As we begin to take a break for Christmas and head towards wrapping up 2022, we wanted to share some thoughts around slowing down and making this a season of personal self-care.
At this time of year self-care blogs are literally ‘all around’ and so we wanted to focus on supporting those who find this period sensorily overwhelming and difficult to navigate. We wanted to gift you our three Fusion Spaces tips to create more comfort and calm for one another over the holiday period.
Offer the gift of choice
There are many reasons why people might not enjoy this time of year. Enforced family gatherings, work dos and parties can be particularly challenging. There is the ever-present fear of turning the invitation down and upsetting someone or railroading their career.
For many people, any large or noisy gathering can be deeply uncomfortable and for a variety of reasons. For some it can even feel unsafe and deeply unsettling. Therefore, it’s important that we change the narrative around someone who wishes to connect differently. They are not being too sensitive or difficult, but simply wanting to socialise in a way that works well for them and doesn’t cause discomfort and pain.
Offering choice about how and when to meet over the holiday period is a precious gift.
Slow down
This year has been another difficult one, with little opportunity for quality rest and restoration in sight and so feelings of fatigue are high and can negatively impact physical and mental health.
Remember, a holiday is also a necessary break for yourself and if you have a regular self-care practice, like mindfulness, taking breaks from connecting to people or taking a walk, it can be so easy to drop these practices to please others.
This year you could take some small steps to prioritise yourself, as well as others. It’s not easy and it is quite common for people to consider others before themselves, but the price to health and mental health, can be high.
You could start by approaching the allies in your life who will listen and understand that this year you are including your health in your holiday plans and pause to reflect, perhaps create time to journal and notice if you feel the difference.
It’s ok to be No or Low
‘Tis the season to be merry’ or not and it’s exciting to see the market grow for no and low alcohol drinks.
Our final tip is to those who are curious about changing their relationship with alcohol or have personal reasons for wishing to cut down or remove alcohol from their lives completely. There is now a wealth of low or no alcohol drinks available, so you can still have a beer or some bubbles without the worry of the impact of alcohol.
The simple things in life
Seeking comfort can be surprisingly simple but our frenetic lives can distract us from this fact. Comfort doesn’t have to be expensive or take huge amounts of time and it doesn’t need to involve travel. Comfort is what you make it. It can involve music, creating personal space, walking in nature, allowing yourself time to meditate or taking that all important break from social media, technology and work.
This Christmas why not add calming comfort to your Christmas list?
