Holidays are great. But when it comes to getting back to ‘normal’ what’s the best way to restart our regular routines?
It’s brilliant to be on holiday – wake up when we’re ready and not with the shriek of an alarm; spending our days doing as we please with no deadlines infringing on our peace. Taking our time to eat, rest and enjoy all of the things now labelled as self-care, are a natural (and important) part of a holiday.
Finally taking that exhale when your holiday starts, signals to the body that it is safe and relaxation can begin. Everything that follows helps to restore our innate sense of wellbeing, leaving us feeling refreshed, rested and forgetting about the daily life waiting for our return.
Embrace the calm
We’ve all returned from holiday vowing to make a change – eat better, exercise more, spend time outdoors. The aim is to capture that elusive feel-good factor from our holidays and replicate it into our daily lives, shoe-horning it in between meetings and commutes. But it can’t work this way, or rather we’re not setting ourselves up for the success we dream of. Instead we should embrace the calm of our holidays and use this as an incentive to make some small changes to our ‘normal.’
Setting boundaries
Late summer is the ideal time to begin to create these changes. Incorporating the energies of the earth element, which encourages us to set boundaries and establish routines which will see us through the darker, more yin seasons ahead. This is a time to draw in all the bountiful memories created over the summer months, to harvest the good times and use them as fuel to support us moving forwards.
Boundary setting can be challenging so try to think about what can be achieved as opposed to the potential obstacles in the way.
- Carve out time for yourself
- set the alarm for 15 minutes earlier and do some meditation, yoga or give yourself a gua sha facial.
- put the tv off and devices away 15 minutes earlier in the evening, give yourself some time to wind down, read, listen to yoga nidra, or wind down for bed with a yoga nidra, or try legs up the wall pose to help encourage a restful sleep.
- Getting good at honesty
- asking for help can often be harder than pushing through ourselves, especially if you’re a recovering people pleaser like me. Start small and be honest with yourself, this is the first step towards setting important boundaries.
- Get outside
- Spending time outdoors, especially at this time of year can help us to feel less anxious. Take a walk in the evening after work as a way to create a buffer between the working day and a restful evening.
Start small and meaningful
It might seem obvious but that doesn’t mean these suggestions can’t have a big impact, especially if practiced over time. Imagine how good you’ll feel by the end of the year if you meditated or practiced yoga for 15 minutes each morning. There’s a certain sense of virtue that comes with knowing you’ve set boundaries allowing time for yourself while others are only complaining that they have no time to do so. Find what works for you and try it out for a couple of weeks.
Consider this season of Late summer is an invitation to explore some new routines dedicated to helping you feel your best self. Who knows, this could be exactly what your body and mind need right now.
This post has been proudly written without any AI input. It is 100% my own ideas, work and words. It might be imperfect, but at least it’s all mine.
Yoga by Gillian 