How you can enjoy a happy healthy, stress-free festive period!
As the holiday season approaches, it’s a good time to plan ahead in order to minimise the stress load on your body and mind. At Up! Chiropractic, we witness first-hand the result of too much stress on the body. When your body experiences more stress than it can handle, the nervous system and the spine protecting it will often be the first casualty. The result? Compromised nerve transmission, sub-optimal movement, joint, and muscle stiffness, and more often than not, pain. This is definitely not something you want to carry into the holidays!
To combat the holiday stress and stay healthy, we suggest you try the following tips:
#1. Breathe! If in doubt BREATHE it out! This technique is a perfect stress buster when feeling stressed or anxious. Breathe in through your nose for four counts, hold your breath for four, and breathe out your mouth for eight. Breathwork is such a powerful, accessible, and empowering way to change your mental state and shift that negative emotion.
#2. Gratitude! List 3 things you are grateful for. The important thing is to take time out to reflect on all the good in your life and to express your gratitude for it. Gratitude is an incredibly effective antidote for stress and anxiety - it’s easy to do, you just need to put pen to paper!
#3. Avoid skipping meals! It’s easy to think that missing breakfast or lunch will allow you to consume festive food without guilt. However, more often than not, going hungry into an event leaves us starving and then all sense of control is lost. Try eating a small, healthy, protein-rich meal or snack before leaving the house to avoid over-eating later on.
#4. Hit snooze! Many of us feel a mixture of stress and excitement ahead of the festive period, and these heightened emotions all have the potential to interfere with your sleep. Getting seven to nine hours of shut-eye every night really helps to boost your mood, energy, and immunity.
#5. Exercise! Move well and move often. It’s easy to let daily exercise lag when we aren’t in our normal routines. However, staying active is so important to our mental and overall health. Pick a form of movement you know you really enjoy, rather than punishing forms of exercise that you dread until it’s over. Exercise doesn’t have to be the typical cardio or weights - it can be dance, a kick around in the garden with your kids, or a brisk walk with the dog. If it’s truly enjoyable for you, you won’t find it hard to motivate yourself to do it.
#6. Hydrate! Drink lots of water during the day and on a night out. If your friends offer to buy you drinks, don’t be afraid to ask for sparkling water with some lemon. Aim for 3 L of water during the day, and for every acholic drink that you consume, have a glass or two of water in between.
#7. Schedule in! “Me Time” - As lovely as catching up with friends and family and attending festive celebrations can be, constantly going from point A to B may cause you to feel drained. It is important to strike a balance and ensure you are still allocating yourself some solid “me time” in the midst of all the festive fun. This might look like: reading a book, going for a walk or run, relaxing at the beach, or just zoning out to a podcast or movie.
#8. Think outside the box and see how you can get your family involved in your activity! Think about walks, backyard cricket, beach games, or even a home ride along the coast with the whole family. It’s a beautiful time of the year in Australia, so get outdoors and take advantage of the good weather.
#9. Delegate! Enlist the help of friends and family to help with jobs over the Christmas period. If you’re hosting Christmas at your place, ask people to bring a dish. You don’t have to lug all the shopping and clean up the house and garden all by yourself! It’s more fun when you work together, and it takes away a lot of the stress that can be placed on your spine when you are stretching or lifting awkwardly.
#.10. Get Adjusted! It can get chaotic during December but please don’t neglect your (and your family’s) health and well-being. Make time to get regular adjustments in so you can function and feel better. Your body will thank you! Up! Chiropractic will be open right through the festive period - we will only be closed on public holidays. Please check below for our festive hours.
