12 Days of Christmas: Holiday Self-Care Edition

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to…wait a minute. In which century was that song written? I mean who wants a partridge in a pear tree anyway, or calling birds or maids milking? Excuse me? I have a better idea! How about we bring the 12 Days of Christmas up to speed? Because I guarantee you no one wants leaping lords for Christmas. This year, what should be on everyone’s list is some self-care. So let’s kick off this season with our 12 Days of Christmas Holiday Self-Care Edition.

I’m sure you already know how these things go. Basically for 12 days leading up to Christmas day you give or receive a gift each day. This year you’re going to do both. Plus, you’re also going to be the giver and the receiver, how’s that for a Christmas present? Woo hoo!

Merry Christmas to you!

Table of Contents

Why self-care?

Self-care falls under wellness. Wellness is referring to the state of your emotional, physical, spiritual, social, intellectual, environmental, financial, and occupational well-being.

By practicing self-care, you can work to improve one or more of these areas of wellness. Improving these areas can help to make you happier and healthier.

Why Christmas?

The holidays can be really tough on your mental, physical, and let’s face it financial wellness. Not everything about the holidays is cheery and fun, especially once you get that credit card bill come January.

All the running around and expectations, either self-inflicted or from others, can leave you feeling especially stressed out.

By taking some time each day to work a little bit, even for just a few minutes, on yourself can make a huge difference in how you are feeling. Most of these ideas I’m sharing with you today are easy to do and don’t require a bunch of money(‘cause that would be counterproductive afterall).

A quick word about stress

Everyone experiences stress in their lives, it’s pretty much unavoidable in the modern world. However, if stress is something you are always dealing with, like as in daily, that’s when it becomes dangerous.

Stress is undoubtedly harmful to your health, both physically and mentally. While the occasional stress won’t cause complications, constant stress can have adverse affects, such as:

Feeling overwhelmed
Headaches
Sleeplessness
Nervousness
Digestive Problems
High Blood Pressure
Heart Palpitations
Heart Attack
Anxiety
Depression
Moodiness
Agitation

Can you see why taking care of yourself and managing your stress levels is super important?

12 Days of Christmas: Holiday Self-Care Edition

Drink cocoa and stir with a candy cane
Cuddle up in a cozy blanket and read a good book
Make and send out Christmas cards
Decorate your space
Set a spending budget for Christmas
Bring a treat to your co-workers or a family member
Give to those in need
Go ice skating, sledding, or on a brisk nature walk
Buy a gift for yourself
Play Christmas Win, Lose, or Draw with friends or family
Have a Christmas carol sing-a-long
Make and deliver cookies to neighbors

Are you hosting New Year’s Eve this year? Be sure to grab our New Year’s Eve Activity Pack to help make party planning less of a stress and more fun!

Here’s a cute printable you use to track your 12 Days of Christmas Holiday Self-Care Edition progress. It’s free and you can grab it by clicking on the image below.

Looking to make self-care a part of your regular routine? We’ve got just the thing! Our Monthly Self-Care Calendar subscription! It’s self-care made simple and done for you. All you need to do is subscribe to our newsletter which not only includes the calendars, but is also packed full of wellness tips, current events, and subscriber exclusive freebies.

All you have to do to sign up is fill in the form below. Go ahead, it’s time to start putting your health first.