- Feel Good
- 20th Nov 2024
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- 0 minute
A wellness expert shares her tips on how to thrive during the festive season
If you’re anything like us, your social calendar will already be starting to look pretty packed.
Between increased socialising, enjoying festivities and let’s face it, trying to do it all, our wellness routine can start to slide.
That’s why, in preparation, we sat down with wellness expert Vera Powles, founder of Mana Living, to find out how we can thrive during the festive season.
Balancing festive indulgence
The holiday season is full of temptation – from rich food to festive drinks. What tips do you have for enjoying the season without overindulging or feeling sluggish?
Living a balanced lifestyle all year round includes enjoying yourself during Christmas and any other celebrations that are meaningful to you.
Joy and love are as much a part of your wellbeing as kale, so I think it’s important to accept that this is a time of the year when your eating habits will look a little different.
With that said, it’s also important to continue to nourish yourself so you don’t start a new year feeling awful. My favourite ways of doing this are:
1. Don’t skip meals – What you eat earlier in the day impacts on your metabolism. Instead of skipping breakfast and/or lunch ahead of a big dinner party, make sure you fill yourself with plant-based goodness during the day.
2. Get involved – If you want to change what’s going on your plate, get involved in the cooking or be the one that brings the healthy sides to your Christmas parties. We have a Christmas Recipes Guide in our membership that is perfect for this.
3. Make a plan – If you have specific goals and don’t want to fully set them aside for a month, plan for what allowances you’re willing to make. What are the foods that bring you joy and it just doesn’t feel like the festive season without them? For some, this will be a cheese board, for others, a couple of mince pies. Going into a party or gathering with a conscious plan of what you’ll allow yourself to indulge in will keep you on track and remove the guilt that could be associated with these choices.
Managing stress and staying present
What practices do you recommend for staying calm, centered, and fully present?
This is so important, and there’s not one size that will fit everyone or work for us every day.
Start by thinking about what’s realistic for your life right now – if you just have 10 minutes every day, this is better than nothing.
Don’t think that you have to sit in stillness to practice mindfulness; it can be observing your surroundings during a walk (e.g. noticing textures, smells and sounds), practicing gratitude as you make your morning coffee, or taking deep breaths for one minute.
Breathing deeply and taking a pause to be present helps us to stay grounded and connected to our needs and wants all year round, but particularly during this busy season. This mindfulness and presence will also ensure you make the best choices for yourself – whether it’s a glass of wine or a plate of broccoli.
On a more practical level, being prepared helps massively, so where possible, try not to leave food orders and gift buying for the last minute, as we all know how that feels. If it does happen, then have a pep talk before you leave home. Remind yourself that everyone will be busy and flustered because – just like you – they also want a lovely Christmas. It’s like sitting in traffic, feeling frustrated at the traffic when you are actually part of that traffic too…
Sleep and recovery
With late nights and hectic schedules, our sleep often takes a hit over the festive season. What’s your advice for ensuring good quality sleep during this time?
Sleep is the thread that holds our health and wellbeing together, and whilst it can be hard to maintain our usual sleep schedule, there are things we can still do to ensure a great night’s sleep:
1. Be mindful of alcohol consumption – Alcohol has a detrimental effect on our sleep quality and recovery, so we should consume mindfully (more on this below).
2. Try to stick to your regular wake-up time – It sounds hard but, where you can, get up at your usual time. Sleep gets disrupted when we keep changing our bedtime and wake-up times to ‘catch-up’ on sleep.
3. Avoid indulging right before bed – Eating too much right before bed will also disrupt your pattern and make it harder to fall asleep.
Maintaining a routine and consistency
What’s your advice for sticking to healthy habits without missing out on the fun?”
As with everything, a good routine is built year-round. If you don’t have solid wellbeing habits, it can feel even more challenging to navigate this season.
You shouldn’t associate this season with restrictions or guilt, but it’s important you also don’t see it as a month-long break from the habits that make you feel your best. The longer you stay outside of your healthy routine, the harder it will be to get back to it come January.
Balance doesn’t mean living perfectly 100% of the time; it means that you always go back to healthy rituals after a challenging day, and you do so in a way that feels good and not like a punishment.
With how busy it can get during this season, don’t feel tempted to scrap the gym or other practices that make you feel good. If you can’t go to the gym for an hour, try to fit in a home workout that is 10 minutes long. In the membership, we have 15 minute yoga classes and 10 minute sound baths and meditations to suit those days when time is not on our side.
I always say something is better than nothing because it trains the muscle of consistency. You’ll feel better about yourself and will be happier and less stressed, too.
Think of creative ways to keep your habits even if they look a little different; for example, instead of meeting friends for drinks, invite them for a sunrise walk on the beach. In this way, you keep up with social activities, get your steps in and enjoy the morning sunlight and fresh sea air (win, win, win).
Alcohol
How can people navigate drinking at social gatherings while still feeling their best?
It’s easy to fill up on wine and festive cocktails, but make sure to drink enough water.
This will help your metabolism and reduce puffiness and water retention that you might get from drinking alcohol or eating salty foods.
If you’re planning to have a cocktail (or three), consider taking a Vitamin B-complex (always check with your doctor first) to counteract alcohol’s depleting effects.
The day after, stock up on magnesium-rich foods, leafy greens and lots of water. It all comes down to being mindful of your choices and having a plan – have a limited number of alcoholic drinks you plan to have and then switch to non-alcoholic.
There are incredible alternatives at most venues these days that still feel like grown-up drinks but have none of the harmful effects of alcoholic ones.
Dealing with seasonal low moods
For those who feel a bit down during the shorter, colder days, do you have tips for boosting mood and energy levels?
Just as with nature, we also experience the different rhythms of the seasons, so if you feel a little “down” this time of the year, that’s normal. There are some ways in which we can embrace this low-energy season in a mindful way:
1. Expose yourself to sunlight in the morning – Many of us wake up in the dark and are still at work when the sun sets, so whenever you can, take your morning coffee outside for 10 minutes. This helps regulate your circadian rhythm, which acts like an internal clock for the body and has an impact on hormones and other vital functions
2. Favour seasonal ingredients – Our bodies work in synergy with the natural seasons, so I like to shift my mindset and embrace the seasons as they are, finding enjoyment in cosy soups and stews that make me feel nourished.
3. Stay active – The less we move, the less energy we have, so if you established a running or exercise routine during the warmer months, don’t put that to the side now. It might take a little extra motivation, but as you keep consistent, things will get easier.
4. Supplement – If you feel profoundly affected, light therapy and vitamin D supplementation can also be options you should discuss with your GP.
Prioritising self-care in the festive rush
It’s easy to put self-care on the back burner during Christmas. What small, practical steps can people take to prioritise their well-being?
Women especially can feel overwhelmed this time of the year due to planning and family commitments. It’s important that you don’t forget about yourself during this season, but it can be challenging to fit everything in.
1. Plan in advance – If you know it will be a tough few weeks, book yourself a 30 minute massage, a sound bath or a yoga class, for example. Being accountable to others works best for the majority of people, so by having this in your calendar, you’re more likely to make the time to look after yourself.
2. Establish priorities – I know we all want to provide the perfect Christmas to those around us, but that shouldn’t be at the expense of your physical and mental wellbeing. If the external pressures are high, opt for consistency instead of perfection. You might not be able to do an hour yoga class, but you can do a 15 minute stretch when you wake up.
3. Try and do something for yourself early in the day – The days fly by, and there are so many more parties and gatherings to attend during the evenings. Prioritise doing something for yourself early in the day, so you don’t feel like life is taking over.
Thanks to Vera for being our expert on this editorial feature. If you want more support to thrive during the festive season, check out the Live Beautifully membership platform.
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