You take care of others. Don’t forget to take care of yourself.

Busy season is right around the corner, and before our schedules get jammed packed with appointments and holiday events, we are taking a second to breathe and focus on self-care. Here are 11 tips to help you relax during the busy season:

Tip 1 – Breathwork 
Most of you are familiar with the powerful practice of breathwork but are you incorporating it into your day-to-day routine or while performing treatments? Studies show that inhaling deeply may not always calm you down. Taking a deep breath is linked to the sympathetic nervous system, which controls the fight-or-flight response. On the other side, exhaling is connected to the parasympathetic nervous system, which influences our body’s ability to relax and calm down. Next time you find yourself stressed out, try the 4-7-8 breathing technique, also known as “relaxing breath,” which involves breathing in for 4 seconds, holding the breath for 7 seconds, and exhaling for 8 seconds.

Tip 2 – Get a massage
Walk the talk, get a massage. When you are getting treatment from another therapist, in order to fully benefit from it, try hard to focus on how your body responds to it rather than how the therapist is doing.  It will deepen the results of your massage and help you relax.

Tip 3 – Mindful meditation 
Taking a few minutes to say some gratitudes every day can make a world of difference to your overall health and mental state. Here are a few meditation prompts: Today, I am grateful for… today I am happy about… list three things around you that are beautiful or good.

Tip 4 – Find movement
Take a walk around your neighbourhood, even if it is just 10 minutes. Walking has been proven effective in reducing anxiety and depression, and there is evidence that walking in nature improves those results even further.

Tip 5 – Writing 
A recent Harvard Business review study discovered that writing about thoughts and feelings that arise from a traumatic or stressful life experience — called expressive writing — may help some people cope with the emotional fallout of such events.

Tip 6 – A nut a day 
Eating selenium-packed brazil nuts provides many anti-inflammatory benefits that can reduce your body’s stress. A single Brazil nut contains 68 to 91 micrograms of selenium, meaning that one nut per day can provide the recommended adult allowance daily.

Tip 7 – Get out into the sun 
Exposure to sunlight can increase the brain’s release of a hormone called serotonin. Serotonin is associated with boosting mood and helping a person feel calm and focused.  To maintain healthy levels, aim to get 10–30 minutes of midday sunlight several times per week. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen!

Tip 8 – Mental exercise #1
Take your mind off uncomfortable thoughts and feelings by counting backward from 100 by 7.

Tip 9 – Mental exercise #2
Spell your full name, and the names of three other people, backward.

Tip 10 – Mental exercise #3
Pick up an object and describe it in detail. Describe its colour, texture, size, weight, accent, and try any other qualities you notice.

Tip 11 – Roll tennis or spikey ball under your feet
A 2013 study published in BMC Nursing found that long-term healthcare staff who looked after elderly residents with dementia experienced improved mood, less anxiety, and lower blood pressure after just 10 minutes of foot massage performed up to 3 times per week.

See all our courses here.