People call it the ‘Silly Season’, while secretly loving it. What’s not to love? Time off work, play time with family and friends, presents galore, inventive games to keep everyone entertained, long cold evenings wrapped up warm inside and a time when everyone is trying very hard to be on their best behaviour.
The only problem is that it’s too easy to want to over-indulge during this time, in every way; buying endlessly on the internet, eating and drinking with not a walk insight, heightened tension between family and friends making you want to splurge more and, dare I say, complications with loved ones too. There is a sad statistic which is that more couples break up during this time of year than any other.
If you really want to do something different this year and put a bit of time into making it a different emotional and physical experience, here are 5 tips to prevent the obvious pitfalls. If not, swipe left!
No 1 – Psych Evaluation
Look back on the past few Christmases and see which bits of it you really enjoyed and analyse why. Then look at the parts that did not go so well. Analyse the part you played in it.
There is normally a pattern of behaviour, the answer is to break it. It might be falling into a favourite argument, doing too much and expecting people to pick up the pieces, or hoping through telepathy that everyone knows how you are thinking and feeling, for example, tired, undervalued, overworked, upset, whatever it maybe. Try to avoid the feeling by ensuring that the people around you support you before you fall apart. This comes with good communication and being able to verbalise your concerns before they become an argument.
No 2 – Balance
Work out how many nights you can go out and days you can work in the office without it affecting either your time at work or your enjoyment with your friends. It may be that you can only do heavy partying on Friday and Saturday night, or you may find that every other night Mon-Wed-Fri and Saturday work for you and you can be chipper and productive in the office. Whatever it is, try to run your social life in accordance with how you will enjoy yourself the most, while maximising your commitment to work.
No 3 – Food
We cannot help but over-indulge – or can we? Maybe we should re-label it. Why not call it the ‘Christmas Diet’ instead? Ask yourself candidly, which are your favourite foods during Christmas? Earmark those foods you feel you have to eat more than you normally do to have a good time. Indulge in them, but know that the day you indulge like a ‘king’, you will have two meals where you eat like a ‘pauper’. Those meals will not contain animal meat, dairy or sugar.
Always start your morning with lemon and water. If you have some mixed supergreen powder take that with two glasses of water on an empty stomach. If you have PH drops with them even better. Don’t eat for an hour while your body absorbs the goodness and rehydrates you on a cellular level.
No 4 – Alcohol
Which is your favourite beverage? How much can you drink before you lose that happy high feeling and go into an unconscious, irrational, memory failing moment?
Stay on one type, either grain or grape, don’t mix. Try to get to know yourself and be your own best friend, keeping yourself safe at all times.
Here are a few tips to stay in control:-
At a dinner party always have your water glass on your right and your wine or alcohol on your left (unless you are left-handed in which case it’s the other way round). This ensures that if you are just drinking from habit and not out of enjoyment, you will tend to drink more water.
If you are at a drinks party or a club, for every one glass of alcohol you consume, try to drink two glasses of water.
Always begin your big evening with a tablespoon of olive oil to line the stomach and two glasses of water.
The next morning give yourself Vitamin B and C tabs to help the body recoup some of the lost vitamins. Take a milk thistle/dandelion mix to help the liver detox. Have the lemon/water or supergreen/water regime. Drink water through the day to help you re-hydrate.
No 5 – Laugh
Make sure you are having fun. If you are not laughing, smiling and feeling good, then something is wrong. If you are at a party, remove yourself from the situation, go home, it does not need to be dramatic, but go home. In the morning you can work things out. This may sound obvious, but sometimes we hang on thinking things will change. Just remember you have lots of parties, so don’t hang on to something when there could be something better around the corner.
If you are at home or with family and finding yourself feeling miserable you are no doubt being miserable. If you are being miserable you can guarantee others are also not enjoying themselves. Find something to laugh about. A funny movie, a clip from James Cordon’s Celebrity Drivers, get some funny jokes ready to make people laugh, or simply remove yourself from the situation until you can find something in you that makes you happy.
If you are angry, the Breath of Fire, a yoga breathing technique, is genius to bring energy up and get rid of anger.
