May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.
–Â Mary Anne Radmacher
Halloween
Allow your inner child to have fun! Even if you aren’t going out with friends, dress up for yourself. That might be wearing black and orange, or dressing up in a full blown costume with makeup and all. Turn on Halloween movies, curl up with your black cat or maybe just a warm blanket, grab some candy and popcorn, or a snack/tasty beverage of your choice, and enjoy your Spooktacular evening!
Thanksgiving
This holiday can be extremely stressful because it is usually filled with shuttling to- and from family member’s homes, cooking, and juggling conversations. Thanksgiving can be extremely daunting for those who have both more positive or more negative relationships with their family’s. Anxiety and depression can peak during this period, and it can lead us to hurt ourselves!
Think about Thanks! Are you thankful for your friends, family, ability to take care of yourself, your body…etc? Thank your body and thank your mind for getting you through what may have been a difficult day, month, or year! Like any other holiday, make sure to take some time for yourself. With the rush of Thanksgiving and upcoming Black Friday shopping, it is so important to have time for yourself. Meditation and quiet time may be best to take time off from the chaos of the season.
December Holidays
Wherever you may find yourself this Holiday season, take the time to enjoy your surroundings! Whether it be snow, gloom, or sun, I have no doubt that you will be surrounded by twinkling lights, the classic tunes that remind us of a Winter Wonderland, breathtaking decorations, bright candles, and mouth-watering holiday beverages (i.e. hot coco with smooth whipped cream or eggnog in your favorite mug)! This holiday season is yours to enjoy. With shopping and the repetition of family time that may have come too soon since Thanksgiving, stop for a second and take in the warmth and happiness that is meant to come from this season. Make the choice to surround yourself with those you love, and relax with watching your favorite childhood movie or reading a comforting book! The choice is entirely up to you, but don’t forget to treat yourself with the kindness and love that you deserve!
The holidays can be a difficult time, but rather than getting swept away by the potential stress and exhaustion that this season might bring, create your own kind of holiday season that YOU can truly enjoy!
This post was helpful in reminding us to take time for ourselves. I appreciate the thought and intention in it. I am having a hard time with the holidays because of the food, the wanting to eat things I enjoy (ie: mouth watering beverages that you mention in addition to all sorts of mouth watering foods), but not feeling like it’s ok. I get frustrated and angry that I see all sorts of things that are supposed to me comforting and bring happy feelings, but instead bring me anger and feelings of inadequacy and frustrating with myself and deprivation. I know the comment was intended to be helpful, wondering how to deal with the food anxiety around the holidays and the anger that comes with feeling like we SHOULN’T and CAN’T enjoy the hot cocoa and eggnog.
Hello Abbie!
Thank you for your comment, and I understand what you mean/where you are coming from. If you do not feel that you can find that you can partake in the fun food that comes with the Holidays in a healthy, recovery minded-way, and THAT’S PERFECTLY OK! There so many other ways that you can take care of yourself this holiday season, and when you feel these thoughts coming into your head, acknowledge that this is the Eating Disorder and not your recovery talking.
I know that Halloween has already come, but for Thanksgiving, self-care, self-care, self-care! This can be anything from taking a hot shower, to a warm bath, lighting candles, reading, watching a movie, going to the theater, going shopping, getting coffee, sightseeing, coloring, painting, listening to music, knit! Anything you love to do 🙂
Just make sure that you take the time over the Holiday season to do some self-care!