5 Ways to Take Care of Your Mental Health During the Holidays

5 Ways to Take Care of Your Mental Health During the Holidays

During this time of year there are multiple holidays to celebrate. This can mean gathering with loved ones sharing traditions of buying gifts and food. For some people this can be a joyous celebration, for others the holidays can be mentally stressful and overwhelming. They can bring up many emotions and feelings that can disrupt a person\’s mental health. Here are coping skills when the holiday season becomes difficult.

1- Make Time for yourself: This can be anything you enjoy. 

For example:

• Reading your favorite book 
• Listening to music/podcasts 
• Getting enough sleep
• Making time to do the things you love
• Prioritizing your needs can help you recharge 
• Making time for yourself/taking care of yourself first helps you be more present in other areas of your life.

2- Random Acts of Kindness: Showing random acts of kindness can help you feel good. Random acts of kindness can look like:

• Holding the door open for someone
• Complimenting a stranger
• Calling a friend you haven\’t heard from in awhile
• Surprising a friend or family member by visiting them or inviting them to a zoom call 
• You can try other ways to engage in random acts of kindness that create a feeling of happiness simply by engaging in kind gestures. 

3- Reach Out: Don’t be afraid to reach out for help. 

This can look like:

• Making plans to meet a friend or making a zoom/googlemeets call to a family member
• Reaching out can also look like making an appointment with a Simply Thrive therapist 

NOT reaching out:

• Can create more anxiety or stress and can lead to an isolated mental state
• Reaching out can be a very therapeutic way to release feelings and emotions that have been building up

4- Appreciate Where You Are: Stop to appreciate the moment you are in, like the holiday season, creates a blissful mindset. 

Some ways to appreciate the holidays could consist of:

• Making your favorite food
• Spending time with a friend and appreciating the family you have.
• Sitting by the fireplace with a hot drink and a blanket enjoying doing nothing
• An additional way to help with appreciating the moments of life is through a mindfulness practice (check out my Mindfulness 101 blog post!). This blog post helps with reconnecting your mind and body into the present moment. 

5- Be Active: Movement such as yoga or a HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout has so many benefits that can help uplift your mood and overall health. 

• Being active helps your mind and body stay healthy 
• Movement helps relieve stress and shifts your mind onto something else while engaging in exercise
• Being active in nature is beneficial
• Traveling to our NC mountains can help change up the pace and give you a new visual. This can also help you reconnect with nature giving you new perspectives on life.

Madison Reynolds

Mental Health Student Intern