This time of year can be overwhelming, stressful or even a lonely and sad time for many people.

It can be a time of reflection, thinking of lost loved ones or perhaps missing friends or family living overseas. It’s not always the most wonderful time of the year for everyone. So how can we bring a little more Christmas cheer at this time of the year?

Here are 5 tips to help you spark more joy this silly season:

Connect

Reach out to loved ones, and create connection through conversation. If you know of someone that particularly struggles at this time of year, call them, send a text or write a note. Let someone know you’re thinking of them, show you care and acknowledge their value. Perform a random act of kindness, do something nice and spread some warm fuzzies.

Get outside

We can tend to be busier this time of year, so it’s important to get out from behind the desk, or wherever you find yourself and have a change of scene.

Go outside, connect with nature, get some fresh air, move your body and take yourself out for a walk. There are multiple benefits to be found in walking, it helps to boost your mood, creates endorphins in our brains, improves sleep, releases muscle tension and reduces inflammation. So find some green space today and enjoy a walk in nature.

Volunteer

Spread some cheer and volunteer - it feels good to give. Help out at the City Mission, donate some gifts to Starship, and lift people through the generosity of the spirit and the positive ripple effect that random acts of kindness can create. Many studies have shown not only does it create a positive boost for others, but it also benefits us too and those who witness it!

Create a Sleep Ritual

Sleep is vital to our functioning, well-being and decision-making process. When we are stressed we often find our sleep suffers. So create a plan, turn your screens off and read a book instead, take a hot shower to help you unwind, do some deep belly breathing or find a good meditation practice to do before bed. There are plenty of free resources to help you create calm before bed and encourage a good night's rest - insight timer or the calm app is a great place to start.

Practice gratitude

It’s no secret we love gratitude!

Practising gratitude regularly can strengthen the neural pathways to the bliss centre of the brain, it improves your mood, lessens negative emotions and anxiety, increases empathy, kindness and compassion for others and can give you more hope and a stronger sense of meaning in life! So many good reasons to practice gratitude.

Sit down for a few minutes, put pen to paper, create some space for gratitude and notice how much better you feel.

Take some time to do those things that help spark a little more joy with the lead-up to Christmas, make this time of year a little less silly and a whole lot more calm, contented and enjoyable.

Check out AwesoME Inc's range of Gratitude, Resilience, Mindset and Connection Journals HERE.

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About Amy Willoughby

Amy is a writer, content creator and life coach at Be and Bloom. Amy is passionate about connecting people through writing, coaching and the power of storytelling. The first 20 years of her career was spent behind the stylists chair as a hairstylist, where she honed her skills of listening, holding space, connecting and creating clarity through conversation. Amy’s hairdressing career came to a close after spending 3 years helping clients journey through chemotherapy, fitting and styling wigs. This was the perfect bridge and catalyst for retraining as a life coach which has led to exploration of values, modalities of wellbeing, writing and storytelling.

More about Amy and Be and Bloom

Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash