SCH 079 Five Self-Care Hacks to Help You Overcome the Post Holiday Blues

Those post-holiday blues can hit at any time, even on Christmas Day. These hacks will help you banish the blues before they take hold of your life.

You know the feeling. Wrapping paper litters the living room, overstimulated kids dart between presents with short tempers, and the holiday meal looms on the horizon. So many dishes to prepare. Martha Stewart would have had it done ahead of time (or catered in, she has money to do that). But you have food to make, family to please, and expectations to deal with. And it might suddenly feel a lot like Christmas brings more disappointment than you thought it would.

You may find yourself slipping into the post-holiday blues before the final dish gets wiped and put away. After all, the holidays bring family. And family gatherings bring their own peculiar set of emotional landmines. Maybe you lost someone and you have to navigate the season while honoring the loss. Perhaps you couldn’t leave your most annoying relative off the invitation list. But your emotional bandwidth seems too narrow to handle passive-aggressive barbs and politics.

Maybe you secretly mourn choices your family members may have made and long for the good old days when you celebrated a certain way. A way they no longer embrace. Perhaps you struggle with the need to fulfill everyone else’s expectations and have worn yourself ragged. Any or all of these scenarios can open the door for the post-holiday blues.

Don’t hesitate to sit with your feelings. Acknowledge the parts of the holiday that make you feel sad. Depending on your triggers, you may need to accept you will always feel a twinge of sadness at Christmas. But that doesn’t mean you need to accept a sentence of full-blown holiday blues.

Today’s podcast will guide you through five self-care hacks to help you overcome the post-holiday blues before they have the chance to freeze the life out of you!

Get Out of that Pit: Straight Talk About God’s Deliverance by Beth Moore

Fully Alive: Lighten Up and Live–A Journey that will Change Your Life by Ken Davis

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burnes, M.D.

Hope Prevails: Insights From a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression by Dr. Michelle Bengtson

Need ideas for helping others? Check out this blog post.

I gave up New Year’s Resolutions years ago, but I accomplish more each year than ever before. Find out why!

• Develop Community! The Inspire Me Monday link up exists to foster community among bloggers.
• Sharing Rocks! Visit and share the post in front of yours. Who knows, your audience may need to hear the words someone else wrote.
• Foster Encouragement! When you leave kind words on someone else’s blog, it inspires them to encourage someone else (maybe even you).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!