3 Tips for a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season

As we enter the holiday season, we enter a time of year that for many of us also involves more stress. Navigating travel and extra commitments, consuming more sugar and alcohol, and working out less are all things that seem to happen during the holiday season. I fully support balance, which means enjoying the holiday (whatever that looks like for you) while also checking in with yourself to make sure you are taking time to care for yourself.

Here are 3 simple tips to cultivate more wellness this holiday season:

1. Notice your body. Check in by feeling your feet on the floor, or your hips in a chair. It sounds so simple, and yet this is my go to recommendation to build awareness and your ability to be in the present moment.

2. Move your body a little every day. You don’t need a lot of time for movement to be effective. Even a short walk, getting out of your chair, stretching, or doing one of your favorite Pilates exercises is a great way to experience movement in your body. Moving feels good and, usually, doing a few minutes will turn into more.

3. Make sure you’re drinking enough water! Sugar and alcohol can make us feel groggy, and so it is helpful to drink water to stay hydrated and support your body when you enjoy those extra holiday treats.

Add in these super simple tips and have a holiday season that feels jolly and bright inside and out.

Give Yourself Permission to Pause

Relaxation. Resetting. Pausing. Do you give yourself permission to rest? Or do you push through?

Does it feel hard to rest and relax? Is it hard to let go?

We can let our busy brains and bodies settle down into a soft, comfortable chair, lie down or put our feet up in the middle of a productive work day. You don’t need to feel ashamed of the desire or need for rest. We’ve all heard the saying “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” and we’re all living in the hustle and bustle of a society that glorifies ”grinding” and asks us to save rest for our vacations.

Try to tune into and listen to your body's needs. When you feel the urge to rest, can you pause? Even if you can’t actually take a nap, can you close your eyes for a few minutes? Can you allow your body to settle into your chair? Can you allow a few deeper breaths to move into your body? Of course you can. It only requires a conscious moment to give yourself permission to pause.

As we transition to fall, you might notice your body needs more sleep and rest. See what is different for you if you give your body what it’s asking for.

If you could use some help learning how to give yourself permission to pause, somatic techniques can help. Let me know if you’d like to schedule a session focusing on somatic techniques to support relaxation. Sessions start at $50.

Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad

Photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

I adore this salad from Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. Her recipes are great and I’ve tried many of them over the years, but this one was the first and it’s one I come back to often, especially as we move into cooler months.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For salad:

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

1 medium garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (1 1/2 cups)

1/4 of a medium red onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro

For tahini dressing:

1 medium garlic clove, finely minced with a pinch of salt

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425° F.

In a large bowl, combine the butternut squash, garlic, olive oil, and a few pinches of salt. Toss the squash pieces until evenly coated. Roast them on a baking sheet for 25 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven and cool.

Make the tahini dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic and lemon juice. Add the tahini, and whisk to blend. Add the water and olive oil, whisk well, and taste for seasoning. The sauce should have plenty of nutty tahini flavor, but also a little kick of lemon. Add more water to thin it out if needed.

To assemble the salad, combine the squash, chickpeas, onion, and parsley or cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add the tahini dressing to taste, and toss carefully. Serve immediately. I often will serve this salad on a bed of brown rice. I also think this salad tastes just fine the next day.

Carrot and Grilled Corn Salad for the Summer to Fall Transition

This is the perfect end of summer salad! Fresh local corn and peppers are still in season. Cilantro is still popping up in my herb garden. And I always start to crave root vegetables more when the weather starts to cool.

Ingredients:

2 large ears of corn

Coconut oil

Juice and zest of one lime

1/2 fresh chili pepper (Serrano or Jalapeno)

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 carrots sliced into into thin rounds

4 medium spring onions, sliced into thin rounds

1 small bunch cilantro, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Brush corn with melted oil and grill until the corn is tender and slightly charred, 7-10 minutes. Let cool slightly. Slice the kernels off the corn and put them in a large bowl.

Roast carrots for 7 minutes, until cooked with a bit of crunch.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lime zest and juice, minced chili, honey, salt, cumin and olive oil.

Add carrots, spring onions and cilantro to the bowl with the corn. Pour the dressing over, toss to combine, and let the flavors soak in for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Somatic Experiencing and Caring for Your Whole Self

I started my second year of Somatic Experiencing training a few weeks ago, and I feel even more passionate about the role this work has in supporting healing.

My interest in Somatic Experiencing is rooted in my own experiences of stress and trauma and feeling a need to heal in a deeper and body-focused way.

Stress (trauma) shows up in the body with physical symptoms. Chronic pain, chronic fatigue and low energy, anxiety and feeling “wired and tired,” insomnia, and digestive issues are all examples of symptoms that can be helped by supporting the nervous system. While nourishing movement (such as Pilates) is a huge piece of the puzzle of feeling good in our bodies I think understanding and supporting nervous system regulation is something everyone should understand and incorporate into their lives and learning this can only aid you in feeling your best.

Somatic Experiencing is a gentle, body focused technique that supports your health and overall wellness as well as supports healing from specific stresses and traumas.

This work is very complimentary to your Pilates sessions and will deepen your body awareness, which will enhance your Pilates practice.

It’s evident to me that we can’t neatly separate our emotional and mental health from the physical, and I can support a much deeper and richer experience by holding space for your mental AND physical well-being.

If this sounds at all interesting to you, I’d love to chat more with you about it, and I’d love to share Somatic Experiencing with you. Current pricing is $50 for an hour (sometimes a little less time depending on your nervous system and how you are feeling in the session).