5 Tips for Emotional Self-support This Winter

I often work with clients to increase the quality of their relationship to self, and to discover what they can do to be more emotionally self-supporting. Empowering people to support their own best health through lifestyle choices is a fundamental goal of kinesiology, while focusing on putting energy towards reaching goals is a key aim in PSYCH-K. Here I share some tips to thrive in the darker months and meet the demands of Christmas with greater ease, that I might offer as homework during 1-to-1 sessions with me.

1 You have Permission to Rest! Follow the lead of creatures like bears and hedgehogs who hibernate in the colder months and gift yourself some cave time on weekends, and longer sleeps at night. Nature slows down during the winter, it’s the time to conserve your energy. We tend to keep pushing forward in winter though and come down with colds, flu and migraines as a result. May as well enjoy the recharging powers of resting on your own terms, rather than be confined to bed for days when the discomfort of feeling ill has become too much.

2 Quit the job of being the Perfect Host at Christmas. Be perfectly self-loving instead, then when your cup is overflowing you genuinely want to give, rather than run yourself down doing and being everything for everyone else. Let’s rediscover the joys of teamwork and make spending time together preparing food the centrepiece of your family Christmas.

3 Take up a daily Mindfulness Practice. The longer evenings offer the perfect opportunity to cultivate a new habit that you can do at home. Mindfulness is incredibly simple and incredibly powerful – it’s a new muscle to grow and exercise that will help you centre yourself when times get challenging. To gently but firmly keep bringing your attention back to your breath gives the painful thoughts some space and they pass away when you stop adding fuel to the fire. I recommend Mark Williams’ mindfulness meditations on YouTube or Spotify and his book Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World.

4 Stop Beating Yourself up. Self-compassion is an attitude of kindness to self that brings a healing balm of patience, understanding, and gentleness when we make a mistake, can’t meet others’ expectations or hurt, judged or disappointed. Self-compassion is a triple anti-inflammatory, David Hamilton writes in I Heart Me: The Science of Self-love, it reduces biological inflammation, self-inflammation/self-criticism, and relationship inflammation. So learning to soothe yourself with a self-hug and positive inner talk will be a massive boost to your overall health, and you are worth it!

5 Upgrade your food choices. We naturally reach for heavier, hotter foods in winter and it’s tempting to go mad on all the calorie-dense, inflammation-producing processed foods we associate with Christmas, but this can leave us with stomach aches, nausea, bloating, constipation, achey joints and a foggy, negative mind. Go for balance, you don’t need to be perfect, but know that you can make some healthy swaps that will still be wonderfully tempting. How about Deliciously Ella’s orange chocolate-covered almond nuts instead of sugar-intense Terry’s Chocolate Orange? Go for foods to prepare that you recognise in their natural state in the supermarket – a chicken or turkey rather than a meatloaf or pie. Another idea is to include pickles or hot ginger tea with your dinners to aid digestion.