Now that we’ve approached the holiday season, making enough “time” for self-care is a must. So a self-care guide for the holiday season could be very useful to you for your wellbeing this winter. A guide also gives a great chance to practice self-care collectively with your family, create memories for the rest of the year + reflect on what you want your next year to look like for you.

Your Self-Care Guide for the Holiday Season

Why is self-care important towards the end of the year?

We have a lot of things that cause stress in our lives, especially as the year comes to an end. With all the projects we have left to finish, all those goals we still want to achieve, making sure that we’re finally taking time to rest, reset, and be mindfully present with the people we love, is what will help us step into the new year as the best version of ourselves for those we love.

What are some self-care practices you can implement during the holidays?

10 Self-Care Rituals to Practice During the Holiday Season

1. Set healthy boundaries. The holidays are for spending time with the people we love. However, some of you may have demanding careers where that email may creep in, or your boss may call you with an “urgent” matter to discuss. Your time with your family is sacred. The most important thing you can do to protect your family time is communicating with your team. If there is an expectation for you to stay in contact, make sure to clarify what times you’ll be available to answer calls, respond to emails, and attend meetings to make sure they don’t overlap with family time. You can also consider creating an automated email response clarifying that you won’t respond to any emails during a specific time. Try to unplug on those “off” days completely. You owe that to yourself and remember that the priority is your family. Work can wait.

2. Reflect on your wins. With the year coming to an end, it’s essential to take a moment to acknowledge your successes, celebrate those moments that make you most proud. Set aside time to reflect and journal about those pivotal moments that made you proud. Reflect on what they meant to you and how they made you feel.

3. Enjoy moments of gratitude. We have been through so much this past year, but we have much to be grateful for. Take time to count your blessings by creating a list of all the things you’re grateful for this year and why. This is to help shift your energy and emotions towards positivity to start the year off on the right foot.

4. Be inspired by your purpose. We’re always so caught up on our daily tasks that we lose track of the big picture and what’s important to us in the first place. Think about your priorities, what differences you’re aiming to make for yourself, your family, or your community, and what daily actions do you need to take in helping you achieve that? Reading from any one of these book recommendations is sure to inspire you to be more intentional when pursuing your purpose.

5. Get clear on your vision. It’s challenging to create our dreams if we haven’t gained clarity on them. Having a clear vision for our future by making changes and taking the necessary steps to make those changes can put us on the right path towards fulfilling that vision. You can start by taking a Life Audit exercise. Reflect on the current areas of your life: health, relationships, career, spirituality, rate each on a scale of 1-10 (with ten being the most positive), whichever area that doesn’t rate as a 10, create a primary goal for each area that will help bring you closer to reaching that 10. Consider mapping out the steps you’ll need to get to 10 and imagine what it will feel like to achieve that goal to keep you motivated on getting there. Learn more about the Life Audit exercise in “Let Your Fears Make You Fierce” found on page 16.

6. List your fears, then shift your mindset. Fear is what holds us back from getting closer to that 10 in a particular area of our lives. After taking the Life Audit exercise, which areas have you identified need more work? List three of your fears. They can be as specific as “I’m afraid of starting a new job” or as general as “I’m afraid of failure.” Listing your fears is the first step to owning them, facing them, then conquering them. You can conquer your fears by shifting away from a fear-based mindset towards one of compassion and love. A love-based mindset can empower you to face your fears rather than discourage you by giving up on your dreams.

7. Create your affirmations. Now that you are more clear on your vision and listed out your fears so you can face them, it’s time to create your affirmations. Affirmations are short “I am” statements made in the present tense to affirm the positive change you wish to see in usually these critical areas of life: health, relationships, career, spirituality. Let the words come to you and write out whatever affirmations feel more natural for you. You can also recite any of these affirmations to yourself or out loud in a mirror: I embrace the beautiful chaos of life on earth. I am stronger than I know. I love more and fear less. I am patient with myself and others as truth and love reveal themselves through me daily.

8. Fill your “Family Love Bank”. This is a fun activity that you can do with the entire family. Find a jar and fill it with 10 to 20 pieces of paper with activities you love to do together. It can be playing with the dog or playing a board game. You can also motivate your family to start new healthy habits collectively to keep energy levels and good moods up. How about adding the “Family Love Bank” 30-minutes of mindful movement like taking walks outside or dancing to music. Feel overwhelmed or irritable? Pull from the jar and encourage your family to join you in an activity for an emotional boost.

9. Take care of yourself financially. There is such a thing as financial self-care. It means, pretty much, taking care of your finances. Before the start of the new year, it’s wise to go over your finances from the year prior. Do a check-up on your memberships, subscriptions, and all your monthly expenses to see how necessary they are. You may be surprised about how much you may be unnecessarily spending on a month-to-month basis. Establishing smart money habits is key in building solid financial foundations for yourself and the world around us. Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want. By consciously spending, saving, and giving from your abundance, you are contributing to the world you want to see.

10. Make healthy meals from your favorite fruits and vegetables. Add in your favorite fruits and veggies is a great way to integrate healthy foods into your holiday meals. When reviewing the menu with family, choose some of their favorite fruits and vegetables and brainstorm some delicious meal ideas. Check out these 21 plant-based vegan recipes from expert chefs for more healthy and delicious food ideas that you and the entire family will enjoy.

Practice With This Self-Care Guide for the Holiday Season

This fall and winter season, use your self-care guide for the holiday season to take care of yourself so you can better take care of those who rely on you. What better way to spend time with your family during the holidays than to practice self-care together? Incorporate these practices into your holiday self-care routine and share them with others so they can do the same. If you’re looking to dive deeper into these practices and how to create a more mindful routine that’s not just for the holidays but in everyday life, pick up a copy of “Let Your Fears Make You Fierce” and check out all the other self-care packages available at koyawebb.com.

For some warm weather wellness, click here for 6 self-care rituals to practice during the summer solstice.