Christmas Self-Care Ideas
That Are More Than Surviving The Holidays
The Pressure To Have A Wonderful Christmas Time
Christmas is considered to be the time of a great joy filled with beautiful celebrations, delicious indulgence, and a peaceful atmosphere, but in reality, for most people, it is also one of the most hectic, stressful and emotionally draining times of the year. Why? Well most probably because of the overwhelming pressure to fulfil great hopes and insanely high expectations of this special time of the year most of us have.
We put so much work in creating a cozy family atmosphere filled with unique presents, delicious food and family traditions that we’re too mentally and physically drained to actually enjoy the Holiday season. That’s insane! We’re focused so much on making these couple of days beautiful, cherished and memorable that we completely forget that Christmas should be about a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere free from stress, overwhelming pressure, and questionable financial decisions to regret later on.
Christmas is not only about showing your loved ones you genuinely care about them but also about taking care of yourself while you do that. So don’t forget to take good care of yourself during the holiday season! Take some time for yourself during the Holiday season and engage in self-care practices that will help you not only cope with Christmas anxiety but also boost your health and wellbeing.
8 Dimensions Of Self-Care To Address This Holiday Season
- Emotional (Mental Health & Wellbeing)
- Physical (Physical Health & Wellbeing)
- Intellectual (Self-development)
- Social (Sense of connection & Belonging)
- Spiritual (Spirit and/or Faith)
- Financial (Wealth)
- Occupational (Self-Improvement)
- Environmental (Social Impact)
emotional self-care
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GOAL: Boost Your Mental Energy
- Stop - Give Yourself permission to stop for a moment (Living every single moment to the fullest doesn0t mean that you have to be hyperactive all the time. Sometimes a moment of pause is everything you need to boost your wellbeing and center yourself)
- Breathe - Just stop for a moment and take a few big, deep breaths to relax, reduce tension, and relieve Holiday stress.
- Write - Keep journaling during Holiday season to release tension, stress and difficult emotions
- Practice being present - use your five senses to live in the moment
- Meditate or listen to relaxing mindfulness music to declutter your mind and free your mental space
- Track your mood - pay attention to your emotional health
- Connect with nature
Download Your FREE Printable Worksheets For Self-Care!
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2. Physical
GOAL: Celebrate Your Body
- Be mindful about what you consume and how much you need to feel satisfied, not full
- Indulge in a healthy way (MY Tip: keep ketogenic snacks on hand)
- Avoid overindulging during this tempting holiday season (keep healthy snacks on hand)
- Stay hydrated like a boss
- Be realistic with your Christmas bucket list (not to be confused with a to-do list)
- Stay active and exercise during the Holidays (get a bit creative with exercise and opt for fun ways to get a least 30 minutes of physical activity a day)
- Get quality rest
Best Self-Care Apps
- Calm Meditation and Sleep Stories (Android; iOS)
- Happify: for Stress & Worry (iOS and Android)
- Headspace (Android; iOS)
- Breathe2Relax (Android; iOS)
- Anxiety Reliever (Android; iOS)
- Self-help for Anxiety Management (iOS)
- Sanvello (Android; iOS)
- Worry Watch (iOS)
- Rain Rain (Android; iOS)
- Panic Relief (Android; iOS)
- SAM App (Android; iOS)
- What’s Up? - A Mental Health App (iOS and Android)
- MoodTools - Depression Aid (iOS and Android)
- MindShift CBT - Anxiety Canada (iOS and Android)
- Self-help for Anxiety Management (iOS and Android)
- Happier (iOS)
- Smiling Mind Meditation for all ages (iOS and Android)
- MY3 Suicide Prevention (iOS and Android)
- PTSD Coach - not only for Veterans (iOS and Android)
- NOCD: Effective care for OCD (iOS)
- RR: Eating Disorder Management (iOS and Android)
- Rise Up + Recover: An Eating Disorder Monitoring and Management Tool for Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating, and EDNOS (iOS and Android)
- CBT Thought Diary
#1 Free Mood & Thought Journal (iOS and Android)
intellectual self-care
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GOAL: Embrace Your Uniqueness
- Create a new Christmas tradition
- Bring out your inner chef and cook a delicious and healthy Christmas meal
- DIY Christmas gifts
- Stimulate your brain with activities that bring you joy and happiness (read, listen to podcasts, watch Ted talks)
- Master Christmas skills
- Cultivate your Creative Genius (try new things, be an attentive listener, expand your interests, be curious, embrace your inner child)
4. Social
GOAL: Bond with those you love.
- Plan quality time with your family, friends and loved ones (not only at Christmas table)
- Spend the Holiday season ONLY in a good company & Engage yourself in positive social situations (office Christmas party, family Christmas dinner, Christmas lunch with friends, Christmas shopping with loved ones)
- Avoid toxic people that have a natural talent to ruin even the most beautiful and magical atmosphere of Holiday season (Don’t go home to see family if it damages your mental health)
- If you have to interact with a negative person use the Gray Rock Method (The Gray Rock Method is essentially about coming across as a boring, uninterested, indifferent and monotonous person. It is intended to make a toxic person lose attraction to you.)
- Cultivate the very best relationship with yourself!
- Be assertive & protect your boundaries - say “no” politely to things you don’t want to do
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5. Spiritual
GOAL: Nourish Your Soul
- Honor and remember loved ones during your holiday celebrations (I live an empty chair at the Christmas table for my dad who passed away earlier this year)
- Create and practice your sacred ritual - create the meaning behind the person you are
- Listen and honor your intuition
- Keep a self-reflecting journal to develop self-awareness and increase self-love
- Set out to challenge yourself - every day do at least one challenging activity or task that will make you feel happy and proud of yourself
- Nurture your inner child
- Practice gratitude to show others (and yourself) how much you value them
6. Financial
GOAL: Be Mindful with Holiday spending
- Establish your financial boundaries for Christmas season
- Create a successful Christmas budget and stick to it
- Divide your Christmas expenses into different Categories
- Create an effective Christmas shopping plan that will help you to save your money and time
- Be a Mindful Consumer (even during this tempting Holiday season)
- Use Holiday Budgeting Apps
Best Christmas Shopping Apps
- Red Laser Barcode Scanner + QR Reader (iOS / Android)
- ShopSavvy - Barcode Scanner and Price Comparison (iOS / Android)
- CouponCabin - easy-to-use coupon & cashback app (iOS / Android)
- Santa’s Bag - Christmas Gift List & Budget (iOS)
- Christmas Gifts and Budget (Android)
- Xmas Gifts List (Android)
- Christmas Gift List - Track Xmas gift ideas (Android
- Giftster - wish list registry (iOS /Android)
- GiftPlanner - Christmas Gift List Organizer (iOS
- Discount Calculator - Price Comparison & Sales Tax $ (iOS / Android)
- Gilt - Shop Designer Sales (iOS / Android)
- Amazon (iOS / Android)
Best Financial Apps
- Mint (link) - saving and budgeting app
- Acorns (link) - saving and budgeting app
- PocketGuard (link) - extra money spending app
- You Need a Budget (link) - create a budget within your actual income
- Prism Bills&Money (link) - organizing and paying bills app
- Albert (link) - saving, budgeting and paying a debt app
- Travel Wallet (link) - travel budget and expense app
- Wally (link) - professional expense report app
- Tycoon (link) - Freelancers app
- SnipSnap (link) - digital coupon app
- ShopKick (link) - rewards for shopping online and in-store app
- GroceryIQ (link) - intuitive shopping list app
- Bill Watch (link) - managing, organizing and reminding bills payment app
- Venmo (link) - splitting bills and sharing transactions app
- Personal Capital (link)- investment optimization app
Download Your FREE Printable Worksheets For Mindful Money Management!
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christmas self care
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christmas self care
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/holisticlifebykate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/anita-austvika-LD26jGAZ4Aw-unsplash.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/holisticlifebykate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/anita-austvika-LD26jGAZ4Aw-unsplash.jpg?fit=534%2C800&ssl=1" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7">Best Posts About Christmas:
- How to Manage Christmas When You Suffer from Anxiety Disorder HERE
- Smart Ways to Eat Healthy During the Christmas season HERE
- Unique and Inexpensive Gifts for Christmas 2019 HERE
- Christmas on a Budget: 7 Powerful Hacks to Budget, Plan & Organize Debt-Free Christmas HERE
- How to Eat Mindfully HERE
- 7 Steps to Detox Your Mental Wellbeing. – Cleanse Your Mind for a More Positive Life HERE
- 8 Simple Ways to Live a More Active Lifestyle HERE
- 6 Simple Ways To Live A Healthier Lifestyle HERE
7. Occupational
GOAL: Set Yourself Up For Successful Future
- Prioritize, Organize and Plan your Christmas to-do list for better results
- Learn a new skill - have something to move forward to in the future
- Respond not React - (“life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it”)
- Practice letting go of what you cannot control (journal, scream out loud, punch a pillow, cry if you need it)
- Fix, Adjust, Change OR Accept BUT quit whining about the things you don’t like
- Confront your Holiday fears (make a list of your fears, choose one and try to overcome it)
- Transform Holiday challenges into opportunities
- Track your Progress
8. Environmental
GOAL: Create a more sustainable Christmas experience
- Choose quality over quantity in gifts
- Give experiences instead of things this Christmas and make memories that will last a lifetime (online courses, gym membership, theatre tickets, annual opera subscription)
- Reduce plastic use on Holiday season - Minimizing the amount of single-use plastic we consume during the Holiday season may be challenging but still possible!
- Make your holidays more sustainable and fun
- Collect memories, not material things
- Be a mindful consumer
environmental self-care
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environmental self-care
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P.S.
Stay Positive
Be Mindful
and keep your healthy habits on track during the Holidays
xo Kate
18 thoughts on “The Christmas Self-Care Rituals That Will Help You Thrive, Not Just Survive The Festive Season.”
Random related thought about Christmas traditions:
My family is full of trivia buffs. For a long time, we would always play Trivial Pursuit on Christmas with all the relatives. I’m not sure exactly when or why that tradition stopped… probably because as my cousins starting getting married and having families of their own, they didn’t always all come visit at the same time.
Anyway, 2003 was our first Christmas without Grandpa. Mom suggested that maybe we should not play Trivial Pursuit that year to honor Grandpa’s memory. I said, if you really want to remember Grandpa, then we should all play Trivial Pursuit the way Grandpa always played, and just shout out the answers regardless of whether or not it’s your turn.
(We didn’t do that, though. I don’t remember if we played or not that year.)
What a beautiful way to honor the memory of a loved one! You are so right! What better way to remember and celebrate your Grandpa than by playing Trivial Pursuit the way he always played! Thank you for sharing your personal experience on that it means a lot to me. This year is really tough because I’ve lost not only my dad by also my grandmother and my uncle and being completely honest I really thought I wouldn’t make it. Christmas will be completely different this year and I hope I will be able to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere. (it’s my main goal) Thank you again for your comment! I wish you a beautiful Sunday and a wonderful week ahead!! 🙂
I’m sorry for your loss 🙁 My grandma (the wife of the grandpa who shouted out the answers) is still alive at 99. Until a few years ago, we always did Christmas with the relatives who were visiting at her house, but the last few years it’s been at my parents’ house, because these days Grandma is too tired to have a big crowd like that over.
Since the middle of my childhood, we’ve always opened presents from immediate family on the evening of the 24th, and then from the cousins on the 25th. I feel bad because of how that tradition started… it was because when I was about 8 or 9, I was a spoiled little kid who cared more about toys than Jesus or family, and the night before Christmas or a birthday I would be up all night anticipating all the new stuff I’d get, so one year I kept waking Mom up in the middle of the night asking if it was time to open presents. Mom hated that sleepless night so much that ever since, 30+ years later, we’ve always opened presents the night before. Now I feel terrible that my lack of maturity started that tradition, but we still do it that way.
Haha, same!! And you know what? I love this tradition! We (me and my friends) do the same, every single year!! We not only open presents on the evening of the 24th but also we usually do it before the Christmas dinner! Furthermore, everyone knows what they get because we make a Christmas gift list (and set spending limit) at the end of November. In this way, everyone gets what they want or need at a reasonable price. I’m telling you, it’s the best way to avoid buying the wrong present and going into Christmas debt. Is this a weird Christmas tradition? Maybe, but I love it. And you know what? And even though everyone knows what they get for a Christmas present, we are all STILL very excited about it! And you thought that you lack maturity! 😁 THANK you for sharing this with me! You’ve made my day!! Please take care and have w WONDERFUL week!! 😀
Aww… thank you! 🙂 My family tends to make lists for people too… I always thought it was impersonal, like you’re going grocery shopping. Sometimes I’ve tried to buy gifts not from the list, and they end up going unused collecting dust. I always thought it was just because I was bad at choosing gifts that people would like. I still do think I’m not very good at that, but what you wrote here helps me see that sort of gift-giving in a more positive light. 🙂 Thank you.
For us is more about buying each other useful and practical gifts that no one would buy for themselves. That’s why we make a Christmas and Birthday present lists. For example, I would love to get new better quality headphones, a ticket for 1 to a 3-minute Cryotherapy session and Cyberpunk 2077 Collector’s Edition. I wouldn’t buy these things for myself because I prefer to spend my money on self-improvement such as books, online courses, etc. BUT I wouldn’t mind if my friends would buy these things for my Christmas present! It’s the same with the others. My friend needs a new smartphone so we clubbed together to buy the one he wanted. And that’s how it works for us. Is it weird? I don’t know. Maybe. But this way we all get what we need (or want), everyone is happy and we don’t waste money on unnecessary stuff no one would use later. So I guess it’s a win-win situation for everyone! Tell me what you think about this! Take care and have a wonderful weekend!!! 🤗
I see… that all makes sense! You have a great weekend too 🙂
Well, what can I say… I am a very practical person with all the strengths and weaknesses that implies. No, wait I still have Christmas grocery shopping to do (on Christmas Eve Eve!!) so maybe I’m not so practical… Fingers crossed for me, okay? 🙂😉
Seriously, though, I can tell from your writing on here that you are an expert in emotionally handling difficult times, and I’m sure you’ll make it through this Christmas even when you’re missing family. Take care.
I am not going to lie. I’ve been feeling enormously overwhelmed lately mostly because of the upcoming holidays and you… you lifted my spirits. Thank you so much for your words of encouragement! It means a lot to me! Please take care and have a wonderful week. 🙂
Aww… thank you as well 🙂 I haven’t even had time to think about the holiday, I’m wrapping up the grading period at work… all of my shopping is going to be last minute. But I have a lot of plans with friends this weekend, and I’ll be seeing my family in the upcoming week, and hopefully somewhere in there I’ll have time to write another post (it’ll be about the first, and only, test I failed in college, and what changed because of that).
I hope you will have time to write this post because I’m curious to find out what was the first and only test you failed!! I’m curious!! Take care and enjoy your weekend!! 🤗
I will write it, it’s what comes next in the story… I just don’t know how long it’ll take.
That’s the attitude I like to hear! I’m rooting for you. Have a wonderful day!! 🙂😉
Thanks! (The story is done, by the way)
Awesome! I’m just about to read it! In the meantime, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, a pleasant holiday and a happy New Year! 🙂🙂🙂
Thank you! 🙂 You too!
I’m still eating my tiramisù… 🎂🎄😃🎅