5 Easy Ways to Beat the Blues and Feel Joyous this Holiday Season
by Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC
Today we continue our series of tips to help you beat the blues over the holidays:
- Holiday Blues Number 1: Seasonal Affective Disorder (”SAD”) posted 6 December
- Holiday Blues Number 2: Seasonal Illnesses (in today’s post)
- Holiday Blues Number 3: Family “Dramas” (coming Sat 12 December)
- Holiday Blues Number 4: Stress over Money (coming Tues 15 December)
- Holiday Blues Number 5: Feelings of Isolation (coming Fri 18 December)
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Beating Holiday Blues Number 2: Seasonal illnesses
In Part 1, we looked at SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). In today’s instalment of my “Holiday Survival Guide”, we’ll look at beating the holiday blues of seasonal illnesses like colds and flu.
Ok. I admit. There is nothing that makes us feel more “blue” than getting ill, especially during the holidays when we are supposed to be having fun (aren’t’ we?). There has indeed been an awful lot of flu going around this year (I had swine flu in September myself), over and above the usual seasonal flu. But what makes the flu season even worse is the fact that during the holiday season, we tend to compromise our body’s immune system to an extreme by: Continue Reading…
5 Easy Ways to Beat the Blues and Feel Joyous this Holiday Season
by Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC
Author Patrick Dennis somewhat sarcastically referred to the winter holidays as “The Joyous Season” in his 1960s book of the same name. Most of us inwardly believe that Christmas and the winter holidays are indeed meant to be joyous. But in actuality, many people have a rough time during the holiday season, for many reasons.
Because the holidays seem to be such challenging and sometimes transitional periods in our lives, this month I decided to have a look at what I think are the “Top 5 Blues” that affect so many people during the holidays, along with why we get them, and how to turn them around into Joy. Here are the top 5 that came to mind:
Over the next 12 days, I’ll be examining each of these “blue areas”, give you some tips from other great thinkers, and offer a few of my own suggestions for turning the winter “blues” into cheery multi-coloured mind-body-spirit holiday sparkles. Today, I’ll be talking about SAD– Seasonal Affective Disorder. The findings might surprise you!
Beating Holiday Blues Number 1: Seasonal Affective Disorder (”SAD”).
SAD is a condition that affects some people during the winter months causing them to feel a bit blue, low in energy, or basically “down in the dumps.” But what causes it? Continue Reading…
How Getting the Flu Was the Highlight of My Week
By Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC
Author’s note: I originally wrote this article on 13 October 2008, but in light of the recent outbreak of “swine flu”, I thought it might be especially relevant. I also feel it can help us reflect upon what true “strength,” “wealth” and “wellness” are, as well as what we consider to be “lucky” and “unlucky” in life.
I am a workaholic. I don’t seem to stop. Ever. It isn’t funny. I even have made up a name for my workaholic “gremlin”. His name is Bonzo. Bonzo has a very loud voice. My intuition speaks more softly. When Bonzo shouts so loudly that I cannot hear the voice of my intuition (or I hear it but choose not to listen), the inevitable outcome is that I make myself ill.
A week ago Friday I was co-leading a very large event in London… a community day for about 70 life coaches from various parts of Europe. I had been working on it for 6 months with a team of 3 other great coaches. That day, the weather turned really cold and I knew that I was catching a chill but I kept going. The day was a great success, but it was an enormous amount of work, both over the past months and on the day itself. In the back of my mind, I could hear my body saying, Slow down. Create some space for yourself.
On Saturday, the day AFTER the event, I presented at a wellness fair here in Bedford. It was a freezing cold day and they had the doors open all day during the event. I shivered all afternoon. I kept hearing my body screaming, “Slow down, woman!”
On Sunday, the day AFTER that, I walked half an hour in the pouring rain to meet up with a new business contact, and then later I had my daughter over my house for the night because she needed to talk and get some loving care. We were chatting until well after midnight.
In my head, all I could hear was, Lynn, you keep saying you want to slow down. So, why are not stopping?
SO… Continue Reading…
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