The holiday season has arrived and with it the holiday parties, cool weather, comfort foods, and our never-ending to-do lists.  In the spirit of cultivating good habits with your holiday cheer this year, we offer some simple tips to help keep you on track.  No need to forgo your cozy attire, house shoes are highly recommended for these activities!

“Take Care of your Body,it is the only place you have to live”
~Jim Rohn

Become a Living Room Yogi

Yoga is widely known for its health benefits, and for being suitable for all levels of practitioners and ages.  Has your practice suffered since the yoga studios were closed in 2020?  Are you still staying away from group classes and confined spaces in 2021?  Living room yoga doesn’t judge, you can even do it in your pajamas from the privacy of your own home and at any time of the day.  One of our favorite YouTube channels to tune into is Yoga with Adriene because she offers various lengths of videos for any occasion, body part, or health concern.  Yogi Adriene is easy to follow along with and her quirky personality is hard to resist.  Commit to a 30-day yoga journey today and you’ll be thanking us next month!

Easy Desk Stretches for Every Body

One of the common ailments of our technologically savvy society is known as Text Neck.  Which is described as acute neck and upper back pain resulting from staring down at our phones or various wireless devices for prolonged periods of time.  With more people working remote than ever before, our home office setups might not be ergonomically correct either causing further strain.  Here are some simple Neck Mobility Exercises that you can do every day to keep your neck healthy.

Mind over Matter

Mental health has been a hot topic in mainstream media after the year of isolation that we have all endured.  Meditation is one of the simplest tools to balance holiday stress and is also a great complimentary treatment for more serious conditions according to the Mayo Clinic.  Not sure where to start?  Try these phone apps to get you heading in the right direction with some guided meditations or a timed silent session: Headspace & Insight Timer.  If you want to jump straight into a more serious approach try Transcendental Meditation, which is a 20 minute mantra-driven practice 2 times a day.  Or go all in with a stricter Zen Meditation which offers very specific instructions for how to sit, where to look, and how to breathe.  Short on time?  5 minutes a day of mindful deep breathing offers noticeable stress reducing benefits.

Sole Care

Owning great shoes is highly recommended, but it isn’t the only way to keep your feet happy.  Taking a couple minutes at the end of the day for a self-foot massage is another great way to unwind and improve your sense of wellbeing.  Follow @footgurureflexology for infeed reminders and tips on how to take care of those tootsies.  Reflexology has taught us that our body’s organs are all connected to a specific area of the foot.  You can target one area or rub the whole foot, either way, your soles will thank you!

Soul Mate or Man’s Best Friend?

Don’t forget that our dogs and cats also get stir crazy from being cooped up inside during the winter months.  Carving out indoor play time is essential for their sense of wellbeing too.  Choose a time that works well in your schedule so that you can be consistent.  Whether it’s 15 minutes or an hour, they will look forward to that daily moment of fun and attention.  If your animals don’t play well together, parallel play is great too.  Just be sure to alternate your attention back and forth to keep everyone engaged.  The AKC offers some indoor games you can try out with your doggo like Hidden Treasure, and is a great resource for trick training videos.  Coordinate your pet’s playtime with your own breaktime for a healthy, happy household.

Bring on the holiday cheer!