The 5 Healthiest Habits to Cultivate Self-Health This Holiday Season
The holidays can get crazy real quick, right?
But here’s what’s on our mind at PP as we head into the busiest season of the year: Self-health.
At Primally Pure, we’ve decided to use the holidays as a time to tune out the noise and focus on self-health. It’s not to be confused with self-care. Yet, it’s still a practice centered on “filling your own cup” so to speak.
Self-health is driven by purpose instead of indulgence (not that you don’t deserve indulgence, it’s just not what we’re talking about here!).
Self-health seeks to respect your body and all it’s capable of. It’s taking care of yourself so you can better show up for the world + the people around you.
Self-health prioritizes practices and mindsets that boost your energy, mindset, and morale. It’s choosing the harder path over the easy thing in the moment because you’ve got the end results in mind.
Here are our top 5 ways to cultivate self-health this holiday season.
1. Prioritize Movement
Movement is something that looks different for everyone, and probably even looks different for you from day to day.
Movement is one of the healthiest habits you can build. It plays so many roles in your health like:
- Maintaining fluid movement for improved circulation + hydration
- Activating detox pathways throughout the body
- Massaging your organs to aid digestion
More than HOW you move, it’s whether you do it or not that matters most.
Just pick one method and go for it:
→ Exercise – If you want to go the traditional route for movement, you can attend an exercise class, or find a self-guided video on youtube. These are our favorite workout styles:
- Hiking
- Yoga
- Cardio
- Pilates
- Barre
- Bodyweight circuits
- Kickboxing
- Aerial
- Cycling
- Playing sports
- Boot camp
- Weight lifting
→ Gentle Stretching – Movement doesn’t have to be tiring – it can be insanely relaxing. Stretching is great for your fascia, circulation, and lymphatic flow. Regular stretching (especially after a workout) prevents muscle tension and cramps.
Stretching is also an effective calming routine before bed to sleep deeper.
→ Slow walks – Even just a quick walk is enough to normalize your blood sugar after a big meal. And try to get outside in the mornings specifically. You’ll gain the added benefit of morning sunlight to reset your circadian rhythms.
→ Adjusting your posture throughout the day – Similar to stretching, small movements throughout the day help support healthy blood and lymphatic flow throughout the body. Adjustments also keep you alert and aware of your posture.
→ Dry brush – On days you can’t find any time to practice movement with your body, do a quick 2-minute dry brushing routine before you hop in the shower. This will activate your fascia and lymphatic system and stimulate flow in a similar way movement does.
Regardless of your energy, your available time, or your personal limits, there is a form of movement for everyone and every situation. Self-health is about committing to prioritize your health even on hard days. You can do it!
Bonus: Check out Bethany’s top fitness finds to make movement more enjoyable.
2. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is an incredibly powerful aspect of your self-health, so don’t neglect it!
Stress can wreak havoc on your body and your skin. Centering yourself and practicing mindfulness is key in motivating yourself to continue choosing the healthiest habits for the holiday season ahead.
The great news about mindfulness is there are so many ways to practice it!
Here are some of our favorite ways to practice mindfulness:
→ Journaling – This can include a gratitude journal or just daily entries to process everything life throws at you.
→ Prayer – There is freedom in offering up control and surrendering to a higher power.
→ Meditation – Studies have shown that meditation improves your physical and mental health. Double whammy.1 If you’re new to this practice, try a guided meditation – there are plenty to choose from online.
→ Spend time in nature – We know that nature holds healing powers. Maybe all you need for mindfulness is a solo walk outside. Or maybe it looks like an hour sitting in the grass with the breeze blowing through your hair.
→ Practice Gratitude – Not only does gratitude make us feel more content + grounded, but it can also physically repattern your facial expressions to minimize lines and wrinkles as a bonus.
3. Set Healthy Boundaries Around Sweets and Unhealthy Foods
This is arguably one of the hardest healthy habits to maintain during the holidays. It’s the time when everyone pulls out their grandmother’s recipes full of white flour and refined sugar. And while they sure do taste good, we know they aren’t cultivating self-health.
Not to say you can’t enjoy a few treats. Self-health and healthy habits around food are more about respecting your body enough to say no to every single opportunity to indulge.
Too many sweets can leave you and your skin feeling and looking sluggish.
And you definitely don’t want to fall victim to the dreaded sugarsag. Repeated indulgences over time can lead to dull and prematurely aging skin.
As hard as it is, minimize the following indulgences:
- Gluten, sugar, and alcohol
- Omega-6 fats from seed oils
We consume too much of all of these types of foods. We need more balance in our diets. While these are near impossible to fully avoid around the holidays, just try to monitor your intake. And indulge in moderation.
Making the healthiest choices with sweets and unhealthy foods can be hard work, but it’s worth it. You’ll wake up with less indigestion and more energy the next morning, guaranteed! ;)
4. Support Your Immune System With Nourishing Foods
Focus on nourishing your body instead of focusing on missing out on sweets/unhealthy foods. It’s an ideal way to practice self-health around the holidays. It comes with the added benefit of boosting your immune system for the winter months ahead. Because as we know, colds, coughs, and sicknesses abound as the weather changes!
→ Focus on warming foods – aids proper digestion as the weather cools
- Bone broth – loaded with collagen, nutrients, and protein
- Herbal teas – choose teas that are soothing, calming + healing
- Soups and stews – load it up with nutrients and organic veggies + responsibly raised animal protein
- Hydration – our most recent obsession is the ultimate hydration hack: gel water
→ Choose foods high in antioxidants + healthy omega-3 fats – keep your cells healthy and able to fight off disease much easier
- Fatty fish which have lots of omega-3
- Healthy fats instead of vegetable oils for cooking
- Berries full of antioxidants
- Foods with turmeric + ginger
- Grass-fed meats (grass-fed meats contain 7x more nutrients!)
- Sweet potatoes which are rich in cancer-fighting antioxidants2
Combat your sweet + savory indulgences during the holidays with healthy alternatives. Prioritize real foods and adequate hydration. Take time to discover healthy foods you love to get you through one of the most testing times of the year!
5. Savor Your Evening Skincare Routine
Now of course we’re biased, but it’s important to have the best skincare products if your goal is to love your evening skincare routine. Don’t settle for anything less than the best.
What makes you feel relaxed + like you’re prioritizing your self-health? It looks different for all of us but here are some ideas to get your wheels turning. ;)
→ Light a non-toxic candle to set the tone and soak up aromatherapy benefits.
→ Double-cleanse to care for your skin and wipe away impurities. Bonus: You’ll provide deep nourishment to the skin too.
→ Apply a mask to give your skin an extra dose of love while you get lost in a novel.
→ A warm bath with Epsom salt and essential oils can be the perfect way to wind down after a stressful (or fun) family-filled holiday.
We all have our favorite aromas, our favorite ways to wind down for the night. Having a routine you look forward to makes this part of self-health easier than ever.
Self-Health is Unique to You
While the holiday season can easily get overwhelming, self-health is one of the most rewarding ways to take care of yourself.
And no one knows how to take care of yourself better than you!
At the end of the day, how you practice self-health doesn’t matter. It’s about feeling your best when you go to bed each night and when you wake up each morning.
Because when you feel your best, it’s a ripple effect that makes life feel brighter, easier, and more meaningful.
Here’s to a beautiful healthy holiday season ahead!
XO
Bethany, Founder of Primally Pure
Sources:
- Harvard Health Publishing | What Meditation Can Do for Your Mind, Mood, and Health
- Food Revolution Network | Are Sweet Potatoes Good for You? Everything You Need to Know
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