10 Tools to Take You Through the Holidays

I am sharing the "quick guide" to a talk I started to give ten years ago around this time of year. I still pass these tools on to clients each year. Wherever you are for Thanksgiving, use them as a way to help you stay balanced through the holiday.
 

10 Tools to Take You Through the Holidays

1.    Take a Breath; Pause between bites:

Notice how much more important the food has become than the connection and conversation.

Know you can have more to eat, and take a breath to engage in conversation.

Introduce yourself to someone you may not know.

If you are by yourself, take 5 minutes to do some deep inhales and exhales before going back for more food.

 

2.     Drink water each day. Increase it now. It will both help satiate your

hunger and move your digestive system through all the holiday foods.

Notice the difference it makes in your level of energy and fatigue.

Notice any other changes with mood, desire to eat less and become full more quickly.

 

3.     Balance your holiday meals with your typical way of eating.

Have at least one meal a day that supports your body with balancing and energizing foods. Have this meal be a meal like the one you would normally eat the other 364 days of the year. If possible, sit quietly by yourself when eating this meal, and really tap into yourself. If you are with others, chew your food slowly and engage in an “active meditation.”

4.     Surround and honor yourself with some of your typical foods. If you

are going away, pack a cooler with a few of your Core Foods.

If you normally eat steel cut oats for breakfast, bring a bag with you. Go to the market the first day you are there, and pick up a few foods that support your normal way of eating.

This does not set you apart from others; in fact, by taking really good care of yourself, it allows for you to truly appreciate the holiday foods that you eat and know they are cooked with love; so eat them and Enjoy.

Others may see you eating leafy greens and want to try; let them into your world, too, but don’t have expectations. This is about taking good care of you.

5.     Never skip a meal.

Meals are usually skipped because we are “punishing” ourselves for being “bad” with food; now we must deprive ourselves to pay the piper.

Deprivation promotes unhealthy eating, and untimately, weight gain and mood imbalance. We want to stay consistent in our eating during this time of year;

Consistency creates balance.

We are never “bad.” We just make choices each day. Honor that whatever food choice you make is the right choice and enjoy your next meal without guilt.

If you are too full to eat your next meal, take a break or eat a smaller portion.

6.     Enagage in one calming, relaxing, balancing practice each day – Yoga,

Meditation, Deep Breathing are a few options.

Even if you are very busy with holiday shopping, cooking and entertaining, take

5 to 10 minutes early in the morning or at night before bed to just “be” with you.

Do a breathwork/meditation, with some nice, deep inhales and exhales. Get in touch with how your body feels when you allow it to slow down and get “core connected.”

 You can take this “feeling” and bring it into the rest of your day or night.

The more you give yourself this daily gift, the more you will have the energy and focus for the rest of your day.

7.  Exercise for 30 minutes each day.

Our bodies were not designed to be sedentary; this is why we have legs!

Exercise this time of year is even more valuable in its ability to balance the mood, as we get our heart rates up and endorphins are released. It facilitates healthy digestion and elimination. And, it feels good! We are taking care of ourselves and accomplishing something in the process.

If you have an exercise you do regularly, continue with it. If you are out of town and not near your gym, see if you can use a family member’s guest pass.

Try some Winter holiday exercises, like ice skating, snow shoeing or taking a run or cross country ski with someone you haven’t seen in awhile.

When you start to hesitate about getting out for your workout and turn to head for the kitchen, put your fleece and sneakers on and head out the door!

8.  Make a list of things you’ve accomplished this year.

As the year closes, we tend to look to resolutions for the new year. These are all about what we feel we haven’t done well and want to alter.

Why not stop to see all the wonderful, powerful ways in which we have made forward movement in our lives.

Run through the past year in your mind; what actions, conversations and decisions brought you even a little bit closer to your goals and dreams? Write them down.

Where did you make a difference in another person’s life?

What did you let go of that allowed you to move forward?

Where did you walk through your fear and venture ahead?

Write down even the smallest of actions…they count just as much!

 

9.   Make a Gratitude list.

What are you grateful for this year?

Who are you grateful for this year?

How has that helped shape your life?

Sometimes even acknowledging a special sunrise or the movement of the trees outside your window can connect you to being present.

 

10. Trust in whom you've become and the choices you make each day. Trust that your body will honor you. Trust that you ARE good enough. Trust that you are loveable. Trust all parts of you; the light and the shadow. Just TRUST.

 

Have The Most Beautiful and Heart-Centered Thanksgiving.

Thank you for being in my life :)

With Love,

Hope