The hustle and bustle of the holiday season are picking up as the decreasing daylight leads to longer periods of darkness. This can make it especially hard to find time in your day for all that you have to do, let alone all that you want to do. Keeping up with your exercise routine, or just making time in your day to focus on mindfulness, can help you power through your day with the peace of mind that you are also taking the needed time for your own health.
Thrive During the Holidays
One of the main reasons that many people get rundown during the holidays is the chaotic schedule of events we commit ourselves to keep. With so many friends and loved ones to celebrate with, it can be easy to overextend your schedule and cut out much-needed time that you might otherwise dedicate to health and wellness.
Here are four ways you can keep connected to your health goals, give you peace of mind, and help you thrive this holiday season.
Stick to Your Schedule
It can be easy to let the needs of others or our obligations to our loved ones get in the way of the time we set aside daily for health and wellness endeavors. While it can feel challenging to stick to your normal routine, remember how good you feel at the end of your workout and prioritize that feeling!
Try Something New
When time is of the essence and you are trying to squeeze in a workout, venturing out in the cold to your gym can seem less than enticing. Instead of skipping out on the benefits of movement, try something new! Changing your exercise routine to include new forms of movement not only keeps boredom at bay, but it also challenges your body in new ways and can even help reduce over-use injuries!
Focus On Self-Care
With the buzz of the holidays and trying to tend to the needs of the important people in your life, it can quickly lead to feeling depleted. There are some very simple ways that you can carve time into your busy day that also allow you to focus on self-care. Besides, the best gift you can give to your loved ones is being fully present when you are together. Self-care allows you to give those you love the best version of you! Get more self-care tips by ready our other health blogs!
Make Time for Mindfulness
What is mindfulness? It’s a straightforward concept in which the mind is fully attending to what’s happening, to what you’re doing, to the space you’re moving through. Seems simple- right? Give it a try and you might discover otherwise. Our mind takes flight, we lose touch with our body, and soon we’re engrossed in obsessive thoughts about something that just happened or fretting about our holiday shopping list and the company potluck next week. Like anything worthwhile, practicing mindfulness has benefits that include improved sleep, lower blood pressure, and reduced chronic pain and stress. So many benefits that it’s a no-brainer to add it to your health & wellness routine year-round. Read our December newsletter for more mindfulness tips!
How Ever You Do It, Commit to Health
It’s not selfish to prioritize your health. If pain or injury limits your ability to be as active as you might like to be, count on your physical therapist at MVPT to help you. Together, you will work toward eliminating the pain that limits motion and set realistic, achievable goals with health as the ultimate target upon completion of your course of care. Together with your other medical providers, your PT places you at the center of care.
Call any MVPT Physical Therapy location to schedule or complete the form below to request an appointment.
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Tags: motivation, holiday stress, Health, self-care, PT first, mindfulness
