Self-Care During the Holidays

The holidays are hard for people for any number of reasons. Losing someone who means a lot to you can be especially difficult during the holidays. That’s why it’s so important to practice self-care during the holidays.

In current culture, self-care is often deemed as selfish; however, when taken into perspective, the more you take care of yourself, the more able you are to tend to your other responsibilities.

“Self-care” is defined as: “the process of taking care of oneself with behaviors that promote health and active management of illness when it occurs.” There are several areas of self-care to consider: Physical, Emotional, Social, Spiritual, Personal, Space, Financial and Work.

Examples of Self-Care During Holidays

Here are a few examples of things you can do for self-care during the holidays!

Practice finding 3 good things in each day or 3 things you are thankful for each day

Surround yourself with things that are appealing to your senses (favorite smells, lighting, colors, music)

Write a letter to yourself telling yourself about things you love about yourself and how far you have come in your healing journey

Take hot bath/shower

Stock up on books by your favorite authors or genres

Create a positive mood playlist of songs that help calm you and ease your anxieties

Gardening (indoor or outdoor) – there are plants that you can have indoors which take minimal effort to keep alive

Go outdoors – take a walk, go for a jog, breathe in fresh air, play in the snow

Engage in activities pertaining to your faith/religion

Pray, meditate or engage in your own spiritual practice

Give yourself permission to “Say No” to events (You do not have to do everything!)

Give yourself permission to laugh and laugh often! (It does not mean you don’t love or miss your loved one, but you are embracing the moment you are in!)

Engage in your favorite hobby! Start a new project, work on that one project you have bee setting aside for years (you know which one I am referring to!)

Remember the good memories between you and your loved one.

Take breaks, rest, recoup, relax but do not overdo it. Find balance. Practice boundaries.

Self-care during the holidays is one of the best things you can do to keep from feeling overwhelmed and burning out. It might not keep you from experiencing difficulties or difficult emotions, but the practice of self-care will help you find a balance.

To read more from Brandi Reyna on Open to Hope, visit: https://www.opentohope.com/seeing-the-beaut…he-wake-of-death/

For more on hope for the holidays, check out this book: Open to Hope: Inspirational Stories for Handling the Holidays After Loss: Dr. Gloria Horsley, Dr. Heidi Horsley: 9780983639916: Amazon.com: Books

Brandi Reyna

Ms. Reyna is a creative soul with a passion for helping others. Her faith is very important to her and is reflected in her writings. She writes about her faith and the role it plays in her grieving process and how she grieves. Ms. Reyna's purpose for writing is to give voice to and shed light on unique losses. Ms.Reyna's articles focus primarily on building and living a new life after the sudden loss of her fiancé; the subsequent grief associated with sudden loss, her identification as an "unwedded widow" (a widow who was not legally married to her beloved), loss of a parent (grandparent) and creating a new life while living with loss. Ms. Reyna shares her journey to encourage others in their own faith and in their own healing journey. She hopes that by sharing her story and leading by example through her own life that her journey will show others that we can experience significant and impactful losses and still experience a full and joy-filled life after loss. Ms. Reyna holds a Master of Arts degree in Professional Studies with a specialization in Counseling.