How stressful has Christmas become?! Since November I have heard people everywhere saying ‘oh god, it’s nearly Christmas…are you ready? I’m not ready, I haven’t even started. Aaaaaaaargh!’ Now Christmas really is nearly hear, the stress is reaching a crescendo…just look at the joyful (not!) faces in the shops.

Magazines and newspapers are full of articles on ‘surviving’ Christmas – like it’s some kind of disastrous event! What happened to ’tis the season to be jolly’?! Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate that Christmas can be stressful – there’s the financial strain, the consequences of getting the ‘wrong’ present, the enforced family time, the cooking, the endless parties…

However, it’s a national HOLIDAY! A time to enjoy yourself. And get pressies. This year, why not give yourself the best pressie of all and design your Christmas so you look forward to it, enjoy it and ‘survive’ with effortless ease?! I am very lucky, because my Christmas is always the same – mass, breakfast, pub, dinner, pressies, tv, sleep. Hoorah!

A few of my favourite things in one day. So, you’ve got 2 weeks (stop panicking!) – what can you do to minimise the things you hate, and maximise the things you love this year? Tip: if you join in with the December Daily Practice of Self-care, this will help immensely!

- Something to Play With -

A. What do you love about Christmas? B. What do you hate about Christmas? C. How can you make sure you get more of A and less of B in this festive season?

Love

Donna.x

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Happy December to you! Woohoo! I love December – despite the fact that I despise the cold and dark, December contains my birthday, Christmas, pressies galore, sparkly lights, holidays and crap tv. Hazah! Hope you are delighted to see the beginning of December too! So, a new month, and it’s time for a new daily practice for this month. After a couple of fun ones (laughter, dancing), this month is a more caring one. Self-care to be precise. December is one of those months where there is a lot of stress – financial stress, time stress, work stress, pressie stress, shopping stress, cooking stress, family stress, friend stress.

Added to all that, in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s bloody cold. And with all the stress, it’s a prime time for colds and flus, exhaustion and depression. Which is when we need self-care the most, and for many of us, the time we care for ourselves the least – that’s why we get sick, over-stressed, wound up and agitated. So this month, our daily practice is self-care. To join in this practice, all you need to do is take a moment every day to check how cared for you feel on a scale of 1-10 (where one is ‘not at all’ and 10 is ‘cradled in the arms of love’). If your level of self-care is less than a 7, you need to do something to take care of yourself.

I know time is scarce in the busy holiday month, but your self-care is very important. You will enjoy the holiday season much more if you take care of you. You will enjoy your LIFE much more if you take care of you. And it can be done with much less time than you think. 10 minutes a day, 5 minutes, even 30 seconds of self-care will make a difference to how cared for you feel. And as for it being ‘selfish’ to put yourself first – who benefits most when you are healthy, happy, joyful, fun to be around, rested, and filled up so that you have more than enough to give? Your family and friends.

When you are depleted, sick, angry, agitated, exhausted and have nothing to give, your closest friends and family suffer. Because you have nothing left for them. So it is LESS selfish to take care of yourself! So are you in? Are you going to make self-care your daily practice for December? For daily reminders, join me on Facebook. And keep an eye on the blog this month for articles and ideas to help you take your self-care seriously!

Love

Donna.x

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OH MY GOD! I’m not feeling 100%…it doesn’t matter.
I didn’t do all the housework today…it doesn’t matter.
I didn’t do everything I wanted to do workwise today…it doesn’t matter.
I didn’t go to the gym today…it doesn’t matter.
I haven’t taken over the world today…it doesn’t matter.

Only that you feel good. Life is here to enjoy – most of the stuff we get stressed about DOESN’T MATTER! Feeling good, now that’s important! So forget the rest of your to do list today and put right at the top ‘Enjoy life’.

Love

Donna.x

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A desk piled with paper, a to-do list 12 people couldn’t complete in a month, and a racing mind.

Sound familiar?

Do you know when to switch off, or do you stock up on caffeine and adrenaline and keep going late into the evening…day after day after day?

Here’s a tip: if you need artificial stimulants to keep you going, you need to stop. Probably about 2 hours ago!

Don’t force yourself beyond your endurance. Know when it’s time to stop.

Love

Donna.x

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Yesterday when I woke up, I realised I was tense. My shoulders were tense, my jaw was tense, even my eye muscles felt tense! Now it’s one thing to end the day feeling tense, but to start it feeling tense? Had I had a very stressful sleep? I realised that there’d obviously been a bit of a build up of tension so spent the day yesterday consciously relaxing whenever I thought of it, and noticing where I’m holding tension.

Join me – take a moment now to scan your body – are you holding tension in your scalp, your eyes, your jaw, your neck, your shoulders? Everywhere you find tension, release it. Move down the body all the way to your toes, releasing tension where you find it. Take a breath and mentally say to your muscles ‘relax’. When you’re done, get on with your day. Repeat as often as you feel it’s necessary. If tension is something you’ve been living with for a while, you may need to do it often to begin with, but it’s worth it.

Be relaxed as you go about your day.

Love

Donna.x

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How stressful has Christmas become?! Since November I have heard people everywhere saying ‘oh god, it’s nearly Christmas…are you ready? I’m not ready, I haven’t even started. Aaaaaaaargh!’ Now Christmas really is nearly hear, the stress is reaching a crescendo…just look at the joyful (not!) faces in the shops.

Magazines and newspapers are full of articles on ‘surviving’ Christmas – like it’s some kind of disastrous event! What happened to ’tis the season to be jolly’?! Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate that Christmas can be stressful – there’s the financial strain, the consequences of getting the ‘wrong’ present, the enforced family time, the cooking, the endless parties…

However, it’s a national HOLIDAY! A time to enjoy yourself. And get pressies. This year, why not give yourself the best pressie of all and design your Christmas so you look forward to it, enjoy it and ‘survive’ with effortless ease?! I am very lucky, because my Christmas is always the same – mass, breakfast, pub, dinner, pressies, tv, sleep. Hoorah!

A few of my favourite things in one day. So, you’ve got 2 weeks (stop panicking!) – what can you do to minimise the things you hate, and maximise the things you love this year? Tip: if you join in with the December Daily Practice of Self-care, this will help immensely!

- Something to Play With -

A. What do you love about Christmas? B. What do you hate about Christmas? C. How can you make sure you get more of A and less of B in this festive season?

Love

Donna.x

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How stressful has Christmas become?! Since November I have heard people everywhere saying ‘oh god, it’s nearly Christmas…are you ready? I’m not ready, I haven’t even started. Aaaaaaaargh!’ Now Christmas really is nearly hear, the stress is reaching a crescendo…just look at the joyful (not!) faces in the shops.

Magazines and newspapers are full of articles on ‘surviving’ Christmas – like it’s some kind of disastrous event! What happened to ’tis the season to be jolly’?! Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate that Christmas can be stressful – there’s the financial strain, the consequences of getting the ‘wrong’ present, the enforced family time, the cooking, the endless parties…

However, it’s a national HOLIDAY! A time to enjoy yourself. And get pressies. This year, why not give yourself the best pressie of all and design your Christmas so you look forward to it, enjoy it and ‘survive’ with effortless ease?! I am very lucky, because my Christmas is always the same – mass, breakfast, pub, dinner, pressies, tv, sleep. Hoorah!

A few of my favourite things in one day. So, you’ve got 2 weeks (stop panicking!) – what can you do to minimise the things you hate, and maximise the things you love this year? Tip: if you join in with the December Daily Practice of Self-care, this will help immensely!

- Something to Play With -

A. What do you love about Christmas? B. What do you hate about Christmas? C. How can you make sure you get more of A and less of B in this festive season?

Love

Donna.x

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How stressful has Christmas become?! Since November I have heard people everywhere saying ‘oh god, it’s nearly Christmas…are you ready? I’m not ready, I haven’t even started. Aaaaaaaargh!’ Now Christmas really is nearly hear, the stress is reaching a crescendo…just look at the joyful (not!) faces in the shops.

Magazines and newspapers are full of articles on ‘surviving’ Christmas – like it’s some kind of disastrous event! What happened to ’tis the season to be jolly’?! Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate that Christmas can be stressful – there’s the financial strain, the consequences of getting the ‘wrong’ present, the enforced family time, the cooking, the endless parties…

However, it’s a national HOLIDAY! A time to enjoy yourself. And get pressies. This year, why not give yourself the best pressie of all and design your Christmas so you look forward to it, enjoy it and ‘survive’ with effortless ease?! I am very lucky, because my Christmas is always the same – mass, breakfast, pub, dinner, pressies, tv, sleep. Hoorah!

A few of my favourite things in one day. So, you’ve got 2 weeks (stop panicking!) – what can you do to minimise the things you hate, and maximise the things you love this year? Tip: if you join in with the December Daily Practice of Self-care, this will help immensely!

- Something to Play With -

A. What do you love about Christmas? B. What do you hate about Christmas? C. How can you make sure you get more of A and less of B in this festive season?

Love

Donna.x

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How stressful has Christmas become?! Since November I have heard people everywhere saying ‘oh god, it’s nearly Christmas…are you ready? I’m not ready, I haven’t even started. Aaaaaaaargh!’ Now Christmas really is nearly hear, the stress is reaching a crescendo…just look at the joyful (not!) faces in the shops.

Magazines and newspapers are full of articles on ‘surviving’ Christmas – like it’s some kind of disastrous event! What happened to ’tis the season to be jolly’?! Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate that Christmas can be stressful – there’s the financial strain, the consequences of getting the ‘wrong’ present, the enforced family time, the cooking, the endless parties…

However, it’s a national HOLIDAY! A time to enjoy yourself. And get pressies. This year, why not give yourself the best pressie of all and design your Christmas so you look forward to it, enjoy it and ‘survive’ with effortless ease?! I am very lucky, because my Christmas is always the same – mass, breakfast, pub, dinner, pressies, tv, sleep. Hoorah!

A few of my favourite things in one day. So, you’ve got 2 weeks (stop panicking!) – what can you do to minimise the things you hate, and maximise the things you love this year? Tip: if you join in with the December Daily Practice of Self-care, this will help immensely!

- Something to Play With -

A. What do you love about Christmas? B. What do you hate about Christmas? C. How can you make sure you get more of A and less of B in this festive season?

Love

Donna.x

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How stressful has Christmas become?! Since November I have heard people everywhere saying ‘oh god, it’s nearly Christmas…are you ready? I’m not ready, I haven’t even started. Aaaaaaaargh!’ Now Christmas really is nearly hear, the stress is reaching a crescendo…just look at the joyful (not!) faces in the shops.

Magazines and newspapers are full of articles on ‘surviving’ Christmas – like it’s some kind of disastrous event! What happened to ’tis the season to be jolly’?! Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate that Christmas can be stressful – there’s the financial strain, the consequences of getting the ‘wrong’ present, the enforced family time, the cooking, the endless parties…

However, it’s a national HOLIDAY! A time to enjoy yourself. And get pressies. This year, why not give yourself the best pressie of all and design your Christmas so you look forward to it, enjoy it and ‘survive’ with effortless ease?! I am very lucky, because my Christmas is always the same – mass, breakfast, pub, dinner, pressies, tv, sleep. Hoorah!

A few of my favourite things in one day. So, you’ve got 2 weeks (stop panicking!) – what can you do to minimise the things you hate, and maximise the things you love this year? Tip: if you join in with the December Daily Practice of Self-care, this will help immensely!

- Something to Play With -

A. What do you love about Christmas? B. What do you hate about Christmas? C. How can you make sure you get more of A and less of B in this festive season?

Love

Donna.x

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