This is going to be a bit of a meandering post on work, winter, rest and the festive season.
I’m currently writing this from my local coffee shop after my gym session, I don’t actually start work-work till late this afternoon. And this is fine. In my early years of working as a massage therapist seasonal ups and downs would panic me. For the first few years I worked out of hair salons or treatment centres and everyone providing hair cuts, manicures, beauty treatments and spray tans would be booked solid till Christmas Eve. Me and the other holistic therapists would be a bit quieter leading up to Christmas. Why? I guess a variety of reasons, it’s a hectic time of year with parties, family, socials, getting work tasks finished before the break, preparing for Christmas, the usual colds and bugs, oh and hangovers!
Which I understand, I’ve been there: party, social, shopping, cooking, quick drink, work late, catch up with family, late nights, prepping for guests and repeat until exhaustion or a cold would force me to slow down. Now though, I’m super selective about the parties and get togethers I choose. I know my energy is finite and too much socialising will lead to what I think of as my Social Hangover, where I’m good for nothing other than quietly reading a good book.
Now I know some people reading will be extroverts who will happily work late, host gatherings, then party and socialise with no ill effects (who are you, and what is your secret??), but if you’re reading this thinking “Oh I’m burnt out and already over the festive season, I just want a break somewhere hot, where nobody needs anything from me”* then I urge you to carve out tiny moments of rest. It doesn’t have to be a massage, or a spa visit, but something small and achievable like 5 minutes of a breathing exercise, drinking a cuppa and reading a book (not your phone, put it down!), a yoga class, walking around the Stray, meeting a friend, having a bath, or doing a puzzle. You’ll also have your own favourites which work best for you.
But as I write these suggestions I realise they can actually be hard to do. And I’m not sure how we got so busy that taking 5 mins to rest without using our phones or thinking of our To Do list is so hard to do. When did we get so busy? Technology is supposed to make our lives easier but it just doesn’t. I don’t have the answers for how this happened, so for now I’d like you to consider how you can get 5 mins of something that you find relaxing into your day.
Take care,
Fiona
Recommendations
Yoga:
https://www.mindfulmovementwithnerine.co.uk/ Gentle yoga to relax and restore
Read:
Self-care for winter by Suzy Reading. Advice on making winter easier. A cosy, nurturing read.
How not to be a supermodel by Ruth Crilly. Funny, gossipy memoir.
Wellness by Nathan Hill. This might just be my fave book of 2024. It’s long, and meandering, funny and sad, and wanders off on fascinating tangents. I found myself highlighting passages I felt were particularly relevant.
*I have actually replied with the following to a family member after I hosted Christmas and they jokingly asked if I was doing it the next year: “F**k off, I’m going to Thailand!”. Surprisingly they’re still speaking to me.
Pic credit: Photo by Pavan Trikutam on Unsplash
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