I don’t know about you, but I’ve found it challenging keeping up with my movement practices during the lead up to Christmas and beyond.
There are so many other commitments and gatherings happening right now and the rush to get a million things done before Christmas Day and the new year is overwhelming and exhausting. By the end of the year energy levels have depleted and we feel exhausted. It’s now about going through the motions until we get to have at least a few days rest after Christmas to recharge so we feel like we have some energy to get started again for the next year.
Looking after our health in this season can get put on hold or reduced to some extent, as there’s often limited time or energy to commit to our usual health routine when so many other commitments have taken priority. I find it’s a challenge to re-establish our health routines once we’ve drifted from them as it takes more effort and energy to get back on track.
The collective energy from the year has felt exhausting and I’ve been struggling to keep my momentum going during this time even when I keep my health as a high priority, which makes me wonder what other women are feeling like right now too.
So, I decided being softly consistent in a way that doesn’t deplete me during the holiday season was the way I was going to approach it.
What that looks like for me during this time is to move my body for 15 minutes in any way I feel like on the day. I might break it up into 3 lots of 5 minutes or any other timing combination. Paying particular attention to being flexible and adaptable with myself and allowing myself to change it up depending on my daily mood and what I’m doing.
Mostly, I’ve been gardening and walking to get my daily movement in because for me it doesn’t feel like a chore or an obligation, it’s just simply a part of my holidays.
I’m feeling happy and satisfied within myself since I’ve been doing this. I’m achieving my goal each day and gently improving my health. Choosing a simple and realistic goal that I can commit to consistently achieving creates continued momentum with my health. Also, it makes it easier to get back into my long-term movement practices later on with longer walks, yoga, and even more gardening.
The priority for me was the feeling of accomplishment. I’m proud of myself for being consistent and achieving my daily goal which motivates me to keep making better health choices and improve my emotional happiness.
Instead of movement being a challenge, it now gets to be a simple practice that fits into my current holiday lifestyle.
And that feels like a better form of consistency to me.
I would love to know how do you modify your movement practices during the holiday season so that it doesn’t feel like a chore but is simply part of your holidays?
To your health and wellness.
Marianne x
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