How to Have a Restful Holiday Season

The holiday season is in full effect here and we can definitely feel it from all that snow that's outside on the ground here. Maybe you've been doing a lot of shoveling, having to have some stressful drives. And so as we get in further here into the season and schedules start switching around and changing up, kids are going to be out of school here again soon to celebrate Christmas and New Year's. And maybe your schedule is switching up a little bit too with any travel that you might be doing, going to see family and especially enjoying time with folks that you maybe haven't seen in a while. It's going to come along with a lot of change, not only in your routine, but diet, and especially with your activity.

One of the things that I like to recommend for folks to make sure that we're keeping good sleep during this time is making sure that again, we have good balance to our day. A lot of times, we're going to be out and we have a lot of activity going on, but there's also going to be those days that are going to be a little bit more restful. And oftentimes I find from folks that it is a little bit more challenging for them to not only fall asleep and stay asleep on those days where maybe they have a little bit less activity throughout their day. A good reminder here to make sure that if we've had a little bit more of a relaxing day, if we've had a little bit more of a chill schedule, it's important to maintain our activity level to a certain degree. It doesn't have to be hard, it doesn't have to be super intense, but if we can make sure that our physical body is tired, then it's going to be much easier for our brain and our body to find that good place of rest.

Another recommendation I always give is to have a good balance in your day. If you've had a lot of activity, it's going to be helpful to rest. But if we've been a little bit more restful during the day, getting up and getting some activity is going to be great. And the overarching thing that I like to recommend here is if you would tell your kids to do it, it's probably a good idea for you to do it as well, right? We've all been there where it's like, man, you guys have way too much energy right now. Get up and go run around the house or get out there and go shovel off the rest of the driveway or the rest of the sidewalk for us so we can get some of that energy out so we can get a little bit tired here and make sure that we're ready for sleep. If you'd recommend it for your kids, it's probably a good idea for you two as well.

I hope you guys have an amazing rest of your holiday season here, and I hope these tips help you get some good rest along the way.

Be Well

Dr. Daniel