By: Taylor Spill (she/her/hers)
As the holidays draw near, let's pivot from hectic preparations to a mindful priority: placing our wellbeing at the forefront for a truly joyful and rejuvenating celebration. Here are five valuable tips for navigating the the holiday hustle.
1. Set Aside Some Alone Time If You Need
Although it may feel like you have to maximize your time with your family, friends, and loved ones around this time of year, taking some time for yourself is okay. The holidays emphasize the importance of spending time with loved ones through family dinners, group activities, community traditions, etc. These activities can be fun; however, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, or your social battery could be more stable. This is normal, as being in college offers more freedom and flexibility in spending time alone. You do not owe anybody your presence, even if it is your family, and taking space when you need it is essential.
What you decide to do with your alone time is up to you. Reuniting with loved ones can be exciting; however, taking space from each other is equally important and healthy. Just like you and your roommate might crave moments of having the room to yourselves, it is okay to desire those moments alone with your family or whoever you are with. Some signs that you might need to step away and spend some time alone may be feeling irritable or even lashing out when you didn’t intend to.
Just like humans need to sleep, we also need to recharge. How you set aside time to recharge is up to you. You could choose 2 hours a day where you and your household can give each other space and partake in a solo activity. Or, you can excuse yourself as needed to cool off and rest. Some great ways to wind down can include coloring in a coloring book, doing something crafty, walking, meditating, catching up on a TV show you enjoy, journaling, or even taking a nap.
Remember that even during the holidays, your mental health and wellbeing matter, and taking care of yourself is important.
2. Enjoy Holiday Traditions or Create New Ones
As kids, we longed for holidays as they offered us a break from school and meant we could partake in our favorite traditions. As college students, our excitement for the holidays may be overshadowed by finals, assignments piling up, or other adult responsibilities. However, growing up doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the holidays. It is easy to drive or walk by and look at all the holiday decorations and lights. You can still make hot chocolate, snuggle up under a fort of blankets, and watch your favorite movies. Holidays are meant to be enjoyable, so do things that bring you joy.
If there is something you enjoyed doing as a kid, as silly as visiting Santa or going to a Christmas fair, go again as an adult. You can go alone or take younger family members, it’s up to you. There is something so nostalgic about continuing traditions well past childhood, and this nostalgia is often joyful. Remember how you felt as a child, and use these traditions to connect your past self with yourself in the present. Holidays are meant to be enjoyed, so take advantage of all the events and unique places during this time. Just like we enjoy looking at Halloween decorations in New Orleans, we can enjoy looking at the winter decorations wherever we are.
In addition, you can make gingerbread houses, build snowmen, or watch holiday movies from the comfort of your own home. Whatever you decide to do, let yourself enjoy the festivities.
3. Enjoy Your Favorite Holiday Food/Drinks
It’s okay to have cheat days or stray from your typical meal plan. The key to a healthy and fulfilling diet is balance, and it is essential to remember that food is fuel. Many of the foods associated with holidays are often sweets, scratches, or forms of carbs. But guess what! Our bodies need carbohydrates for energy and a little bit of sugar too! The food we put in our body keeps us full and energized, and peppermint bark, hot chocolate, pumpkin pie, etc., can do just that!
In addition, it is very easy to enjoy healthy takes on these holiday dishes/drinks, whether adding in protein, hidden veggies, using whole grains, etc., to get the most out of what you eat. You can still enjoy sweets or “filling” foods while meeting your nutritional goals. There are many alternative recipes, and there is something so fun about making your own sweet treats from scratch. Eating healthy does not mean you have to eat bland. It also means enjoying the foods you love while providing your body with essential nutrients.
There are many ways to enjoy holiday traditions and food without losing track of your fitness or nutrition goals. Balance and rest days are as crucial to your wellness journey as days you go to the gym or plan meals. The holidays can seem like an obstacle, as many activities revolve around eating or relaxing, however, those are two things that are important for people to do in general.
Whether it is a morning run and home exercise before a family dinner or trying a protein-packed pumpkin bread recipe, there are many ways to savor this time away from Tulane that don’t have to break your stride.
4. Practice Mindfulness
I cannot emphasize this enough, but mindfulness activities are so important and such an easy way to take care of yourself and your mental health. Mindfulness encompasses a wide variety of activities. You can read more about different mindfulness techniques or methods to manage during stressful times in our "Five Tips for Managing Mid-Semester Stress" blog post as a starting point. Some easy ways to recenter are through breathing exercises. Focusing on breathing can help center you and make you more aware of your body and surroundings. If you need to, go to a private space and practice any breathing exercise of choice (look some up, try them out, and see what works best for you). This is one quick way to reset, and it can be done virtually anywhere.
Suppose you have more time on your hands. Some other activities can include journaling, easy crafts (like friendship bracelets or knitting), coloring, meditating, or yoga. Each activity is excellent for helping you destress and refocus your attention on the present. Doing these activities with intention can help you feel less overwhelmed and calmer. The holidays are a great time to invest in yourself, so buy a journal, get a coloring book/supplies, take up knitting again, or even subscribe to a meditation app. There are not many times during the day when we really tune in with our mind and body, so carve out time for mindfulness!
Grounding is essential for destressing, as focusing on the present can make the stresses of the past and future insignificant to what is going on in the present. If you are swamped, one of the best times to do these wind-down activities is before bed. To help you feel refreshed, disconnect from technology about an hour before you sleep and practice meditation/journaling/etc. These centering practices before bed can also improve the quality of your sleep, so it is a win-win scenario.
Overall, mindfulness is a great way to take care of yourself and prioritize your wellbeing.
5. Utilize Tulane Campus Recreation's Online Resources & Find Other Creative Ways to Work Out
Finally, the holidays can sometimes pose a challenge, especially if you have a consistent workout routine at the gym. Having full access to Tulane Campus Recreation facilities as a student is terrific, and it is great as you can visit the gym throughout your day. Going home and staying busy during the holidays can make it harder to go to a gym, especially if you have to pay to access your local gym or it is out of the way. However, there are still many ways to continue working out and feeling the burn, even when you can't physically be at a gym.
Tulane Campus Recreation offers many virtual, pre-recorded workout classes and other unique online resources to help you stay on track through the Wave Fit Video Playlist. You can do many workouts in the comfort of your own home that are still effective and beneficial. These workouts are led by Campus Rec's certified personal trainers and are accessible 24/7.
The Wave Fit Video Playlist offers a multitude of workouts targeting different areas and fitness interests, so make sure to check them out. In addition, virtual workout classes and workout routine offerings are posted on Campus Rec's social media, like the Fitness Friday Instagram highlight, so make sure to check those out as well!
If you want to do something less structured, there are still many ways to get in a workout. You could go on a walk around your neighborhood and listen to music. Or you can go for a run. Or even take advantage of your local park's fitness equipment. You can enjoy the holidays and feel your best mentally and physically in many ways. In general, exercise is a great way to relieve stress, and there are many ways to move your body. Whether it's yoga, focusing on core strength, or cardio, working out can be used to take care of yourself, which is vital during times of high stress.
Allow yourself to explore different kinds of exercise outside of the gym this holiday season, and remember that working out is one of the many ways you can feel good and enjoy yourself.
