During the holidays, with stress and anxiety so high, who has time for self-care?  There is so much to do, so many gifts to buy, and so little time to do it all.  Lower stress, recover faster, and prevent burnout with mindfulness self-care!  Here’s quick self-care mindfulness ideas & mini-moments to help you survive and enjoy the Christmas holidays.  

In this Blog Post:

• Self-Care Tips
  • Seasons of LIfe
  • Limited Time
• Creative Self-Care
• Mini-Moments of Self-Care
  • 5 Self-Care ideas you can do in 5-minutes
• Mindfulness Self-Care
  • Relationship Mindfulness & Self-Care
    • Being fully present with people, including yourself
  • Physical Mindfulness & Self-Care
    • Body Gratitude
  • Spiritual Mindfulness & Self-Care
    • What brings you hope & peace?
  • Mental Mindfulness & Self-Care
    • Being present with one thing at at time
  • Emotional Mindfulness & Self-Care
    • Focusing on positive self-care builds positive experiences
• Most helpful self-care
• Join Moore Wellness Tribe

Important: This article has resources about restoring wellness, and is based on my research and my experiences.  This information is not meant to take the place of counseling or therapy.  If at any time you feel uncomfortable or need to talk to someone, wellness resources can help you find a counselor and other resources that may be helpful.

Self-care Tips 

Sometimes, it’s better if we start at the beginning of self care, keep it simple with mindfulness & mini-moments.

Yes, we could dream about going on a lavish vacation on a remote island with massages all day long.  But if that dream vacation is not realistic anytime in the near future, it may be more helpful to plan successful self-care for today.  

It is always better for my mental health when I am more realistic and look for self-care ideas that can actually happen.

Season of Life 

So, how much time do you have for self-care today?

Consider what season of life you’re in right now.  Haha, yes, I know it’s Christmas season and you’re busy with all the holiday shuffle.  What season of Life are you in right now?  

• New parent = tired, learning new responsibilities, limited alone time
• Student = brain dead, no time to read for fun, also short on funds
• Sandwich season = responsible for children & caregiving for parents
• New job = big learning curve, focus on new job, may be limited with money and time

Limited Time

Each of these seasons and other seasons of life may naturally limit your self-care in various ways.  So, this could be a great time for being creative with self-care.  

Self-care ideas are mindfulness mini-moments to help you survive and enjoy the holidays.

TIP #1: If you have limited time, try the Mini-moment self-care tips below.  

TIP #2: If you feel pulled in many different directions, try the Mindfulness self-care tips below.

Disclaimer: Please note that this blog contains affiliate links.  This means that if you purchase through these links, the price will be the same for you.  And I’ll receive a small commission that helps support my blog and my family.  Hope you have a blessed day!

Creative Self-Care

What better time to get creative with self-care than during the holidays?  HAHA, like you have time to get more creative.  If you’re like me, you are stretched thin.  You are just trying to focus on getting creative with stretching your money for all the gifts you need to buy.

So, let me share creative self-care tips to help you during this Christmas season.

Mini-Moments of Self-care

Use mini-moments of time and make them really count with these 5 self-care ideas you can do in 5 minutes.

You can do these mini-moments between buying gifts, working at your desk, or visiting family.  

Every minute spent towards caring for yourself is good self-care.

In just 5 minutes, you can improve your mood and relax your tight muscles.  Here’s five self-care ideas you can do in 5-minutes:

1. Breath 
   • Take slow breathes for 5 minutes.  Use a timer and breathe to a slow, comfortable rhythm.  This helps slow down your body and your thoughts and emotions.
2. Stretch
   • Stretch your body for 5 minutes.  Raise your hands above your head, stretch your neck, stretch your arms from side to side.  This helps wake up your body and mind, like turning on the lights in a dark room.
3. Body awareness
   • Get up, step away from your desk or couch.  Ask your body what it needs: bathroom, walking, water.  This helps you listen to your body & identify what you really need.
4. Eat a snack
   • Our bodies need nourishment and vitamins every few hours.  Keep up your energy with good snack.  This helps keep up your energy, your thinking, and your moods.
5. Drink water
   • Adults need about eight 8-oz. glasses of water a day to stay hydrated, think straight, and help your body function best.  This helps hydrate your muscles, your brain, your gut, which are all important.

Mindfulness Self-care

Mindfulness is a big buzz-word these days.  So, what is mindfulness & self-care anyway?

Mindfulness = being aware of the present moment

Self care = taking care of your whole self: mind, body, and spirit

So, mindfully taking care of your whole self is key to good self-care.  What does that look like?

Relationship mindfulness & self-care

Being fully present with people, including yourself.  

When possible, choose to spend time with people who love you, care about you, support you.  Good self-care is taking care of yourself.

This will help you enjoy the people you are with, plus improve your relationships.  Focus on the present moment with them.  Your family and friends will enjoy your presence, it’s the best gift we can give.

Being fully present also helps you focus on the present moment.  This can reduce anxiety, lower your blood pressure, and improve your mood.

Be fully present with friends, family, and yourself.  Improve your relationship mindfulness practice & your self-care:

• Call a friend.
  • Talk to a friend or family member who you really want to talk to, and focus on really listening to them.  This will improve your relationships!
• Connect with a friend:
  • Write a quick note to a friend (text, email, FaceBook, Snapchat), connect and be present with the conversation.
  • Send a Christmas card to someone you care about.  Thoughtfully write something you appreciate about them.  This can help you feel good, boosting your mood.
• Visit with a neighbor or peer.
  • Visit with someone you know & learn 1 new thing about them.  Being kind to others can boost your mood and spirit.
• Enjoy yourself.
  • Yep, just time to get to know yourself.  Ask yourself what you enjoy about yourself.  Write it down, put it where you’ll see it every day.  You are unique and wonderful, be present with yourself.

Physical mindfulness & self-care 

Body Gratitude

Appreciate your body, you are alive and your body is trying to keep you well.  For real, this is your body, so how are you going to love it?

The more we can accept our bodies & love our bodies, the more we can appreciate our bodies.  Then we are not fighting our bodies, less inner conflict is good for our whole self-care.

Appreciate your body & build your physical mindfulness & self-care practices:

• Take a warm bath.
  • Soak for 20 minutes in epsom salt.  Be present to the warm water soothing your aching muscles now relaxing.  This helps relax your sore muscles, while also relaxing your thoughts.
• Go comfy.
  • Wear comfortable clothes & shoes, be kind to your body.  Feel the comfy texture and fabric.  This helps you focus on the present moment & positive sensory materials.
• Eat & enjoy.
  • Eat foods that help your body feel good.  Slow down with each bite and enjoy the taste of each bite.  This helps slow down your eating, thoughts, and chaos inside; all leading to better digestion & calmer thoughts.
• Enjoy each mini-moment.
  • Be present & enjoy each Mini-moment mentioned above: slow deep breaths, stretch, body awareness, eat snack, drink water. All of these help you gain awareness to your own body, your own needs, and your daily health.

Spiritual Mindfulness & Self-care

What brings you hope?  Peace?

We spend so much time picking out gifts, sometimes we forget to focus on our spiritual relationship with a higher power.  We are created for relationship with our God, our Creator.  

Focus on being present with your spirit, your deeper connection.  What brings your peace?  Gives you hope?  

Focus 5 minutes on connecting spiritually and giving thanks.  Improve your spiritual mindfulness practice & self-care with these tips:

A thankful heart is good medicine.

• Sing & hope
  • Sing a song of thanks, hope, or joy with all your energy.  This helps fill your spirit with positive thoughts and hopeful energy.
• Peace practice
  • Practice being at peace in your soul, your heart, your self.  We are so busy practicing to improve, to learn something, to compete.  This helps practice being at peace.  
  • Learn how it feels to be at peace.
• Community
  
  • Gather with community who connect spiritually with you.  Be present with them and with yourself.  This helps you be more present and more in touch with people around you.
• Gain awareness
  • Be aware of your mood, your thoughts, your experience as you connect spiritually.  This helps you grow in awareness and in understading of your own experiences.
• Share hope & peace
  • Share hope & peace this Christmas season!  Practice sharing a bit of time, your smile, your helping hand to those in need.  This will help feed your soul, and fill your hope & peace in humankind.
• Relax with peace
  • Be aware and focus on the calm, peaceful parts of yourself, this will help relax the tense parts as well.  This will help you grow your hope & peace within.

Mental Mindfulness & Self-Care

Being present with one thing at a time.

I think one the hardest thing during the holidays is the busy schedules and extra responsibilities.  To help relieve stress & improve self-care, it can really help to be present mentally with what you are doing.

Try focusing on one task at a time to improve mental mindfulness & self-care.  I know it’s hard, but it’s so worth it.  Here’s some tips:

• Positive focus
  • Read something positive, motivational, or helpful.  Fill your mind with positive words & thoughts.  This will help you grow in positivity.
• Recovery time
  • Give yourself time to recover from the hustle bustle.  Take a rest.  Say no to new commitments, no adding more responsibility.  This wil help you recover, rejuvenate, and refresh.
• People like to be helpful.
  • You cannot do it all, you’re not superhuman, darn it.  Delegate or ask people to help out.  People liked to be helpful, tell them how much you appreciate their help.  
  • Be genuine.  This will help you grow a community of support.
• Take a break break.
  • Look outside.  Watch a fun video.  Do something different to give your brain a break from the fast pace.  This will help you breath and gain a new perspective.

Emotional Mindfulness & Self-care

Focusing on positive self-care builds positive experiences

We have enough to worry about every day, so it’s vital to take time for positive self-care.  Yes, self-care in itself is positive, so what’s the point? 

Well, focusing on positive self-care builds positive emotions, positive thoughts, positive experiences.  

We all could use more positive experiences during the Christmas season.  Here’s some tips on gaining positive emotional mindfulness & self-care:

• Laugh out loud.  
  • Look at funny animal videos, they’re hilarious.  Watch a funny movie.  This wil help you laugh and boost endorphines (happy hormones).
• Turn negative into positive
  • Reframe negative thoughts into positive thoughts.  There’s usually a way to see a positive in every situation.  
  • If you’re strugglng, ask a friend to help.  This will help you have hope to keep moving forward.
• Live-giving
  • Choose life-giving activities.  What give you life, passion, joy?  Make sure to do some of these activities during this Christmas season.  This will motivate you with reasons to live life fully.
• Be around positive people.
  • The people you hand around actually influence your brain growth, your body health, your spiritual wellness, and your overall self-care.  
  • Choose them wisely.  Be kind to yourself.  This will help you to be more positive.

Which Self-care was the most helpful?

Share your more helpful self-care practices & help us gather more ideas to share with others.

I hope these Mindfulness & Mini-moment tips are helpful for you during this Christmas holiday season.  

If this information is helpful, please share it with a friend.  

Join the Wellness Tribe

I’d love to hear about your journey towards wellness, including your favorite self-care ideas! What obstacles are in your way towards wellness?  What helps you gain wellness?

I hope you join us on your journey of improving your wellness.  This tribe is a gathering place to improve wellness & connections, receive life-giving coping skills, and restore health in mind, body, and spirit.

Join the Moore Wellness Tribe

I’d love to hear from you, please leave me a comment, or join me on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Blessings,
Beth

Need help finding a counselor?

If you need someone to help to talk to, counselors and mental health professionals can help provide support resources on:

• time management
• stress management
• procrastination
• relaxation skills
• goal setting
• personal development

Graphics and article ©2018 Moore Wellness, LLC. All rights reserved.