Burnout, Self-Care, Self-Love
The holidays can often feel like a whirlwind.
You get swept up in a gale of parties, gift-giving, and errands. Always on the go, you bounce from task to task, checking things off your list.
It can feel overwhelming. And if you’re unprepared, you might experience signs of burnout.
Most of us can’t hop on a plane to the islands when the holiday stress kicks in.
But I have good news: you don’t have to.
There’s no need to retreat to an external destination. You can find solace within yourself.
This Christmas, you can retreat to your inner sanctuary.
Why an Outer Sanctuary Isn’t Enough
Many of us have physical places we retreat to.
Our bedroom. Our place of worship. The park. We often find serenity in these special physical spaces.
However, these places aren’t always guaranteed to deliver peace.
For example, my home has always been my sanctuary. However, with renovations underway, my sanctuary suffers from invaders. This holiday season, it’s more a source of unwanted noise and stress.
But I learned that I didn’t have to despair. I didn’t need a physical space to retreat to.
When this happens, I know that I can always return to my inner sanctuary.
What Sanctuary is to Me
My sanctuary is found within my heart-space. It’s a place of serenity that I can always go to.
When life outside is stressful. When everybody is demanding my time and energy. When I need to desperately escape it all, I know that I can re-center myself within my sanctuary.
During the holidays, my sanctuary soothes me and prevents overwhelm. In this state of mind, I reconnect with my inner guidance.
How to Discover Your Inner Sanctuary
#1 Calm Your Body and Mind
First, find a comfortable place to sit.
Close your eyes.
Now, take a deep breath through your nose to the count of five.
Exhale through your mouth to the count of ten.
As the breath empties your lungs, feel the fatigue in your body melt away.
Let the world around you dissolve.
#2 Envision Your Inner Sanctuary
Picture in your mind a place where you feel peaceful, happy, and safe.
It might be a place you visited when you were young, like a park or field you played in.
It could also be an imaginary place, like a fantastical forest or lush meadow.
There is no right or wrong answer.
Your sanctuary is yours to design.
#3 Immerse Your Senses
Whichever destination you choose, immerse yourself entirely.
What sounds do you hear? Maybe you hear birds chirping or waves lapping against the shore.
What smells do you notice? What textures can you feel?
Delight your senses. Experience every detail. Be present in this moment.
#4 Notice Your Appearance and Actions
Are you wearing a faded summer dress that catches the wind? Or maybe you’re wearing a sharp pantsuit that makes you feel unstoppable.
Your clothes should reflect how you want to feel within your inner sanctuary.
Calm. Inspired. Confident.
Now, imagine what you’re doing.
You could be following a daisy-lined dirt path, the sunshine kissing your skin. Or you could be engaged in a hobby like painting or writing. Or maybe you’re just floating, carried by the waves.
Choose an activity that calms or energizes you.
What are you doing in your sanctuary?
#5 Color This Experience
Mentally capture your inner sanctuary, as if you’re taking a polaroid picture.
If this polaroid picture were to take on a color, what would it be? Yellow? Green?
For me, my sanctuary would take on a yellow tint. How about you? What color is your sanctuary?
Now imagine this color symbolizing everything you feel within your sanctuary: serenity, safety, happiness.
#6 Return to Your Breath
Now, return to your breath.
Imagine the oxygen you breathe is pigmented with that color.
Each inhale fills every cell within your body with that color. The feelings of joy and fortitude that your color carries touch every organ and extend to each fingertip.
And as you exhale, feel the color and every emotion settling into place. Each breath fills, soothes, and grounds you.
This is the transformative power of your inner sanctuary.
#7 Regularly Visit Your Inner Sanctuary
Your inner sanctuary isn’t just a retreat for when you’re feeling the symptoms of burnout.
It can also be a daily practice. When you practice consistent self-care, you feel more clarity and gain mastery over your emotions.
Before I give myself away to the day’s responsibilities, I visit my inner sanctuary every morning. I start my morning at my seaside cottage. I’m swaying slowly on a hammock tied between two palm trees. The warm sunshine paired with the cool ocean breeze energizes me.
I feel at peace.
Share your inner sanctuary with me. What does it look like? How do you feel when you’re there?
Discover Your Sanctuary Today
The holiday hustle and bustle can quickly consume our time and energy. If we don’t take time to practice self-care, we can suffer from holiday burnout.
This Christmas, the perfect gift isn’t always something you can buy off the shelves. Perhaps, the perfect gift is unlocking that space of zen and serenity within yourself.
That place is your sanctuary, and it’s waiting for you to discover it.
If you want to learn more about how to create a life of peace, purpose, and power, click here to join my mailing list and receive weekly support.
Burnout, Self-Care, Self-Love
‘Tis the season to be jolly.
Or not.
For many, it’s the most joyous time of the year. For some, it’s also the most stressful.
And here’s why.
Imagine all the day-to-day responsibilities you’re already busy with. Now imagine stacking all your holiday stress on top: shopping, planning, decorating.
It can get overwhelming!
If you don’t prepare properly, you’ll fizzle out fast. That’s why it’s important to always be on the lookout for signs of burnout.
In part 1 of this 2-part series on preventing holiday burnout, I shared physical, mental, and emotional self-care tips.
However, even those self-care practices might not be enough. The picture is incomplete.
To effectively prevent holiday burnout, you must also practice spiritual self-care.
What is Holiday Burnout?
Before we dive into holiday burnout prevention, let’s start with the basics: what is burnout?
Burnout happens when you keep pushing your limits until you’re finally running on empty. When you reach this point, your body and mind break down.
You’re probably familiar with the symptoms of burnout.
The tension in your muscles. The clenching in your jaws. Shallow breathing. Brain fog. Restless nights.
Holiday burnout is when you experience all of this plus the stress and anxiety of preparing for the holidays. In fact, one in three Americans experience burnout during the holidays.
Burnout recovery requires ample time and deliberate self-care practices.
That’s why I advocate for burnout prevention. Last week, I shared how you can fortify your mind, body, and emotions during the holidays.
Now, let’s focus on strengthening your spirituality and nourishing your sense of adventure.
5 Ways to Prevent Holiday Burnout Through Spirituality and Adventure
#1 Cultivate Self-Compassion
During the holidays, we’re often too hard on ourselves.
We feel frustrated if we fall behind on holiday errands. Or disappointed if we don’t give the perfect gift. These emotions might leave you feeling unworthy of love or joy this season.
The next time you feel like who you are or what you’re doing isn’t enough, practice affirmations. Tell yourself:
I am enough and I love the person who I am.
Don’t let negative self-talk trigger your holiday burnout. Rather, give yourself the gift of self-compassion. Affirmations are empowering and provide gentle reminders to be compassionate to yourself, so you will feel more deserving of love.
#2 Practice Gratitude
It’s difficult to enjoy life when you’re occupied with everything that seems wrong.
I don’t have the perfect holiday gifts! or I keep getting buried under all these holiday errands!
However, the holidays are meant to be filled with love, family, and joy.
Remember that the next time a negative thought slips into your mind.
Pause. Let it flow. Then say something that you’re grateful for.
When you practice gratitude, you retrain your mind to think more optimistically. You will also discover that your life is touched by countless blessings this holiday season.
#3 Study Your Faith
What faith do you practice?
Is it Christianity? Buddhism? Maybe it’s Judaism or another religion.
Whatever your religion is, the holiday season is the perfect time for renewing your spiritual self through your faith.
When was the last time you studied your religious practices? Or the last time you had a conversation with your higher being?
If your anxiety is spiraling out of control, it may be time to rely on your higher power. Pull out your favorite scripture and read it aloud. Reflect on how you can apply it to your life. Faith and prayer can support you through the holiday rush.
#4 Revel in the Sunshine
In the holiday hustle and bustle, we’re often so busy checking off our holiday lists that we forget to take breaks.
If you’re feeling the holiday overwhelm, try walking outside and feeling the sunshine on your face.
Sensory self-care is a wonderful way to calm your system and soothe chronic stress. Your body will appreciate the warmth and vitamin D gathered from the sun.
Also, fresh air and sunshine has been linked to improved mood. Sunshine helps you produce more serotonin, which can soothe your holiday stress.
Nature has an abundance of healing properties to offer. Open your senses and welcome it into your body.
#5 Practice Deep Breathing
During the holidays, your attention is pulled in every direction. Work, holiday errands, and caring for your family can stretch you thin.
In the midst of the holiday chaos, don’t forget to pause and breathe.
Deep breathing can collect your scattered attention and center it within your body.
Try it now.
Take a slow, deep inhale as you count to five. Feel your belly expand. Experience the rising in your chest. Savor the cool air rushing through your nose.
Now exhale even slower as you count to ten. Feel your shoulders, your chest, your belly, slowly lowering with gravity’s pull.
Feel the difference?
In just a few moments, you can tap into yourself and discover true peace during this season.
Don’t Let Burnout Dampen Your Holiday Spirit
If you’re reading this article and thinking to yourself:
These tips are all about preventing burnout. But I’m feeling anxious and exhausted in this very moment. Help!
Remember to practice the deep breathing exercise we learned earlier. Inhale to a count of five. Exhale to a count of ten.
Imagine each exhale pushing the stress and anxiety out of your body.
Next, I want to help you combat your burnout today by drawing from my first tip: self-compassion.
I believe the best way to express compassion inward is to take care of yourself. That’s why I’d love to send you a FREE gift: “From Burnout To Balance: A Simple 10-Minute Daily Self-Care Practice.”
This practice has been shown to:
- Increase mindfulness, well-being, self-confidence, and personal power
- Increase your ability to concentrate
- Cultivate a greater resilience to stress, a positive mindset, and a sense of hopefulness and calm
- Decrease stress and stress-related symptoms like frustration, mood swings, feelings of overwhelm or lack of control, anxiety, depression, low energy, headaches, body aches and pains, muscle tension, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, insomnia, and frequent colds and infections
- Reduce or even stop worrying
In just ten minutes, you can practice self-compassion and slowly heal your burnout.
Click here now to download your “From Burnout To Balance: A Simple 10-Minute Daily Self-Care Practice.”
Burnout, Self-Care, Self-Love
You’re standing in line, shopping for holiday presents at the last minute… again.
The last thing you want to do after a long day at work is to run stressful holiday errands. But, here you are.
Next!
The cashier calls you over. As he rings you up, you massage the knots in your shoulder. You wince at the hammering in your temples. Through the pain, you consider stopping for coffee to hopefully clear your brain fog.
This is what holiday burnout feels like.
The signs of burnout feel like uninvited guests every holiday season. Instead of joyful anticipation for the holidays, all you feel is exhaustion and anxiety. 
This holiday season, I want to equip you with self-care practices that will improve your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. That way, you can enjoy your holidays and savor the time you spend with your loved ones.
#1 Fortify Your Body
For many people, burnout symptoms manifest in their bodies. Headaches. Tense muscles. Shallow breathing. Here are three physical self-care tactics to address those problems.
Prioritize Sleep Quality
Sleep improves your energy levels, sharpens your focus, and improves your appetite. However, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 1 in 3 adults don’t get enough sleep.
If low energy levels seem to be the norm lately, start evaluating your sleep quality. Are you going to bed on time? Are you consistently sleeping for six to eight hours? If not, make improving your sleep quality a top priority.
Fuel Your Body
Burnout and the common cold often partner up during the holiday season. Depending on what you eat, your diet can worsen your symptoms. Excessive sugar and empty calories can sabotage your energy levels, mental clarity, and mood.
Boost your immune system with wholesome, nutritious meals. Fueling your body with the right foods can help you ward off holiday burnout.
Get Moving
If you’re sitting at a desk from sun-up to sun-down, it’s easy to save exercise for “when you feel like it”.
I’ll try again tomorrow. It’s been a long day and I’m beat.
However, neglecting exercise does little to soothe your signs of burnout. When you consistently exercise, you can boost your energy, sharpen your focus, and increase self-esteem.
Taking walks during your work breaks (Another tip: schedule in work breaks!) and during the weekends can be a convenient way to strengthen your heart, while combating all the holiday stress.
#2 Reclaim Your Mind
As fall transitions into winter, your mind is bombarded with holiday-related errands. Practice mental self-care with these tips to help you better manage holiday burnout.
Declutter Your Mind
Ever felt overwhelmed by a huge project?
Looming deadlines and a mountain of work is enough to overwhelm anybody.
We often see the holidays the same way: a mountain of work.
The best way to climb this mountain is one step at a time. And that first step is getting all those holiday errands out of your head and onto paper. Once you’ve written them down, assign each task a date and time on your calendar.
With a little organization and the right productivity systems, our minds don’t always have to suffer from burnout.
Meditate
Sitting in silence with your thoughts can be scary. Distracting yourself with social media and your favorite TV series is so much easier.
However, our minds can get cluttered with anxiety, overwhelm, and self-doubt. Meditation helps you clear that mental gunk and invites inspiration and peace back into your life.
If you find yourself overwhelmed with holiday stress, sit down and meditate. If you’re still uncomfortable with silence, try guided meditation with a mobile app.
Avoid consuming negativity from toxic people and online sources. Instead, feed your mind with inspiration and positivity, like the content I share when you sign up for my mailing list.
#3 Discover and Celebrate Your Emotions
Emotional exhaustion can easily tear down your resiliency during the holidays. Here is how you can add emotional self-care to your routine.
Journal
The self-care process can be a journey of self-discovery. However, your voice is often drowned out by trending news, social media, and marketing ads.
We get so busy listening to others that we forget to listen to ourselves.
Journaling helps you tune back into your thoughts. Rediscovering who you are and what you value helps you achieve emotional harmony. Don’t wait until the holidays to gift yourself with a journal. Delve into your thoughts and emotions now.
Connect with Your Loved Ones
Inter-connection is biologically wired into all of us. Our survival depended on people forging bonds and building communities.
As you prepare for the holidays, schedule some quality time with your loved ones. Plan a dinner with a close friend. Give your mom a hug. Go on a date with your lover.
When you give your time and love, you will receive it back in abundance.
Overcome Holiday Burnout In Just Ten Minutes…
Holiday burnout happens to the best of us, myself included. If left unmanaged, it can derail the entire holiday season for you.
And that’s why I want to help you. In addition to these self-care tips, you can sign up to receive a FREE gift: “From Burnout To Balance: A Simple 10-Minute Daily Self-Care Practice.”
This practice has been shown to:
- Increase mindfulness, well-being, self-confidence, and personal power
- Increase your ability to concentrate
- Cultivate a greater resilience to stress, a positive mindset, and a sense of hopefulness and calm
- Decrease stress and stress-related symptoms like frustration, mood swings, feelings of overwhelm or lack of control, anxiety, depression, low energy, headaches, body aches and pains, muscle tension, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, insomnia, and frequent colds and infections
- Reduce or even stop worrying
If you dedicate just ten minutes everyday to caring for yourself, your life will transform for the better.
Click here now to download your “From Burnout To Balance: A Simple 10-Minute Daily Self-Care Practice.”
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