Ask yourself, do you unwind each day? Do you feel at peace, do you feel balance? Even after all the ever-growing approaches to self-care you have been tasked with via apps, books and social media, do you feel calmer for it?
Visual based social media has dominated our lives and witnessing the perfect snap shots of everyone's days, is only adding to our feelings of overwhelm and making us add another pathway to happiness to our to do lists.
It is correct that self-care is a necessity rather than an indulgence, but it doesn't need to be as “perfect” as our Instagram makes us believe it to be. Creating balance in your daily routine is tailored to each one of us and we have control of what creates balance in our minds and bodies. The importance of bringing renewed balance, empowerment, energy and comfort into our lives is as important as any daily task.
Wellness trends have spiked as Christmas approaches and the current circumstances endures fear amongst us. Our physical and mental well-being is more important than ever at this time of year. For some this is a season of joy but others it may resemble loneliness and pain, either way we must be mindful of our bodies. It is not necessary to put pressure on ourselves to walk 10,000 steps a day or manifest your goals in order to achieve them. These pressures can cause us to slip into the mindset that you don't need to be taken care of, because you have others to focus taking care of instead. The reality is that we can fulfil our days and our daily tasks if we individually feel taken care of. You are worth the self-care.
Unwinding can come in the middle of our chaotic lives, it is vital to bring calm energies into these places. The places that we find ourselves working from home in, helping the kids with their homework or eating your dinner off a tray in. Bringing the balance into these places can transform your mindset entirely and be the first step in the right direction to further self-care rituals that may currently overwhelm you.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year to take a step back and put these methods into practice. We will almost naturally do these rituals without any self-awareness, however without the awareness there may come a lack of peace.
To declutter your headspace and unwind for Christmas, there are 2 simple concepts that go hand in hand with one another.
Romanticise the small things
Picture yourself in a film. Every Christmas film has moments of stillness and tranquillity. We watch families on TV sitting around the fire or the living space with a tea or hot chocolate and feel relaxed at the thought of having those moments; except we have those very exact moments in our lives too, so what is the difference? We don't romanticise our moments, we just romanticise them in a film.
Now, romanticising doesn't mean you need to be in relationship or have a family. It means falling in love with the small things, yourself and taking care of yourself.
Going back to the film element, we don't watch an actor on our screens sitting on their phone scrolling at everyone else's lives. We watch them sip a coffee every morning as if it's the best coffee they ever had or taking a bubble bath and fully indulging themselves in their moments. Even still, if they ever feel down about their life or circumstances and compare themselves to another, what usually happens? They find those small things that bring them happiness and appreciate them to allow themselves to fall in love with their own life.
Each part of life we have chosen in one way or another; remembering those reasons behind those choices may help to find the good and appreciate the happiness around us.
The next time you sit down for dinner over Christmas or have a hot drink and putting on a face mask, try to romanticise those moments a little more. Sitting down in your living space, again a place where there could be elements of chaos and bringing balance to the area will build zen around it. We love to feel snuggly around Christmas, putting on a cosy jumper, wearing fluffy slippers on our warm plump sofa watching a happy Christmas film makes us feel calm of an evening, it almost instantly relaxes our mood and is a ritual we all do over Christmas on most days. Take a moment to feel at peace and picture yourself as those characters in a film, appreciating those moments as the best ones.
Guidance of stillness.
The concept of stillness is the first step to meditation. Meditation can sound daunting but the elements behind it is simple. Self-awareness is key to practicing this and the results are instant. We have some simple steps to help add this 3-5 minute night time or morning ritual into your routine to recharge your mind.
Step 1
Find your place of relaxation, this may be sitting on your sofa or lying in your bed. This is key to feeling calm and still.
Step 2
Select a slow soft song and play quietly in the background. Close your eyes, open your ears and listen to the song. Look at our picks below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FCgPUKPBVw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eIPllih7Qg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1X7lymlkSU
Step 3
Focus on breathing, breathing in for counts of 4 and out for counts of 2. Play around with your breathing to what you feel most comfortable with.
Step 4
Focus on each body part. Imagine you are lying on the beach, and you can feel your body parts touching the sand. Taking each part of your body at a time imagine that area sinking into the sand, whilst focusing on your breathing.
Step 5
Practice stillness. Staying as still as possible and imagining your dream location to take your mind elsewhere.
There are many online videos that take you through guided stillness and can take up to 10 minutes out of your busy schedule. Practice over Christmas and embed it into your daily routine. Here's our favourite below to get you started.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8rotabrXq0
Sofa Club x
