You might be fighting crowds trying to get holiday gifts for your family or trying to figure out the perfect present for a loved one. You might be looking at your calendar and feeling overwhelmed by the number of holiday gatherings you have planned. You might be looking outside at the snow-covered roads, dreading your travels to see family members.

Or maybe you are the one hosting the holiday gatherings and you find yourself busy cleaning, cooking and prepping your home before the guests arrive. You are bogged down by end-of-year deadlines at work and getting everything done before you take holiday vacation.

And either as a result of all of this stress or the germs going around – or both – you find yourself crashing and falling ill at this peak time…

I’d say there are 4 common obstacles that can prevent you from having non-toxic holidays. Here are some of my favourite tips on overcoming them.

Obstacle #1: Lack of time for non-toxic holidays

Probably the biggest obstacle to your non-toxic lifestyle during the holiday season is going to be lack of time. For all of the reasons listed above and maybe some additional reasons unique to your own circumstances.

But honestly, this might be the time of year when you need to gift yourself a bit of time for yourself THE MOST. To gift yourself the time to:

• soak in a soothing, detoxifying and health-promoting bath.
• proactively take care of your family’s health to maintain your sense of empowerment.
• commit to doing a daily non-toxic ritual that brings you joy.

So I encourage you to think of one non-toxic ritual that you love most and set up a reminder for yourself to do it during this holiday season. You can set up this reminder in your phone with a notification to complete it or write it out in your planner.

Don’t worry… if the reminder pops up and you’re just not feeling it that day, feel free to push it back to the next. The point of this is NOT to add any additional stress! But you want to make sure not to forget it entirely.

As the saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup. So keep filling your cup with non-toxic living rituals so you can feel joy and keep pouring into the cup of others without sacrificing yourself.

Obstacle #2: Lack of control over your holidays

Another thing we often lack during this time of year is control. You are at the mercy of traditions, family gatherings and expectations. You are no longer on your usual schedule, you might be staying and eating elsewhere and maybe indulging in excessive holiday cheer!

I encourage you to remember that there is only so much that you can control… it is okay to release and enjoy this time of year. By remembering this and creating your reminder to keep doing your non-toxic rituals, you will maintain a better sense of balance.

Obstacle #3: Falling ill during this season

It always happens at the worst moment… and it often happens during the holiday season. You catch that illness going around at your child’s school or at work. The LAST thing you need is to be sick when there is so much to do and so much going on!

Prevention is key. There are simple non-toxic living rituals you can do to help support your immune system. I also highly recommend you work with a natural health practitioner to determine what is best and safest considering your circumstances and current health status.

Here are my favourite natural ways to strengthen my health and reduce susceptibility during the holidays:

• Get plenty of sleep.
• Start your day with a glass of lemon water and then fruit.
• Avoid sugary and processed foods.
• Get some vitamin sunshine.
• Use immune-supportive essential oils (I love tea tree for this).
• Add adaptogens (e.g. tulsi or ashwaganda) to your smoothie.
• Use garlic as a garnish generously.

These rituals not only support your immune system and help reduce your susceptibility, they provide you with CONFIDENCE. You can release some of that fear around illness because you are taking proactive steps against it. Carry this confidence with you always.

Obstacle #4: Fear of being judged by others

Not everyone is going to be on board with your non-toxic lifestyle. You might be referred to as the crunchy, tree-hugging, hippy-dippy family member. They might snicker at your DIY hand sanitizer or comment on your patchouli pure-fume.

My best advice to you is keep living your non-toxic lifestyle during the holiday season and make it visible. Even better, gift some natural DIY products to family members so they can experience first-hand the amazing benefits and see how easy it can be.

Most importantly, OWN IT. The more confident you are in your non-toxic lifestyle, the more others will be curious about it and convinced that it is worth trying for themselves.

For more tips on overcoming non-toxic living obstacles, get my free e-book.

Hope this helps you have non-toxic holidays!

M.

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