Top 5 Healthy Life Hacks to Have an Awesome Morning
Write in your journal. Who says you have to journal at the end of the day when you’re tired and ready to sleep?
More Than Just the Blues The holidays are a wonderful time of the year for gathering with our loved ones, giving back to the community, and indulging in some of our favorite treats. It’s a beautiful season, but it can also be one of the most difficult for many people. Holiday-related depression is a common condition. Stress, fatigue, heightened expectations, or homesickness can lead to overwhelming sadness and apathy, and it’s not uncommon for this to happen around Thanksgiving or Christmas as the demands of shopping and gift-giving coincide with the stress of family and having “the perfect holiday.” Furthermore, seasonal depression can exacerbate these feelings. As we continue to live with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, our holiday celebrations may look a little different this year. Travel may be impossible. We may not be able to afford presents for those we care about. It may be difficult to feel gratitude this year. Getting your day started with coffee isn’t always enough. Sometimes, you need to give yourself an extra boost, especially when you have little energy or trouble focusing. For an awesome start to your day, here are five tips to get you going right off the bat. Find focus spiritually. Dedicate 15 minutes for a prayer and Bible reading before looking at your phone. Looking at social media or the news as soon as you wake up can increase your anxiety, ruin your mood, and set a bad tone for the day. Instead, spiritually connecting first thing in the morning can energize you to conquer the day. Start with green tea, then coffee. A cup of coffee at 7 a.m. can leave you burned out by 10 a.m. Try swapping it with green tea for a more gentle wake-up call. After that, you can brew your favorite coffee to keep you going strong. This practice also might help you consume less caffeine overall! Take a quick morning walk — and have your meetings on the go. Morning meetings can make us want to fall asleep again. Don’t spend all of them sitting down if you don’t have to! Not only will morning walks help you wake up, but they can also add some extra physical activity to your day.
You can journal in the morning about what happened yesterday and the things you’re looking
forward to that day. Journaling can remind you of your daily goals and motivate you to stick to your commitments.
Pack your lunch (or snacks!). Staying on track with your goals starts with having the energy to do them. Plan a healthy balance of fats, vegetables, carbohydrates, and proteins. This can be as simple as assembling dips, carrots, wraps, and salads each morning.
It’s time to try these tactics to jump-start your day!
FIGHTING HOLIDAY DEPRESSION
presents over video chat or perfect your cookie decorating skills while videoconferencing together. There are many ways you can stay connected, even from afar. 2. Volunteer or Give Back: Giving back is infectious, and the best part is that it can make you feel better, too! If you can’t be with your loved ones or if your celebrations leave you feeling sad, look at ways you can put some good karma into the world. Volunteering and giving back are just two easy ways to perk yourself up and give the world a little good. 3. Ask for Help: You do not have to fight mental illness alone. Seek help from local counselors, friends, family members, or other health professionals. Or use the therapist finder
on PsychologyToday.com to locate a local mental health professional to speak with. The Suicide Prevention Lifeline can also be reached by calling 1-800-273-8255. It is vital that you seek assistance if you feel angry, depressed, or anxious this holiday season.
However, there are a few ways you can cope or find help for your holiday depression.
1. Try Virtual Gatherings: While you may not be able to see your children or grandchildren in person this year, programs like Skype, Zoom, or even Facebook Messenger make it easier than ever for us to stay connected to our loved ones. Set up a time to open
Regardless of what your holiday celebrations look like this year, we wish you all a very safe and healthy holiday season.
2 McBeathFinancialGroup.com
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