Prioritizing Family Wellbeing This Holiday Season

As the holiday season approaches (which can often be stressful), it’s the perfect time to focus on family wellness. You can create lasting memories and strengthen your family bonds by prioritizing health, happiness and togetherness. Here are some tips to get started:

Prioritize Healthy Habits

Encourage regular physical activity: Find family-friendly activities like hiking, skiing, biking or playing sports together.

Nourish your bodies: Make healthy eating a family priority by preparing nutritious meals and snacks together. Load your plate with produce, lean proteins, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates.

Get enough sleep: Ensure your family gets adequate rest for optimal health and wellbeing. Since this can be challenging during a season of celebrations, we’ve included some tips to help you:

Stick to a routine: Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even with holiday events. This may mean shifting the times you go to bed and wake up during the holidays.

Limit caffeine and alcohol: Avoid them in the afternoon and evening as they can disrupt sleep.

Limit screen time: Avoid phones or laptops for at least 30 minutes before bed to help your brain unwind.

Set boundaries: It’s okay to say no to late-night events that could interfere with sleep.

Strengthen Family Bonds

Spend quality time together: Engage in activities everyone enjoys, such as board games, movie nights or family outings.

Practice active listening: Encourage open communication and create a safe space for everyone to express their thoughts and feelings.

Resolve conflicts peacefully: Use constructive communication and problem-solving skills to address disagreements.

Nurture Mental and Emotional Health

Relax: Teach children and adults the importance of mindfulness and different relaxation techniques. Some mindfulness activities that can be done as a family include a mindful nature walk, gratitude circle or mindful eating at the dinner table.

Practice gratitude: Encourage family members to express gratitude for the good things in their lives. A fun way to do this is the gratitude alphabet game. Each family member takes turns going around the table, sharing something they’re grateful for, starting with a letter of the alphabet. The first person starts with “A” (e.g., “I’m grateful for apples because they are sweet and healthy”), the next person continues with “B” (e.g., “I’m grateful for books because they help me learn”), and so on through the alphabet.

Seek support: If you or a family member are struggling with mental health, don’t hesitate to seek professional help. Reach out to loved ones or seek out a mental health professional. For crises, use the 988 hotline.

Give Back to Your Community

Volunteer together: Find opportunities to give back to your community as a family. Churches, homeless shelters, and soup kitchens often need extra help this time of year.

Support local charities: Donate to organizations that are important to your family. You can even make it a challenge by seeing who can save and donate the most money this holiday season.

Spread kindness and positivity: Encourage acts of kindness and compassion within your family and community. Simple acts such as shoveling the driveway for a neighbor or dropping off a meal to a loved one can leave a positive impact.

Source:

“7 Holiday Mental Health Tips for Families,” HealthyChildren.org, Dec. 22, 2023