Merry Christmas Eve! 

While we enjoy the holiday sesaon’s joyful aspects, I want to make sure we also address some of the season’s challenges. Unfortunately, for some of us (particularly those of us who tend to be hard on ourselves), holiday plans can also bring on more complicated emotions, including guilt.

Do you experience holiday guilt?

What is holiday guilt?

Many of us (myself included) can feel a sense of guilt around certain aspects of the holiday season. Aspects like routine changes and seasonal foods can make us wellness and health-conscious people uncomfortable. 

This is unfortunate, because the holiday season is a special time filled with beautiful traditions. 

In line with my many posts about how to make the most of and enjoy the holidays, I wanted to share these tips to help you prevent holiday guilt from ruining your holiday fun.

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA: https://www.pexels.com/photo/homemade-christmas-cookies-5702980/

Tips for Letting Go of Holiday Guilt and Enjoying the Holidays

Give Yourself Permission to Enjoy Yourself

The first step to enjoying your holiday season is to give yourself permission to do so. I know this might sound overly simplistic, but giving yourself permission to enjoy yourself makes a big impact on your mindset. Please join me in telling yourself from the beginning that you get to enjoy this time of year.

Realize that spending this time resting and enjoying downtime and yummy food is actually an important part of living a balanced lifestyle. This was a huge perspective shift for me. You actually need this opportunity to rest in order to create balance.

Find Role Models

I consider myself an extremely self-aware person. Thanks to that self-awareness, I know that I can have very black-and-white thoughts. As I mentioned above, it has taken a long time for me to realize that there is more to living a healthy lifestyle than just living a regimented life of eating “healthy” foods and exercising every day.

Something that really helps me dispel rigid thoughts is paying attention to the way people around me live their lives. 

I need to explain what this means. I am NOT saying that you should compare yourself to others. What I am saying is that, we can learn a lot from others, which can help us in areas we might struggle with. 

Identify healthy role models to learn from. Notice the people in your life that live the way you would like to, including their behaviors and mindsets around enjoying the holidays. And identify ways to emulate those behaviors and mindsets in your life. 

**(This is not going to be that relative that is on some new, extreme diet and/or workout plan every time you see them. I actually recommend you let that go in one ear and out the other.)

I am very lucky that my parents live what I consider to be a very balanced lifestyle. They take good care of themselves, but they don’t experience guilt or shame at enjoying themselves during special occasions, including the holidays. I admire them, and I aspire to continue learning from their examples and implementing new opportunities to improve my lifestyle. 

Reframe your thoughts

I want you to get specific and identify everything about the holidays that makes you feel a sense of guilt. Then I want you to go through that list and identify the positive(s) of each element.

Ex:

Maybe you feel guilty because you notice you are spending more time indoors and you have taken a break from your usual exercise routine.

So you can reflect and reframe this to mean you are giving your mind and body some much-needed rest. When you do resume your typical routine, this will help you come back feeling refreshed and reenergized.

Stay Present/Practice Mindfulness

I know, I know, I have been telling you to say present and practice mindfulness a lot lately. But there is a very good reason for including this tip. 

As someone who experiences anxiety, I have realized that the things I worry about typically exist in the past or future, and are rarely about what is happening in front of me. 

If you relate to spending time in your head ruminating, learning to ground yourself in the present moment can help you escape those negative thoughts. 

This holiday season, I am focusing on practicing mindfulness. Anytime my thoughts start to take away from me enjoying myself, I am working to ground myself by remembering how excited I am to get to spend extended time with my family and how grateful I am for this season and for holiday traditions, like watching Christmas classics. I advise you to also use mindfulness to dispel negative thoughts as you experience them.

Use Coping Skills

What is a coping skill? A coping skill is an activity you use to take care of yourself when you feel uncomfortable emotions. What we want to do to set ourselves up for success is to identify our coping skills before entering any potentially stressful situations. Knowing what you can do to support yourself if you experience any uncomfortable thoughts and/or emotions during the holidays puts you in control of your self-care.

To give you an example, I know that crocheting, journaling, and reading help soothe me and help me calm my mind. So I came prepared with my yarn, crochet hook, books, and my journal. Just knowing I have those items on hand helps me feel calmer.

Read this post to get inspiration for coping skills you can use to support your mental health.

I hope these tips help you this holiday season. To recap, we can help ourselves reduce holiday guilt by:

⬩Giving ourselves permission to enjoy ourselves

⬩Finding healthy role models

⬩Recognizing that varying your routines is part of a balanced lifestyle

⬩ Reframing your thoughts

⬩Staying present/practicing mindfulness

⬩Using coping skills

Return to these tips to maintain a positive mindset during any event that takes you out of your routine.

Photo by Leeloo Thefirst: https://www.pexels.com/photo/christmas-decors-on-winter-background-5791788/

Do you have any tips that help you manage your mindset during the holidays? Let me know down below or message me on social media! And make sure to sign up for my email list to get updates with future blog posts to help you live your best life, including more guides to managing your mindset.

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