Ah December. It should be a month of happiness and joy, what with Christmas and holidays and all. But the reality is, everyone’s just really tired, stressed and overwhelmed by the places they need to be, the rich foods they need to eat, the alcohol that needs to be consumed, and the once-a-year-but-just-before-Christmas people they are obliged to catch up with.
If you’re finding yourself struggling to bring your best self to this festive month, I have a few (easy!) little pre-Christmas detox ideas you might like to try 🙂
FOR YOUR MIND
It’s going to happen – people are going to irritate you at this time of year. The chick who just stole your parking spot, your racist uncle, the workmate who gets horribly drunk at end of year drinks. The thing is – we know these things are going to happen so we have two choices:
- Get really angry when these people live up to expectations
- Choose to not engage.
Obviously, I’m thinking #2 is the better option.
Note, I’m not suggesting you just shake these things off (mainly because I know from experience that’s asking a bit much). You can, however, be annoyed with someone while choosing not the engage with them and their behaviour. You can choose to refrain from shaking your first at the chick in the car park and when your uncle says something inflammatory, you can choose to simply nod, smile, and walk away from the conversation. Trust me when I tell you that making these choices can be a HUGE sanity saver at this time of year. And they also remove a lot of bad energy from your life.
FOR YOUR BODY
Gosh there’s a lot of good food on offer at the moment isn’t there? Lots of bubbly drinks; lots of stuff we generally don’t indulge in. So what can we do to feel like we’re having fun – but without the two-day hangovers and having to wear elasticised waist bands all month?
Three things:
- Drink water. Have two big glasses as the very first thing you do when you get up in the morning. And then, every time you go to eat or drink something a little indulgent, just have one small glass of water first. Your liver does a pretty good job of detoxing your body every single day but it’ll struggle to do its job well at this time of year if you’re overly dehydrated from hot weather and alcoholic liquids. (PS: Looking for a fizzy drink without the massive sugar hit? Try a soda, lime and bitters. It’s a good mixer for vodka too #justsaying)
- Eat from a smaller plate. This is such an easy ‘hack’. When we’re eating yummy food we tend to clear our plate even if we’re full. So choose a smaller plate and you’ll find yourself feeling ‘sated’ rather than full once you’ve eaten everything on it.
- Move your body for 20 minutes. It doesn’t have to be done in one hit either. Park at the furthest corner of the shopping centre car park. Go body surfing at the beach. Instead of jumping on Facebook as procrastination, go for a walk around the block. Moving your body at this time of year doesn’t just make your body feel better, it helps your mental health too.
FOR YOUR SOUL
Take time to breathe. This is such a simple thing but one that is quickly and easily forgotten in the general frantic-ness of December when our bodies are in permanent ‘fight or flight’ mode. Whenever you’re forced to wait (which will be several times a day), instead of reaching for your phone do this simple breathing exercise first:
Breathe in for four seconds,
Hold for four seconds,
Breathe out for four seconds.
Do this four times and THEN go for your phone. This is a simple meditation that takes all of one minute, but is guaranteed to bring you down a notch or two from any frustration or anger you might be feeling.
FOR THE WORLD
Lift your head, make eye contact with people … and smile.
I know that I can tend towards walking around in public in a distracted daze, not making eye contact with anyone. And I am definitely not the only one. Which means there are a lot of people walking around sporting bitchy resting face.
Witness the transformation when you smile at someone and they smile back. Watch how their face lights up. The power of that one tiny action is really something to behold.