A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 14 – Wellness and the Holiday Frenzy
December 16, 2020
In A Chic and Simple Christmas, author Fiona Ferris stresses the idea of keeping ourselves healthy during the holiday season. In her case, she writes about how, during the holidays, she had the tendency to go to bed later, maybe miss some walks or workouts and, of course, eat Christmas sweets. These things combined with a busier holiday schedule can make anyone start feeling a bit physically worn out but also a bit mentally more fragile to the stress and bustle of the season.
“Wellness” is a word that I see often in popular media. Usually accompanied by beautiful photographs of slim women wearing yoga clothes (in soft colors) with glowing skin and “natural” looking makeup stretching or meditating on ocean-colored yoga mats in minimalist rooms flooded with gentle daylight. There might be a spectacular view out the window or maybe one tall vase placed artfully against a totally empty wall. It’s not exactly an image that has any sense of familiarity when I compare it to my daily life. (One tall vase? How about multiple tall piles of children’s shoes, sports equipment, and laundry?) I must admit that I usually look at those serene “wellness” images and roll my eyes.
Even though I scoff at what I regard as over-posed “wellness accessory” advertisements, the idea of wellness is a very powerful one when it comes to ensuring our enjoyment of the holiday season. It does no one any good to whip ourselves into a frenzy of cleaning, decorating, shopping, cooking without any thought of self-care. Rushing ourselves through the season as if it were a race – and the person with the longest to-do list “wins” – is a strange way to torture ourselves. The concept of wellness which encompasses physical, emotional and mental well-being and self-care can help us keep our “joie de vivre” this 2020 holiday season.
Yesterday, I fell prey to this sense of “rush, rush, rush” and felt stressed and cranky. There was no good reason for this internal pressure, by the way. I live in France, which is still in a (modified) state of national CoVid-19 lockdown. The borders are closed, so even if family members or friends wanted to take the risk of traveling this season, they wouldn’t be admitted into the country. France has a national curfew of 8 pm so there is no going out to parties (if they were legally allowed, which they are not). All restaurants and bars are closed, so no going out to lunch or dinner. All in all, the French government has set the rules for the nation so that this year’s holiday season is a rather quiet and home-focused event. (The rules have relaxed as of yesterday so that we can go more than 20 km from our residence and we don’t need to carry our “papers” – proof of identity and residence – with us now when we go out of the home.)
Given all of the above, after a nice cup of tea yesterday afternoon, I told myself to “skip the drama” and get back into a better, calmer and more realistic frame of mind. My best way to accomplish that lofty goal? Get some sleep.
After a brief conversation with my husband, we moved late afternoon activities (like dinner) a bit earlier and closed down the technology about 30 minutes earlier than usual. It felt so luxurious to turn out the lights and snuggle into bed before I felt so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. There are several external factors that help the “snuggle in & turn out the lights early” mindset. As I wrote above, there is a national curfew of 8 pm so the streets are quiet and deserted by about 7:45. It’s wintertime in Northern Europe which means that it is cold and grey during the day and rather dark by 4:30 in the afternoon. It’s perfect weather to stay inside and relax while wearing cozy, soft clothes. The Christmas tree looks lovely with its sparkling lights – perfect for sitting near while reading a good book. My plan is to keep the “turn out the light a bit earlier” mindset going for the rest of the season. I think it will help me keep an energetic physical feeling and protect that “happy holiday” emotional feeling that I want to enjoy.
How are you practicing self-care and wellness during this 2020 holiday season?
