Permission to Feel… Hungover?

Holiday hangover anyone? And no I’m not talking about alcohol.

Conversation about feeling overwhelmed, sad, tired, frustrated, and out of sorts has been coming up a lot lately. Recently, a mentor of mine talked about the grief and pressure that can accompany the holiday season and how this can lead to a feeling of overwhelm, burnout, sadness and confusion. I felt a pressure lift, my heart soften, and allowance happen when she described it as feeling like a holiday hangover.

Oh the pressure of the holidays and constantly struggling to keep up, judging yourself for your experience, or fighting with yourself to feel better rather than meeting yourself and life with compassion.

The acknowledgement that what I was feeling is normal and that I am not alone help set healing and compassion in motion. Even if you know this is normal, it can be easy to pick on oneself for feeling down, tired, hungover after the holidays and during the patriarchal new year resolution month.

So if you, like me, are feeling fatigued after the holidays here is your permission to soften and feel compassion for yourself. And rest! *Not that you ever need permission to feel and honour your experience*. What you are feeling is normal and you are not alone, no matter how this may show up for you personally.

For some, the holidays are a completely joyous time to give and celebrate and that is beautiful! But we don’t all feel that way and it can be a challenge to suddenly bounce back to “normal” after the holiday season is over. Especially as this lands in the middle of winter, a time for rest and inward reflection. Not necessarily a time for jumping into new goals and actions and charging onward. If you align with the energy of the season, nature’s season of Winter that is, it is also a nourishing time to be with yourself to feel and process what has been arising. Settle down the momentum of pushing and doing and showing up for unsustainable and potentially unhealthy or at least unhelpful expectations.

Imagine this: late November to the beginning of January; constant expectation to show up, work, give, perform, interact, be jolly; hustle and bustle; its the happiest time of the year after all *insert sarcasm*; cold and flu season; added awareness of the loss of loved ones; all this on top of the usual demands and expectations of modern life. And all at a time when our natural rhythms and those of Mother Nature are asking us to slow down and go internal. It’s exhausting simply imagining it all, not to mention actually experiencing this. And sometimes it’s not all challenging. Sometimes the holiday cheer does appear. Even if you fully enjoy the holiday season, it is a lot of activity and output, and rest is needed to replenish.

March is nature’s new year, when Spring arrives and the cold thaws. For now, sync with nature and allow yourself a bit of rest and internal reflection, recalibration if needed. If you are planting a garden, most often seeds are not planted in January in the middle of winter (although of course some are, follow your own rhythms!). They are planted as the sun shines longer and the days get warmer. If you feel tired and internal, there is nothing wrong with you. That means you are responding healthily and naturally to the demands of the season. Honor your needs for rest where you can allow. Rest is equally a part of productivity.

Above all, whatever you are feeling at this time, notice what is happening and respond to yourself with love and compassion. Respond to yourself like you would respond to a dear loved one on your most generous and easeful of days. Don’t dominate, demand, or beat yourself up like the patriarchy.

If you’d like support in learning a softer way of wellness, book a free call with me or send me an email to learn about the ways feminine form Ayurveda, Kundalini Yoga, and holistic wellness can help you live in alignment and inner harmony. No resolutions or big overhaul- just getting to know yourself and meeting you where you are at.

Wishing you love and wellness throughout all life’s seasons! Wishing you softness and ease this midwinter.😌