If you want to enjoy a happier holiday this year, it’s a great time to begin now. These simple yet powerful ways can improve your happiness this holiday season.
Enjoy a Happier Holiday: Powerful Ways for Better Mental Health
There’s still time to enjoy a happier holiday despite all the chaos and frantic last-minute activity around you. The reality is that now, more than ever, is the best time to be proactive for your mental health. Even if it’s hard to feel joy when you’re not very merry, there are powerful ways to improve your mental health.
Exercise Kindness
Being kind to others is an excellent way to enjoy a happier holiday and improve mental health. This is a natural time of year to do things for others, yet being kind isn’t always at the top of your mind. But the best thing about kindness is that it’s easy to practice and takes little time.
“Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers.” – Kahlil Gibran.
- However, good cheer isn’t the same thing as kind. Putting on a false cheery face or drinking too much to be sociable isn’t kindness. You may find you become overly aggressive, cantankerous, and even mean.
- How can you exercise kindness? Try smiling more often. Also, say something nice to those you meet. It’s amazing how people react to a smile and a kind word. And, yes, both work as acts of kindness.
Enjoy a Happier Holiday: Tips to Reduce Stress and Improve Calmness
I spoke with Dr. Anita Gadhia-Smith, a renowned psychotherapist in Washington, D.C., about this topic. She offers the following excellent tips for reducing stress and improving calmness.
Know Your Limits
Know your limits within a given day and organize your time so that you prioritize taking good care of yourself during the holiday season.
- While there may be many things to do, the most important thing is always to take care of your emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
Prioritize Self-Care
One way to prioritize this is to attend to the four pillars of self-care: sleep, exercise, nutrition, and mental healthcare. When you do this, your tank will be full, and you will give from your bounty, not your reserve.
Start Early
Such self-scheduling involves prioritizing self-care early in the day to feel fresh, energetic, and able to give of yourself. Furthermore, this will keep you calm and prevent you from running on empty.
Learn to Say No
Also, remember that it is OK to say no to specific invitations. It is up to you to decide what produces fruit in your life and what drains you. Doing something out of a sense of obligation is only a good idea if other good comes out of it.
- But, learn to say no and not feel guilty about it. Everyone has the right to say no and a duty to yourself to remain healthy. Remember, you want to enjoy a happier holiday season.
How to Handle Holiday Chaos: Practice Patience
Gadhia-Smith has the following advice for handling holiday chaos, some of which may be inevitable.
When there is chaos around you, you can practice patience by reminding yourself that whatever you’re doing at the given moment is time-limited and that you can retreat into your own world anytime you want to.
- If you attend something for a short time, you get the same credit as you would if you had stayed for a long time.
- For some events, the important thing is to show up.
- Let other people’s chaos be their own, and have mental and physical boundaries to separate yourself from it.
- You do not have to absorb other people‘s chaos if you can stay in your energy.
Yoga and Meditation
Many find yoga and meditation terrific assets when holiday stress gets intense. But when is the best time to do it? Here’s Gadhia-Smith’s recommendation.
- The best time to do yoga and meditation is in the morning, but if you can’t fit it in because of other obligations, do it when you can!
- It only takes 12 minutes of meditation to achieve maximum brain benefit, and there is hopefully some period during the day when you can relax. Sometimes guided meditation, such as apps like Headspace, Calm, or Sight Timer, can be very helpful.
Enjoy a Happier Holiday: Use the Time for Spiritual Renewal
Finally, to get the most from the holidays while being mindful of good self-care, Gadhia-Smith offers the following tips:
Use the holidays as a source and time of spiritual renewal rather than simply focusing on the material aspects of the holidays or the food. The spiritual meaning of Thanksgiving is gratitude; for Christmas, it is giving love; and for New Year’s, the meaning is renewal. Besides, the more you focus on these spiritual principles, the more meaningful the holidays can be for you.
- For example, you can engage in many practices, starting with journaling and setting goals.
- Reducing some activities, delegating what you can, and prioritizing activities will help you balance your life.
- Reassess your goals at the beginning of every year and take stock on paper during the past year.
- If you are sick or alone, ask yourself what is available. Also, reach out to others in any way you can, and remember that other people are alone and need you.
- You can also turn to a higher power or God of your understanding to never feel alone when no one is available. This can be a constant source of comfort, no matter what.
For more tips on how to be calm and relaxed, check out this post.
