For many people healing from chronic illness the holidays can be a mixed bag of experiences. Joy and overwhelm, exhaustion and connection, heightened emotions and peaceful moments. Old expectations may collide with where you are at today- the bottom line is that you deserve a holiday season that supports your mental health and well-being, not one that drains it. Instead of forcing yourself to keep up or pretend everything is okay, you can invite an approach that is rooted in compassion and a deep respect for where you are in your healing journey.
Healing- Food, Energy and Routine
Food is the center of so many celebrations, which can become complicated fast when you’re following a healing protocol. Even though we might do an amazing job of getting our food and handling family comments, let’s just be honest it can feel exhausting to keep doing that… just know that the exhaustion and battle you are fighting is so worth it at the end of the day when you get to have your health back.
Remember that you can bring your own food, say no to unfamiliar dishes, or even leave early if you need to. Aggravating your symptoms isn’t worth it- do try to remember this, but have compassion for yourself if you choose to indulge. Your protocols will be there waiting for you when you get back to them.
If you are participating in festivities, your body may need more rest than usual, and that’s okay! Celebrate where you can, enjoying these moments as small wins. Remember that eating in unfamiliar places can create more opportunity for foodborne pathogens to take hold, so in case you get food poisoning make sure that you already have a plan in place as to what to do.
Money
Gift-giving, traveling, hosting, and participating in events can be financially draining, especially when the effort to heal from chronic illness has already tapped your reserves. Give yourself permission to simplify your offerings during the holidays- thoughtful, heartfelt, handmade gifts and small offerings are often more than enough. It shows that you have put in the effort, you want to participate, and are doing so within your means.
On the opposite side of things, if you are simplifying your life and don’t want extra random gifts, feel free to donate or decline them in advance!
Travel
Travel makes for extra long days and you will find yourself in unfamiliar locations, exposed to radiation and pathogens, stressed more than usual, and trying to stick to your routines as much as possible. All of these factors are why I have written so much about how to prepare for travel and get through it successfully- I even have a “Travel Made Easy” masterclass! The #1 key to successful travel is planning ahead: knowing what to expect on your journey is half the battle. Becoming familiar with your itinerary and researching will become your best friends as it will mentally prepare you. The Radiation Exposure shot from Brain Saver is great to have before long travel and flying
Check out these resources I have created for making travel while healing easier:
- 7 Healthy Travel Tips Before You Go
- Top Tips For Travel
- 5 Clean Travel Tips for Healing on the Go
- Travel Easy Masterclass
- My Daughter Travels to Peru Medical Medium Style
- Check out the “Travel While Healing” section of my website!
Family Dynamics and Mental Health
Family is often a two-sided coin with healing and acceptance on one side, and unmet expectations, emotional triggers, and PTSD on the other. I am giving you permission to honor your boundaries for your mental health and emotional well-being when it comes to family. In a perfect world, family would be tied by trust and acceptance, but we are all here to learn, which is to say we are imperfect (and hopefully doing our best). Thus, injury and hurt happen, and from having worked with thousands of people, I have concluded that the time and energy it takes to get over these experiences is sometimes not worth it.
Family can look with skepticism at how you are choosing to heal yourself or live your life. If this is you, and you don’t feel supported by family, just know that I and so many people in this community do support you and have healed using Medical Medium protocols. If at any point you ever feel down, or in doubt, find a way to ground yourself in your experiences of healing and your faith in what you are doing. Millions around the world wouldn’t be adhering to these protocols if they weren’t providing results!
Keep these healing tools in the back of your mind, or even prepare them ahead of time:
- Negative Energy Exposure Shot
- Mood Shifter Shot
- Anger Shifter Shot
- Guilt and Shame Shifter
- Burnout Stabilizer
- Relationship Breakups Stabilizer
- Speaking Your Truth Stabilizer
- Drinking fresh celery juice also helps cut through anxiety
Self-compassion and Getting Creative
Remember that healing from chronic illness can make your life’s path feel SO much different from everyone else’s around you. You can interpret this in part as being a leading example, since you make sacrifices for your health so that you can heal. This sets you apart from others and that is not always easy.
Inviting in softness, lowering expectations, and creating new meaningful holiday rhythms that actually match your life right now will go a lot farther for your mental health than burnout. This can look like celebrating small wins instead of big events, cooking healing versions of traditional dishes, and journaling.
Final Thoughts
Hold close the people and traditions that support you, protect your energy because God knows we work hard on this, and celebrate where and how you can. Do the best you can, hold compassion for what you can’t do, and remember that they don’t call it a healing journey for nothing!
One more thing you can do: share this blog with someone who needs to read these words. Someone who could use some encouragement and positive energy in the holidays.
To your happiness and peace,
Muneeza
P.S.
Have you signed up to my newsletter? Every Friday I send out a newsletter to my Intuitive Insiders. Get first access to new blogs, recipes, events, sales, workshops, and personal stories! Through the end of the year I will be sending out new recipes you can use for the holidays. Stay tuned!
