I’d share some things from it, given it’s somehow mid-November already.
How are you feeling?
Generally, especially if you enjoy the process of decorating, present buying, hosting, cooking, etc, we forget to take a moment to check in with yourself.
Try to find some moments to ground yourself, and check in with how you’re doing, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Do the small things.
Related to the above, often the small things get lost in the bustle of life. Don’t put off going to the bathroom, don’t put off taking a siip of water, do take a moment to breath. Often these small things get pushed away because it’s easy to do so, but that small moment of kindness towards yourself is really important.
Prioritise
As much as you can, prioritise your tasks. What needs to be done this week? This month? What would you like to do in that time? Where are they the same and where do those tasks differ? An exercise in listing things out may give you clarity on what absolutely needs to be done, what you’d like to do, and what can be put off/not done.
Get things out of your head
I am a big fan of writing (shocking I know). One of the benefits is getting things out of my head, and removing the pressure to remember everything. I have a whiteboard in my kitchen. On that whiteboard is a list of meals we could make (with use by dates where appropriate), an in-progress shopping list, and anything else that seems useful (currently dates of fermenting, as I’m attempting to make my own apple cider vinegar).
This means I don’t have to remember what we need to use, and what we need to buy. The whiteboard remembers, and I just update it. It’s a small thing that made a huge difference, because I can use that brainspace for other things.
Don’t ‘should’ yourself.
Should is a trigger for investigation. There are things that we all should do whether we want to or not (sleep, eat, wash, etc). There are other things that we feel we should do due to traditions, or past experiences, or other people’s expectations. It’s easy to not check these shoulds and see if we still need them. Sometimes we do have to do stuff we don’t want to, but let’s check in with those to see if anything has changed.
Stay warm
Cold weather has smacked the UK in the past couple of days, and so it’s agood time to think about self care in cold and dark weather. SAD lamp? Blankets? Slow cooker/crockpot dump-and-forget meals? Maybe a walk or run in the cold brisk morning is something you enjoy? Make sure you’re balancing the hibernation urge with doing what you need to do to move and stretch.
Things I’m enjoying in the cold:
This soup: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/miso-butternut-soup
Watching Pluribus
Indoor fairy lights
Pulling out scarves, hats, and gloves