What is the key to getting through the holidays healthy? Self love! Can you imagine giving yourself the gift of love and taking care of your emotional needs before giving it to your family and friends? It’s a big challenge, I know. You are worth it. I know what you’re saying: prioritizing care for “you” is selfish and self-centered, two of the worst traits imaginable. But it’s not true.
Yes, you were taught that, but do you remember the “oxygen mask first” advice you get on a plane? Self-love is the oxygen mask for everyday life. Love must flow through you first! Self-love is as individual as our fingerprints. What you need to nourish and rejuvenate yourself is subjective and changes from day to day. Take the time to discover what works for you.
Find out if you need time alone, time to relax with your kids, playtime in the kitchen, to get out your paints and play with color, to exercise or to take some time outdoors. Use this holiday season as an adventure to get to know yourself a little better by experimenting with how you love yourself. Your ability to fully experience life increases as you get to know yourself and what makes you feel nourished, energized, and ready for every day. Start with this exercise and notice what you learn:
- Set a timer for five minutes and sit quietly. There should be no distractions.
- Feel your buttocks on the chair, your feet on the floor.
- Now breathe.
- Visualize yourself breathing in from the bottom of your feet and letting the oxygen fill every cell in your body; notice how that feels. If you’re used to going really fast, it probably feels like a mini vacation. It is a moment when you leave the outside world and return home, to yourself.
- Take a few long, deep, revitalizing breaths.
When the timer goes off, take a moment and see if there is anything you need to do to continue this exercise. Did you have a mini vacation and did you enjoy it? Plan a five-minute “me” break every day for the next week. Did you realize that you need to cancel a commitment that doesn’t fit your priorities? Did you remember that you were going to exercise today and haven’t gotten around to that on the to-do list yet? Have fun getting in touch with your inner knowledge and notice how much ease flows through you during the holidays!
Susanne Menge is a single mom, author, personal trainer, health coach, bodyworker, speaker and entrepreneur who guides every person she contacts back to their own inner knowing, supporting them in dropping the distractions of the mind and listening well to the body and the environment. quiet voice inside. She has a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology, extensive experience as a professional athlete and Ironman triathlete, is a certified health coach and personal trainer, an experienced bodyworker and a former emergency medical technician. Susanne has grown from a ‘harder and faster’ mentality early in her career and has discovered that it is a combination of work and play, discipline and creative space, focus and freedom that leads us to our greatest capabilities physically and mentally. Training the body to live well does not take much time, but it does require dedication.
For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, or to sell any product.
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