Oh the holidays. A time of year that can feel very full. While it’s true that many of us enjoy the special holiday season, I want you to know that you aren’t alone if you also feel the stress of it all.
There is often increased travel, social obligations and family time. Your routines can be thrown off, meaning you are exercising less and eating more foods/drinking more drinks that make you feel depleted or run down.
Often our immunity, energy and mental health take a hit this time of year. It is part of the whole gig.
An aspect of your practice is to accept with self-compassion that things get thrown off during the holidays. It is okay if you skip a workout or eat the extra slice of cake. There is value in celebration and time with your loved ones.
But there are also some simple steps that you can take to support your health and wellbeing during the next few months.
Two important steps to staying healthy this season are keeping regular movement in your life and supporting yourself with easy supplementation to help your body to be its most resilient.
Our tips for maintaining consistent movement:
1. Focus on consistency, rather than intensity.
Consistent movement has a compounded effect on your physical and mental wellbeing. Getting into your body to move some energy might be the single best thing you can do to keep yourself sane through the holiday season.
Here is what we don’t want to see: you ate the cake last night, so you slam yourself at the gym today, burning your adrenals out, adding extra stress to your system and causing a crash. This doesn’t help you. It makes you feel run down and makes it more likely you’ll skip your workout tomorrow or stay in a negative thought loop.
Here is what we do want to see: consistent movement everyday in a form that meets the needs of that day. We encourage you to listen to your body and respond - do the movement that authentically is enjoyable, whether it is walking, dancing, yoga, a strength workout, or a run. The busy holidays aren’t necessarily a time to make significant gains towards a goal (unless that’s your thing and the schedule you are on!), but rather a time to practice consistency and enjoyment of your movement.
2. Take a walk.
Walking is the best medicine. All you need are your shoes and layers to keep you comfortable. You just have to get out of the front door and you are already in motion. It does wonders for your mental health, can be a great way to shift your state and is good exercise for the physical body as well. So when in doubt, excuse yourself for a walk - you’ll be amazed at the effect this simple action can have on your quality of life. Just 15 minutes can change your whole day for the better.
3. Connect with friends and family through movement or time outside.
So much of our social lives revolve around eating and drinking, especially during the holidays. Offer to meet up at a yoga class, take a hike, play a game or do something outside. You might be surprised how open people are to an alternative way of connecting and how fun it can be to do so.
Our tips for including supportive supplementation:
1. The best supplements are the ones that you will actually take.
You know the supplement drawer…the one with 30 bottles of half taken supplements that have been collecting for years. Buy supplements that fit into your routine. If you find that taking pills is challenging, seek tinctures. If you hate when the dose of something is 5 pills, see if you can find it in a version that is one capsule. Seek supplements that excite you to use, so that you actually use them and get the support you need.
2. Look for high quality blends that cover multiple needs.
Why take 5 pills, when there is one tincture that will cover your needs? Look for products that are organic and don’t have filler ingredients that you don’t recognize on the label.
3. For the holidays, look to support immunity, recovery and cognitive health.
These are the areas that tend to become most vulnerable during this time of year. Stress, travel and dietary changes impact your immunity. The same factors may make it hard to recover and get the rest/nightly sleep that you need to feel your best. And the fullness of the season can cause us to cognitively feel overwhelmed and depleted. Look for supplements that cover these bases.
