Your Mental Health After The Holidays
Ever wonder why it's so hard to get back into the swing after the holidays? Post-holiday blues are a thing.
Unless you have a three-week vacation in August or another big diversion during the year, the holidays may be the only time regular life is interrupted. Even if your holidays weren’t so merry and bright, the brain exaggerates the realities of day-to-day life, making the return to the mundane seem disproportionately more anxiety-inducing and depressing than it actually is.
---> Here are some ways to keep busy and keep up your momentum after the holiday season.
*** Go out of the house.
Cut the atmosphere that comes from being in the rooms that are bereft of activity or company or tantalizing aromas by getting out of your home. Even on a gray day, letting yourself have some time outside raises your energy.
*** (Re)read greeting cards.
Greeting cards are a tradition on the way out of fashion, but if you got any, especially the “boring” kind with yearly newsletters, read them. Doing so will help you get into somebody else's memory bank for a while, instead of ruminating in your depression.
*** Get some exercise.
If you're feeling the blues, it's likely that you will feel like sitting and staring into space or turning on a show to binge-watch. Before you give in to that, go for a run or use your body vigorously. You will be pleasantly surprised at the mood shift.
*** Look forward, not backward.
Contemplate one thing you would love to happen this year. Not a giant “life goal”—this could be daunting, with your exhausted brain already feeling blue. But think about one thing you would like to happen in 2023 and then make a plan to bring it into being.
*** Start cooking.
Try cooking something that doesn't remind you of holiday food, so you get a new aroma in the house. Better yet, try to cook something from scratch, as it is creative and active—two ways to stimulate different thinking.
*** Get Painting!
Painting not only reduces the symptoms of stress but also helps with depression. A lot of people suffering from it have reported that painting gives them newfound energy and invokes feelings of pride and accomplishment in them. Feelings that some of these people have not felt in years or never at all.
It is no surprise that painting and creative exercise in general have long been recognized as important and effective tools to help people who suffer from depression. A 2015 review of randomized controlled trials on art therapy’s effect on depression found that subjects in 6 out of 9 studies saw a significant reduction in depression. The review, published in the journal Health Technology Assessment, also included studies that found art therapy reduced subjects’ anxiety and distress and improved their self-esteem, mood, and quality of life.
Join us for a class in the studio (or even VIRTUALLY!) and paint your worries away!
Make some artwork for your home that you’ve been talking about updating; Make some paintings for a friend or family member with a birthday coming up; Start painting, monthly, to learn more techniques and skills, turning this relaxing experience into a hobby!