It’s become our tradition around the holidays to reflect and regroup on some lesser-talked-about holiday health tips. Through our work with people from many different backgrounds, we know that the holidays look differently for everyone. For some, the holiday season brings about quality time with family or friends, parties and festivities, and gift giving (and receiving). Others may be facing the prospect of spending a holiday without a loved one for the first time. Some might be encountering tricky financial or familial stressors that make spending time with loved ones or giving gifts a little more complicated.
Health coaches are more valuable than ever during the holidays because they see you and meet you wherever you are to actively support your health and wellbeing. In keeping with our annual tradition, we’re bringing to light some helpful holiday health tips worth considering as we all work to navigate our own holidays this year.
Prioritize connection over consumption.
For many, the holidays can quickly snowball into a marathon of shopping, parties and indulgence. There’s so much to enjoy about all of these things – and we should spend time enjoying them. But it’s also easy to get swept up in the pressures that accompany gift giving, entertaining and socializing, which may quickly lead to experiencing anxiety and stress. Health coaches can help you recognize when these behaviors are misfiring and refocus your intentions during the holidays.
For example, health coaches might help identify when gift giving has become a source of stress instead of joy and help you better tune in to these subtle changes. While it can be incredibly gratifying to show appreciation through thoughtful gifts, when the emphasis shifts to the quantity or cost of the gifts, it can lead to unnecessary pressure. Health coaches might guide you through thought exercises that help you revisit the “why” behind gift giving – why is it so fulfilling to share a gift with this special person? Why are you experiencing significant stress? If it has to do with financial pressures you’re feeling, is there an act of service or a creative gift you could provide them with, instead?
Importantly, health coaches guide you in how you’re spending your time and energy during the holiday season. By helping you take a step back and assessing what truly brings you joy, they can help you prioritize quality time spent with loved ones over chasing holiday perfection, which is rarely achieved.
Schedule breaks during big events and plan for “holiday recovery days.”
From long meals to extended time with friends and family and even holiday travel, the next few weeks can be mentally, physically and emotionally draining. Health coaches recognize this risk and often work one-on-one with clients to help them plan ahead for very necessary opportunities to recharge. Health coaches help clients recognize when they might need to step away and take time to destress and often help them plan ahead to make sure those needs are honored in the moment.
Family can be complicated and health coaches validate the need for us to step away – if even for just ten minutes – from a family gathering or conversation to practice breath work or engage in a walking meditation. Health coaches might even provide recorded meditations for clients to use whenever they need them on the go, whether that’s on a flight or on a walk around the block during dinner time.
It might even be beneficial to pre-schedule “recovery days” after the holidays to make sure you’re taking time to recover and reset. Sleep is often the most important part of this recovery, so make time for meaningful rest. This downtime will ensure you’re recharged for the next round of festivities (especially with New Year right around the corner!).
Release any pressures of perfection and embrace the holidays just as they are.
The holidays don’t look the same for everyone and that is perfectly normal! Whether you’re spending the season with family, friends or alone with a good holiday movie, your experience is valid. Health coaches encourage clients to release the “shoulds” – those societal and self-imposed expectations – especially around the holidays. They work with clients to recognize when perfectionism is causing unnecessary stress, and they can help you adopt a more flexible mindset.
Part of this is helping clients practice self-compassion, which can be a key tool to keep perfectionism in check. They might guide clients through exercises of positive self-talk, reframing negative thoughts, and acknowledging and celebrating small wins. By reinforcing these skills, clients are able to navigate the holiday season—and life in general—without the harsh inner critic that often accompanies perfectionism, ultimately fostering a healthier, happier mindset.
Like all the most meaningful things in life, the holidays don’t need to be perfect to be truly special. We wish our community a joyful and healthy holiday season and hope these tips offer support as we each navigate what the season means to us.