All Blog Postings by Mary
Holiday Burnout
By Mary Francis · Originally published: December 5, 2022
Archive notice: This is a historical post from Mary’s years of blogging. Some older posts may mention products, courses or shop items that are no longer available, as Mary now focuses her time and energy on supporting widows inside her private Facebook community. The guidance and stories remain here as a free resource for widows.
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Widows may face the “holiday burnout” of too full a social calendar, or they may sit home lonely without seeing anyone.
Here are a few tips for widows that over schedule because they can’t face the holidays:
- Schedule time to do nothing: example a soak in the tub, with soft music and low lights or candles.
- In a medium size spray bottle mix 10 drops of pure lavender essential oil and 5 drops of pure marjoram essential oil. Then fill the rest of the bottle with water. Spray on bedding and furniture, take in a few deep breaths to help you relax.
- Hum to your favorite Christmas carol. “Humms” trigger rhythmic vibrations in the inner ear that encourage the formation of stress, soothing brain waves.
- By practicing moments of mindfulness throughout the day, you will learn to stop feeding into negative thoughts. Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions.
- If it’s too hard to see everyone on Christmas Day, consider a new tradition of spending another day between Christmas and The New Year with them.
- To help avoid burnout I recommend a simple breathing exercise. Just inhale deeply for a count of four, hold for four, and exhale for eight. Repeat until you feel calmer.
- Name your needs and let others help you. Lightly express your need, and if you don’t get the response you want, become more direct.
- Write out in your journal what you are worried about. It will help you heal because you’re no longer bottling it up inside of you.
- Reach out to other widows. It's important because common bonds help us to validate each other’s feelings.
Mary Francis, The Sisterhood of Widows
#widow, #thesisterhoodofwidows, #widowsupport, #grief, #holidaysforwidows
