On today's podcast, I'm talking about ways to stay mindful despite the chaos that often comes with the holiday season. I want to end this year on a calm note, and I bet you do too. I'm Natalie and you're listening to the Resource Doula Podcast, a place where we provide information to help you make informed healthcare decisions for yourself and your. We all know that holidays can be some of the most fun days of the year, but they can also be some of the most stressful. We're off our normal routines. Maybe we're traveling or spending more time at other people's houses with a lot more people than we typically do. And this can put us into a state of. Dysregulation, more stress, more fight or flight, which can also send us into a downward spiral if we're not careful. I have five ways that I like to keep in a more regulated state while I'm traveling or just in the midst of busier seasons of life. Like right now, the holiday season let's get into them. Number one is keep some parts of your routine. So I know that this isn't entirely possible, especially if you're not at your house or you have a lot of events to attend, but pick a couple pieces of your normal routine. Maybe it's having a cup of tea in the evenings or waking up at the same time that you normally do. Or if you're like me, bring a squatty potty with you so you have it wherever you go. Every single morning, I start my day with a packet of element in my water, and I drink this before I eat, before I drink coffee, and just as a way to wake up. And so I bring element with me when I'm traveling, when I'm other places, because it tastes like home. It feels like home, and it keeps my routine. The same. So no matter where I am, I can have that familiarity for my nervous system because when you have familiar things, your nervous system feels safe, and that helps you to stay in a calmer state. Number two, slow down and take in the moment. So whether it's an insanely chaotic moment or it's kind of a mundane. Calm moment. My challenge to you is to be present. This is mindfulness being where your feet are in that moment for the entire moment. So maybe that means that you turn off your notifications or you leave your phone in an entirely different room, but however that works for you, or however you achieve. Presence, then do that and make it a point to be present for as many moments as you can during this holiday season or when you are out of your normal routine. I mean, it's good to be present when you're in your normal routine too. It's good practice for everyone all the time. number three, take some time for yourself and breathe. Now, I know a lot of you have little kids, right? And alone time seems impossible, but I want you to go to the bathroom or step outside and stand there for 10 seconds and take a deep breath in and out, or just go into a different room. But find a moment where you can just be by yourself as best as you can. Maybe you have a baby strap to you, but as alone as you can be. Breathe and just notice how you're feeling and take inventory of what's going on inside your brain. You maybe need to clear out some thoughts and figure out how you're feeling, how you're reacting, and notice that maybe your needs aren't being met, like you're responding to people in your life in a. More reactive way than you would like to be. Maybe you just need a snack Maybe you need, uh, a moment to yourself. Maybe you need to go walk around the block and you can say, I'm headed out for a walk and if anybody wants to join me, they can, but I will be back in 10 minutes and that's what you do. Number four is take a nap if at all possible. And if you can't take a nap, take an intentional rest, whatever that looks like for you. Maybe you read a book, maybe you scroll TikTok or Instagram for a little bit. Maybe you just sit in a room in silence by yourself, and you think about how you're going to come back to the room with everybody else or the party that's happening, um, but make sure that you take some intentional time to rest your brain and your body, because both of those are extremely important. Number five, make something or do something with your hands without screens. Now, I know a lot of us tend to do projects with maybe the TV playing in the background or a podcast going, or music. Or we're texting people in between, you know, when we have breaks. But my challenge to you is to do something fully engaged without screens present. So whether you're cooking something for a meal or like the other day I was working on conditioning my leather boots and I took time to do that without pausing for a screen break. Um, or maybe you knit something or you work on cleaning your house, but you're not using an additional input to help you do the thing. This can really help calm your mind down and bring you back into a state of regulation where you are mindful about what you're doing and you're not on autopilot and you're really thinking about what you're doing. And oftentimes I notice that I actually do things faster when I don't have the constant input of my phone or a, a TV show or something like that going on in the background. So those are my top five recommendations to maintain a little bit more mindful state or feeling more regulated during times of chaos, which the holidays definitely can be because. Our mental health and our physical health and how we feel in our bodies is really important, and we can't just neglect it for this season and then say that we're going to pick it back up again come January. Um, because it's always with us, and if we continually work on it in small ways every single day, then we're going to make more progress and more sustainable progress with that. So think about how you can stay a little bit more mindful this holiday season, maybe employ some of these recommendations and get back to me. Let me know how all of these worked for you or what you tend to do to stay mindful through the holiday. With that. Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year to all of you. I am so excited to close this year out on a really great note, and then to launch into 2023. Goals and ambitions and really big things that are happening and coming down the line for trainer, Natalie and the Resource Doula podcast. So I hope you will stay tuned and make sure you're subscribed so you know when every new episode drops, and if you're interested in watching the episodes instead of just listening, then I'm in the process of uploading them to YouTube. You can find me at Resource Doula Podcast there. Please remember that what you hear on this podcast is not medical advice, but remember to always do your own research and talk to your healthcare team before making important decisions about your health. If you found this podcast helpful, the best compliment is sharing it with a friend. Thanks so much for listening. I'll catch you next time.