As the ew year approaches, so will the desire to reinvent ourselves – maybe this is the year to get outside, drink less, eat healthier. Or maybe not. Maybe it’s the year to practice rest and restoration.

Taking time to identify and lay out goals over the holiday season is a time honored tradition, and touches on the work licensed clinical psychologists do with patients every day. To enjoy success – however you define it – psychologists say the best changes are personal, start small and tackle expectations – our own, and those we might have internalized.

“One of my favorite phrases in therapy, which is just kind of meant to be a little bit silly, is ‘stop should-ing on yourself’,” said Jennifer Caspari, an associate psychologist and cognitive behavioral therapist in Colorado. What she means, she said, is to, “sit down and strip away that sense of ‘should’,” and instead focus on the values you feel are important.

“A very common example of that is people think they should value fitness,” said Caspari. “That is genuinely important to some people – and genuinely not important to others.”

One of the exercises she uses in her own practice is to give people a list of value-based words – such as achievement, curiosity, or independence – and then define what the words mean to the individual. If it feels like that value isn’t being fulfilled, then perhaps it’s time to make a plan to change that. Using the value of curiosity as an example, that could involve reading a book, taking a class or going to the library once a month; those steps are all attainable and specific.

This approach mirrors “Smart” goal-setting – an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. If that sounds corporate, it is. The goals were first developed by a management consultant in the 1980s. The strategy is ubiquitous, but also widely criticized for being outcome-oriented.

It can also be helpful, said licensed clinical psychologist Molly Sherb, to start with something less specific, but informed by your own needs.

“The new year’s resolution you’re setting now should be aligned with what you’re doing now,” said Sherb. “Maybe it should be getting outside now. It may be you’re feeling bored or flat, so want to try something new.”

Either way, it should focus on the now and “be shorter-term rather than something you set for the entire year”.

Although it may be counterintuitive, setting goals that are relatively small changes can lead to the greatest success.

“You want to make sure you’re starting with what feels easiest, which I think is a little bit counterintuitive,” said Sherb. “But the reason you want to start with what’s easiest is you want to feel that sense of achievement, of success – because that’s going to keep you motivated to do the harder things down the road.”

In all cases, the goal of setting the goal should be to get in touch with yourself, your values and your own needs today, both Sherb and Caspari said.

“New year’s resolutions are very manufactured pressure to change, but anytime is a good time to make a change,” said Sherb. “If it doesn’t feel right for you, if you don’t have the bandwidth,” then, “Let yourself settle into the new year.”

And remember: “It’s also an option in February, March, April, May and July.”

Maybe 2025 was your year – or maybe it wasn’t. Regardless, you’re probably falling for the intoxicating hit of making Big Plans to improve yourself this year. But there’s no reward for setting goals you probably can’t reach. Better to keep them simple, and realistic.
Here are 25 little ways that you can make 2026 that little bit better – whether it’s helping get you home in order, easing that desk induced back pain, or beginning to reconnect with old friends.

1. Use the five-second rule
Pioneered by self-help author Mel Robbins, this is astonishingly simple. If there’s something you know you should do and want to make sure you act on it, just count down from five to one then, go for it. That could be getting out of bed when your alarm goes off, speaking up in a meeting, sending a difficult text, or doing the dishes. Anything that you tend to talk yourself out of, basically.
2. Plan your outfit for the next day
If you can’t face the hassle of laying out your clothes, using the time before falling asleep to work out what you’re going to wear tomorrow can help cut out all sorts of early morning dithering. The other option, of course, is to adopt a daily uniform like the big tech chief executives are famous for. But where’s the fun in that? Playing fantasy dress up as you doze off is far more fun.
3. Lengthen your stride
Unless you have a particularly physically demanding job, most of us will feel the aches and pains of a relatively sedentary lifestyle. You can make grand plans, join gyms and dig out your lycra if you like, but one of the simplest ways to help mitigate the issue is to try and make your stride a bit longer.
This will not only add a bit of cardio to your day without any extra time spent, it will also activate your glutes (which are largely at rest if you spent most of your time in a chair). Excellent for easing back pain as well as getting more pep in your step.

4. Take Vitamin D
According to the NHS, most of us are not getting enough vitamin D, especially in the winter months, but it’s an essential nutrient for regulating levels of calcium and phosphate in the body.
But remembering to take it is a whole other issue. To encourage follow-through, pop a post-it note or a sign somewhere very visible that says TAKE YOUR VITAMIN D. That could be your front door, the fridge door, or above the sink – just somewhere in your eyeline as a little reminder.

5. Wear your best outfit
We have an instinct to want to preserve our nicest things, something that extends to clothes. But there’s nothing stopping you from making a standard day more special by wearing your best stuff. You, and the world around you, is good enough for your best clothes.

6. Delete apps from your home screen
Just adding one small extra step to opening Instagram, for example, gives you time to assess if you really want to or it’s just instinct.

7. Add milk to your coffee
Dieticians may not recommend always opting for higher calorie coffees that are majority milk (lattes; cappuccinos) but that doesn’t mean milk is off the menu. Having a bit of milk in your coffee can actually make it healthier – it neutralises the coffee’s natural acidity, which protects your teeth. And while you’re at it, opt for full-fat milk. It’s far more satisfying, can have a higher vitamin content than skimmed milk, and will still amount to far less than you’d find in a flat white.

8. Turn off notifications
It’s ultimately up to you whether you pick up your phone and start scrolling, but you can reduce all the ways your phone prompts you to do so. So turn off notifications and put yourself on ‘Do Not Disturb’. You can also set up certain apps like WhatsApp to run on your desktop rather than your phone – this has the added bonus of making it less likely you’ll strain your neck peering at your smaller screen.

9. Be bored
When was the last time you were properly bored – not just listlessly scrolling, but truly bored? It’s worth giving it a go. Psychologists James Danckert and John D Eastwood in their book Out of my Skull: The Psychology of Boredom argue that boredom can help us find our full potential and make our lives more meaningful. We just need to engage with the feeling rather than running away from it. So rather than trying to placate your boredom, sit with the feeling and work out what would actually inspire a sense of purpose in you. This is where your most creative self can emerge, if you let it.

10. Eat the frog
Don’t worry, the frog is entirely metaphorical. But this is about identifying the most difficult task in your to-do list for any given day. It might not be the most complex or demanding task – but it’s the one you’re trying to avoid, whether that’s sending an awkward text or finally going through your receipts. This is the frog that you have to eat today. Do it first. Getting the task you want to do least done first means the only way is up. It’s both incredibly simple and very hard to do, so if you’re struggling, it’s worth combining with the five second rule.

11. Make a pile of doom
The general upkeep of a household can quickly become overwhelming because it simply never ends. Keeping up with it is exhausting, but not keeping up can feel even worse when you are surrounded by endless clutter.
Rather than setting the unachievable goal of keeping your home impeccable at all times, cut yourself some slack and make tidying a two-stage process. Step one – anything you see out of place goes into one DOOM pile (that’s ‘Didn’t Organise, Only Moved’). This helps keep the visual clutter at a minimum and gives you the mental space to focus on other things. Step two is to take a deep breath and organise the pile. This should be done once a week or so, to condense time spent tidying and organising into one block.

12. Clean every day for two songs
Instead of looking at the mess, seeing it as too big and avoiding it all together, tell yourself you’re just going to clean (or tidy) for the length of two songs. The tangible end point will help you keep focus and your home will be a little bit cleaner/tidier before you know it.

13. Say hi to your neighbours
Thanks to the combined forces of busy lifestyles, a difficult housing market and technological advancements, it’s not the norm to befriend your neighbours. But a Gallup survey in 2023 found that even the small act of saying hello to neighbours can boost your well-being. It encourages a sense of community, reduces isolation, and can change the tenor of your day with minimal time and effort.

14. Schedule emails
In the last couple of hours of working, tasks will tend to fall into two categories: the must be done right now, and everything else. Save yourself the effort of having to rally people the next day and simply schedule any important (though not urgent) emails to land in inboxes just as the day starts.
You’ll waste less time, make the most of people’s renewed attention and it only takes a couple of extra clicks of a button. You can even do this on messaging apps like Slack.

15. Use a grater on fridge-cold butter
There is a unique taste to the humbling you get when you’ve prepared to bake but neglected to take the butter out of the fridge. Or when, in a rush, you attempt to butter your toast but instead rip it into papery shreds. But this is where your cheese grater will be your best friend – softened butter is just a hand gesture rather than a few hours away.

16. Keep your keys safe
If you have something you must bring with you, put it with something you never leave the house without, whether that’s keys or your phone. In the rush out of the door you will reach for what you take automatically, not what you told yourself you must remember.

17. Say a weird word
If you’re someone who regularly worries about whether you’ve turned off the lights/oven/iron after leaving the house, say a random word as you turn off the oven or lock the front door to remind yourself that you did it. Muttering ‘hullabaloo’ or ‘indubitably’ may make you sound like an old-timey eccentric to any passers-by, but that just adds to the charm.

18. Carry a reusable bag in your day bag
You truly never know when you’ll need it. Save your arms and your pennies for something more fun than getting groceries home.

19. Eat an orange in the shower
There is no particular benefit to this, other than bringing joy to one of life’s menial tasks (the showering, not the orange-eating). Fill your daily shower with aromatic citrus and delight in the fact that, for once, you don’t need to worry about sticky fingers.

20. Stretch when you put on your deodorant
A full body stretch can do a world of good, but it can be very easy to avoid doing. What you will be far less likely to neglect, though, is your daily deodorant. Use the time when you’re waiting for your roll-on to dry to get a few overarm stretches in and give your back and shoulders a wake up. Your shirts will be stain-free and you’ll feel that bit more limber.

21. Text a friend
Research suggests we all underestimate how meaningful it is to get a text out of the blue from someone. So make the most of the technology we have and reach out to that buddy who just popped into your head – it will make you both feel that little bit more connected.

22. Freeze your ginger
Rather than rooting around for dried out nubs, or spending £2 on a pre-packaged knob, just wash and dry ginger root before popping it in a freezer-friendly bag or container. It can last for up to five months and will be easier to grate than before, speeding up an otherwise laborious process. Yes, this is the second piece of advice involving a grater

23. Buy presents when you find them
Given the time of year you’re reading this, you will no doubt be familiar with the last minute rush and panic of trying to think of the perfect presents for the people you love.

24. Walk backwards
Of all of the ways you can start moving more, this is the most likely to get all sorts of muscles (including your brain) going. It will help you improve your balance (vital to hold onto as you age), your concentration and has far less impact on your knees. Just don’t try it on the stairs.

25. Take phone calls standing up
The good news is there’s no such thing as a perfect posture. Back problems develop not from the posture you have, but from staying in the same position for hours at a time. So finding small prompts to get up from sitting (or if you stand a lot, sit down) will do you a world of good.

Three steps to take now to have more energy in 2025

Just as the daylight reaches its nadir, we can feel like we have reached our lowest point in energy. Here’s how to get a boost.

Today marks the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, when the tilt of the northern hemisphere of the Earth away from the Sun is at its maximum and the Sun is at its lowest in the sky. It is also, logically, the longest night of the year.

If you have found the shorter days and the darkness tough, then the good news is that after the solstice, they will get longer by about two minutes and seven seconds per day.

Just as the daylight reaches its nadir, so we can individually feel like we have reached our lowest point in terms of our energy for action and for challenge. And just as the days start to gradually lengthen again, so we can start to build up our energy.

A lot of people use January as a time to think about how to restart in a new and different way, but I think that the winter solstice is the best time to reflect on the year gone by and to allow that nadir to turn into a well-deserved hiatus – a break from tasks and a much-needed rest from the demands of life.

Before we can start to contemplate 2025, we need to ensure our energy levels are refilled and restored. And with Christmas around the corner, and all the expectation, demands and hustle and bustle of that, it is even more important to pause.

So, how can we best create a hiatus between all that has gone in 2024, and all that will come in 2025?

Reflect

Recognising and understanding where our energy levels are right now is the first step that we need to take. What level of sleep deficit are you at? How are your motivation levels? How do you feel physically and mentally? If we are exhausted and overwhelmed, then we may worry more than usual, we may find it difficult to concentrate on things, we may be irritable with others and we may also have dropped the hobbies and activities that give us energy, like exercising or seeing friends.

Rest

We must recognise that we need rest. This may be passive rest, like sleep, or sitting down and slowly drinking a cup of tea, or eating lunch not in a rush, or avoiding multi-tasking. Incorporate more of those things into your calendar over the next few weeks. But, don’t forget to rest actively too, and by that, I mean use your body and move it, start up those hobbies that give you energy like reading or cooking or walking, and build in some time with your really close friends and family to do something quiet and gentle. Movement, our relationships and creativity all give us the feeling that we have rested.

Relax

You may have some time off work and you may mark this on your calendar as being time to relax. But we are missing a fundamental piece of the jigsaw if we think this. To relax entirely and well, we need to help our minds slow down the thoughts and the worries. How do we do this? Well, we can write down the problems that are whirring around in our heads so we can see them and add some brief ideas about how to solve them, so that we can put them to one side over the holidays.

We can use techniques like mindfulness or meditation or box-breathing to help slow our thoughts and help us notice but not judge them. And we can use nature to help us get some perspective by going for a walk and looking at the sky. We can also use music and art and creativity to help us “escape” from our worries just for a short time, so that when we do return to them, we have more energy to solve them.

Just as the Earth and Sun create a natural nadir and hiatus with their movement, so we can create that for ourselves this Christmas.

WHEN you hear the words “party season”, are you filled with dread, or buzzing with excitement?

If it’s the former, you are probably an introvert – and even the thought of all that socialising leaves you feeling exhausted. “Introverts do enjoy social activities. However, they find it more draining than an extroverted person,” explains chartered psychologist and host of the I Have Issues podcast Dr Mark Rackley.

“Introverts like their own company. Spending time alone doing something they enjoy will be a pleasurable experience. An extrovert struggles to do this and will seek out other people to do an activity with them. Put simply, extroverts get their energy from other people, while introverts get their energy from themselves.”

While it is possible to be a mix of both introvert and extrovert – known as an ambivert – you will typically sway more to one than the other, especially when you’re in a social setting.

If you class yourself as an introvert, or simply struggle to find the energy to keep going through the party season, here are some simple ways to ensure you can still enjoy this time of year, without feeling tired, moody and overwhelmed . . .

Pace Yourself

You don’t have to attend – or cancel – every social event you’re invited to. The balance is somewhere in between. You may choose to RSVP to smaller occasions that are more intimate, with close friends or family. “This allows for deeper conversations and more comfortable interactions, which are less draining for introverts,” says Dr Elena Touroni, a consultant psychologist and co-founder of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic.“Balance is key. After large social gatherings, introverts might feel mentally or emotionally drained, needing some alone time to recharge.”

Is it possible for you to work from home the next day, away from others? “You may also need to have a relaxing day beforehand,” Mark adds. Prioritise some me-time, so you’re ready to socialise when the moment strikes.

What about if you want to say “no” to events?

 “Honesty is the best policy,” says Mark. A position statement, such as: ‘I’d love to be there, but at the moment I find social events overwhelming,’ is enough.  If the other person doesn’t understand or respect this, that is not your problem to solve, it’s theirs.” Remember, no is a complete sentence.

Take Micro-Breaks

Introverts may notice themselves becoming overstimulated in busy or noisy environments – AKA the festive period! “During social interactions, introverts often crave moments of quiet or solitude to recharge, and without this, the experience can become tiring rather quickly,” explains Dr Touroni. “Small breaks can help you reset and manage overstimulation.”

Why not try stepping outside for some fresh air or find a quiet corner for a few moments of peace? If you need an excuse, call a trusted friend for five minutes before finding the drive to head back inside.

Front Load

It’s likely that as an introvert, you have more energy at the start of a gathering. Use this to your advantage to make a great first impression and have bigger, more meaningful conversations. If the work party starts in the afternoon and goes into the late evening, don’t feel you have to stay for the whole thing. “Attend events at times when you naturally have more energy, such as earlier in the day, and try to leave before you start feeling drained,” says Dr Touroni.

Relieve The Pressure

It may have taken everything you’ve got to turn up to the occasion, so when you get there, the last thing you want is to be dragged into a drinking game or group activity. “If your presence at a social event is all you can handle, that’s enough,” says Mark.  Don’t feel pressured by others to dance or participate if you don’t want to do. ”You could also excuse yourself by catching up with a friend you haven’t seen in a long time.

But Dr Touroni adds that sometimes it helps to tackle being a wallflower by throwing yourself in at the deep end. “Accept that you might feel some anxiety, but that can dissipate if you engage with the activity and fully focus on what you are doing,” she explains. “If you can still fully participate even when anxious, this is usually an effective way of combating that anxiety. This is a skill that we call ‘acting the opposite to emotions’.”

 Find a Partner In Crime

If you can, seek out one or two people to spend time with in a social setting, ideally people you feel a connection with. If it’s a gathering of colleagues, family or friends, there’s bound to be someone there you can confide in who will understand how you feel.

“Having someone with us at a social event who comprehends the challenges we face can be hugely supportive,” explains Mark. “Consider having someone there who can assist you if you need to take a time-out or make an excuse to leave early if you are done with the evening.”

Manage Small Talk

“Small talk can be excruciating for introverts as it is tiring and hard to maintain,” says Mark. “A way to manage this is to ask the other person questions about themself and listen more than you talk. This can help conserve your energy, as well as build the conversation.”

Sometimes people love talking about themselves, which might drain you, so bring another person into the conversation to ease the intensity.

Accept Who You Are

Let’s get one thing straight – there is nothing wrong with being an introvert. You aren’t bringing down the mood or giving people a bad impression of you just because you are not the life of the party, despite what your brain is telling you. “If the world was solely filled with extroverts or introverts, then it would not be as interesting,” says Mark. “Being introverted is a part of who you are – it’s your personality – but it does not define you, unless you let it.”

Popularised by the author Katherine May in her beautiful book of the same name, ‘wintering’ is the art of living in rhythm with the seasons and weather. As the clocks have changed recently, how can we use the idea of wintering to enhance wellbeing when life outside is cold, dark and dreary?

Love it or loathe it, winter is on its way. And with it comes those colder, darker days when it can seem harder to muster up the energy required for everyday life. Let’s face it: traipsing to the shops or walking to work when it’s blowing a gale outside isn’t anyone’s idea of fun. 

However, much as we may want it to, life doesn’t simply pause when the clocks change.  While the trees are shedding their summer leaves and small animals are preparing to hibernate, many of us are gearing up for the busiest couple of months in our calendars (don’t worry, I won’t mention the C word just yet).

But what if I told you that it’s possible to boost your wellbeing by finding a balance between the chaos and the calm, by leaning into the season rather than fighting against it? The concept of wintering promises just this.

What is wintering? 

Popularised in Katherine May’s book of the same name, wintering refers to leaning into the restorative power of nature and the seasons. Rather than attempting to override our instinct to hunker down and rest at this time of year, wintering encourages us to make small lifestyle changes that can help us to thrive in the colder, darker days ahead.

“Wintering is a conscious retreat into a period of rest and introspection, often prompted by hardship, fatigue or the changing seasons,” says psychotherapist Karen Hartley. “It is a time to slow down, tend to one’s core needs and conserve energy – much like how nature lies dormant. This deliberate pause provides the essential quiet needed to heal and gather strength for a renewed beginning.”

Leaning into the idea doesn’t have to mean full-on hibernation. You can adapt the concept to suit you, such as reading a book, making time to do a jigsaw puzzle or simply sitting down with a hot cup of tea.

What are the benefits of wintering? 

We know: life is busy. But stopping for a while each day doesn’t mean you’ll fall behind. In fact, it might even make you more resilient and productive in the time when you are ‘on’.

“For many of us, especially women juggling multiple roles and responsibilities, the idea of slowing down can feel almost laughable,” says coach Becs Winterborn. “We’re in survival mode, operating on adrenaline and duty. But the gentle practice of wintering holds profound medicine for our overwhelmed nervous systems.

“As autumn arrives and the days shorten, we’re being invited to turn inward, to let go, to rest. This isn’t weakness; it’s wisdom. Your body knows this. It’s your conditioning that’s arguing. Wintering can help teach us that rest can be fruitful, and that small moments of beauty matter. Darkness has gifts if we stop fighting it.”

How to winter well 

How you choose to embrace the season is a personal, movable feast, but what works for one person may not work for another. That said, there are some rituals that are universally restorative, so if you’re not sure how to start, why not try these?

1. Consider your social commitments

While social connection is absolutely vital for wellbeing, perhaps three Christmas parties in one week isn’t the best idea.

“I embrace the art of slow living in winter,” says Hartley. “Contrary to popular belief, winter is not the time for packed social calendars or ambitious projects, as our biological capacity for activity is lower. The art of doing nothing isn’t laziness: it’s the conscious, guilt-free act of simply being – staring out the window, sipping tea without my phone or just sitting by the fire.”

Winterborn goes a step further, recommending that we all ring fence one afternoon each weekend for rest. “Protect one afternoon a week for genuine rest,” she tells Stylist. “Not productive rest, not ‘I should’ rest, but true restoration. Your inner people-pleaser will resist this because it feels selfish, but it’s not.”

2. Make time to cook 

While summer is made for whiling away long, lazy evenings picnicking with friends or simple BBQs, winter cries out for slow, nourishing dishes that simmer away on the stove. Is there anything more comforting than the thought of coming home to a warming pot on the slow cooker? We’ll wait.

“I batch cook nourishing foods, such as large pots of soup,” says Hartley. “Not only do I find this process meditative, but the result is physically warming and nutrient-dense, too.”

3. Create a candlelight ritual

There’s no denying that the nights can feel endless at this time of year, especially when the weather is dank and dreary. If keeping the lights on all day is getting you down, why not try creating a cosy candlelight ritual in a (safe) corner of your home?

“Creating soft, warm lighting in your home as the evenings draw in is one of my favourite rituals at this time of year,” says Winterborn. “Denmark uses more candles per capita than any other country, and there’s profound wisdom in this. Candlelight naturally slows us down. It signals to our nervous system that it is time to rest and creates an atmosphere of calm that soothes our often overstimulated minds.

“Why not light a candle when you arrive home as a ritual that marks the transition from work mode to home mode. This simple act tells your body and mind: you’re safe now, you can soften.”

4. Cultivate a calming sleep routine

No, you’re not imagining it: we really do feel a little more tired in the winter.

“As daylight hours shorten, it’s common to feel a little more sluggish or notice your mood dip,” says Emma Morgan, a sleep expert and founder of All About Sleep. “That’s why winter is the perfect time to prioritise a consistent sleep routine and nurture your wellbeing. Start by transforming your bedroom into a calm, clutter-free sanctuary. Invest in cosy bedding and supportive pillows that make your bed a place you truly want to retreat to.

“In the evenings, consider setting a ‘bedtime alarm’ as a gentle reminder to switch off screens and avoid late-night scrolling or binge-watching. Establish soothing nightly rituals to help your body wind down: jotting down thoughts or worries, reading a few pages of a book, putting on a sleep mask, spritzing your pillow with a calming scent or practising deep breathing.”

While these are all habits that will benefit us all year round, when it’s dark and cold outside, we might just have more motivation to stick to them.

5. Accept, don’t resist 

We know that mindset can be a powerful tool, and never more so than in winter. While it’s tempting to complain about the dark/rain/wind, try flipping this on its head.

“Try shifting your mindset from resistance to acceptance,” advises Hartley. “Instead of saying. ‘I hate this weather,” reframe it with a mantra like, ‘This is a season for rest, not for hustle,’ or ‘The dark is my cue to turn inward.’

“Acceptance doesn’t mean I have to like the cold and dark; it just means I stop wasting energy railing against it.”

And who doesn’t want more energy right now?

As the golden hues of autumn begin to paint the landscape, we find ourselves in the midst of the Autumn Equinox—a sacred pause between the light and dark. This day, also called Mabon, marks a powerful seasonal shift, celebrated in the Celtic tradition as part of the Wheel of the Year. It’s a time of harvest, reflection, balance, and preparing for the quieter months ahead.

The Celtic Wheel of the Year
In ancient Celtic traditions, the Wheel of the Year divides the year into eight festivals, with each celebrating the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. These festivals honor the changing seasons and their connection to nature’s rhythm. Mabon, the Autumn Equinox, is one of these sacred days, falling between Lughnasadh (the first harvest) and Samhain (the start of the darker half of the year and the Celtic New Year).
At the Autumn Equinox, day and night are of equal length, symbolizing balance and harmony. This moment is the second harvest, focusing on fruits, grains, and vegetables, and the act of giving thanks for the abundance nature has provided. Mabon is the counterpart to the Spring Equinox (Ostara), and while Ostara celebrates new beginnings, Mabon invites us to reflect on our growth and achievements, gathering wisdom from what we’ve sown.

The Significance of Mabon
Mabon is named after a Welsh deity, Mabon ap Modron, the son of the Earth Mother goddess Modron, representing youth, renewal, and the cycle of life. In myth, Mabon is stolen from his mother at birth and held captive until he is rescued, symbolizing the loss and eventual return of light. This reflects the transition from the brightness of summer to the deepening shadows of fall and winter.
Mabon encourages us to take stock of our inner harvest—what have we achieved this year, and how can we nourish ourselves as we move into the darker months? It’s a time for gratitude, rest, and rebalancing the energies of work and play, light and dark, and giving and receiving.

I don’t know about you, but I never feel more refreshed, recharged and reset than straight after a holiday. Granted, my holidays don’t involve looking after small children so any break away, be it a mini break with friends or time in our tiny house in France with my husband, usually involves more sleep, more laughter, more new experiences – and a lot less thoughts about work – than regular life.

Psychotherapist Eloise Skinner says that, as well as the extra rest and relaxation, holidays usually allow us to step out of our everyday responsibilities and commitments, which can help us to adopt a different sense of identity. “We might have a sense of time slowing down or a feeling of being more present in our surroundings, especially if we’re exploring new locations, cultures and experiences,” she explains. “We can also gain fresh perspectives from new environments and individuals, helping us feel more creative and inspired.”

It’s no wonder I return home feeling like the best version of myself – with my energy stocks fully replenished, I feel ready to take on the world. But, only a couple of days later and the stresses of everyday life and work have taken their toll on my post-holiday energy high. Before I know it, I feel just as depleted of energy and motivation as I did before my holiday.

So, how can we cling onto that surge of energy for just a little bit longer? Here, Skinner shares five tips to help you prolong that post-holiday high and make the most of it while it lasts.

1. Get excited about your goals and ambitions

“While you’re still riding that post-holiday energy wave, take a few days when you return from your holiday to sit down with a planner or journal, and look at your personal and professional goals and objectives,” recommends Skinner. “The run-up to a holiday period can be a winding-down time, where you anticipate taking a break, but the return from a holiday is a great time to pause, reset and realign your goals with new energy and motivation.”

2. Break up your routine with holiday-inspired habits

“Consider small ways to bring your holiday feeling into everyday life,” Skinner suggests. “For example, structuring your mornings so you can take them at a slightly more leisurely pace, or taking the scenic route home from work. Switching up your routine – and incorporating holiday-inspired elements – can help protect some of your holiday energy.”

3. Capture your holiday inspiration

“Whatever it was you enjoyed about your holiday – the new experiences, the travel, the adventure, the relaxation – try to find a way to capture it in a physical format, so you can draw on that energy as you return to your routine,” she says. “This might be, for example, displaying a memento or postcard you bought while away or setting your phone’s lock screen background to a holiday photo. Seeing positive reminders of your time can help you to feel more energised and uplifted as you return to daily life. If you have creative hobbies, like painting or writing, you could also use your holiday inspiration as ways to explore your art.”

4. Make mini-holidays out of your weekends

“Even if you don’t have another holiday on the cards, try protecting your weekend time in order to engage with holiday-inspired activities,” says Skinner. “Plan a day trip, spend time in nature or explore a new type of activity or cuisine. You could set a ‘no work’ rule and avoid checking your emails or thinking about work issues. This normally requires a bit of planning in advance, but it can help keep your energy levels topped up by giving you a sense of the rest and relaxation you can find during a longer break.

5. Use home comforts to your advantage 

“We can often feel a sense of relaxation and comfort when returning home through sleeping in our own bed, setting our own agenda and eating familiar foods,” says Skinner. “Use these feelings to your advantage in order to benefit from a feeling of continued positive energy after your holiday by reminding yourself of all the good things you have to enjoy, the things you’re grateful for and the reasons you’re glad to be home.”

August is the month that refuses to make sense. It’s not autumn yet — no crisp air, no fresh notebooks, no sharpened-pencil energy to anchor you. Instead, August sprawls across the calendar like a 31-day Sunday evening: hazy, restless and impossible to pin down. Days feel long but strangely empty. Evenings drift by without the urgency of June or July. It’s the season of “almosts” — almost done with summer, almost ready for change — and living in the “almost” can feel heavier than we admit.

If you’ve felt foggy, unmotivated, or vaguely guilty for not “making the most of it”, you’re not imagining it. This is the August slump. Your inbox confirms it with endless out-of-office replies. Social media rubs it in with split-screen lives: some friends flaunt glossy holiday snaps while others return sulky, already nostalgic for what’s gone. Meanwhile, you’re stuck in between, half longing for something to sweep you forward, half annoyed at yourself for not doing more. It feels like you should be living bigger, brighter, better but instead you’re treading water in a month that feels more like limbo than life.

And here’s the part most people don’t say out loud: there’s nothing wrong with you. The slump is normal. It’s seasonal, it’s psychological and it’s shared. Which means there’s comfort in it and even an opportunity, if you know how to lean into it instead of fighting it. Here’s what I find helps.

First, have self-compassion. You would never tell a child they’re useless or lazy because they were struggling to concentrate but we do it to ourselves all the time. August is not the moment for that voice. Try being your own ally. Remind yourself: this dip is seasonal, it’s not permanent.

Then, embrace the shift. Rather than fighting to keep summer alive, think about leaning into autumn’s promise. September is a natural reset point. It brings harvest, reflection and preparation. There’s real charm in what’s ahead: cooler mornings, shifting colours, the steadiness of routines returning.

Creating small anchors can be helpful. Summer scatters our rhythms: late nights, travel, disrupted schedules. A gentle framework can steady you again. It doesn’t have to be rigid: set working hours, carve out time for exercise, allow space for rest. Add in activities that act as your glimmers, micro-moments that lift you such as reading, cooking, creativity, or reconnecting with friends you’ve missed.

Forget “reinventing your life”. Think “micro” goals. One drawer decluttered. One extra glass of water. One phone-free morning. These little markers remind your brain that you are, in fact, moving forward.

I know I sound like a broken record but nature really does work. Even a short walk, a breath of evening air, the crunch of the first leaves underfoot — it resets your nervous system. Pop on a podcast, enjoy the last of the summer evenings and remember autumn brings its own gifts too: crisp air, glowing skies and the quiet beauty of change.

Finally, try talking about it. Text someone. Share it out loud. It’s astonishing how quickly “me” turns into “we”. You’ll discover many people are feeling it too — just less willing to admit it.

Here’s my take: August isn’t meant to make sense. It’s slightly awkward by design — a pause between chapters, a holding bay before September’s fresh start. It’s not asking you for resolutions or perfect productivity. It’s giving you permission to be a little slower, a little unsure, a little human.

September will come, with its sharpened-pencil energy and illusion of new beginnings. But until then, August invites you to rest, reflect and gently muddle through. And maybe that’s the real beauty of it.

A wise person once said that travel broadens the mind. They were clearly travelling before passport control, airport queues and small children! Let’s face it, travel can be stressful. Routines dissolve, your sleep gets thrown off, and even the most basic habits – like staying hydrated or moving your body – can become more challenging. The body thrives on rhythm and predictability, so any disruption can activate a physiological stress response. And yet, this very disruption is also what makes travel such a powerful opportunity.
New environments shake us out of autopilot. From a neurological perspective, novelty increases dopamine activity and stimulates areas of the brain responsible for motivation, focus and learning. This makes it easier to form new habits because your brain is already primed for adaptation. In fact, studies in behavioural neuroscience show that being in a new place can enhance neuroplasticity – your brain’s ability to rewire itself in response to new experiences.
So, rather than seeing travel as a break from routine, we can flip the narrative: it’s a chance to build a better one. Here’s how to do that with both intention and science on your side.

1. Start with a Nervous System Reset

When you arrive in a new place, especially after a period of stress, your nervous system may still be stuck in “fight or flight” mode. You may feel restless, disoriented, or wired but tired.
That’s because changes in environment can temporarily heighten sympathetic nervous systemactivity, increasing cortisol (your longer lasting stress hormone) and adrenaline (quick fire but short lived stress hormone) levels. What helps? Pause. Slow down. Prioritise activities that shift you into the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) state: gentle movement, deep breathing, and grounding practices like walking barefoot or spending time in nature. Even 5–10 minutes of diaphragmatic breathing can increase vagal tone, a marker of nervous system resilience.

2. Anchor Your Days with Light and Movement

Your circadian rhythm (the internal clock that governs your sleep-wake cycle, digestion, hormone release and more) is strongly influenced by light exposure. In a new time zone or unfamiliar environment, one of the best ways to recalibrate is to get outside within 30 minutes of waking. Natural light in the morning helps stabilise cortisol rhythms and supports the production of melatonin later that evening.
Pairing this with movement (even a short walk) further boosts brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) – a protein involved in neuroplasticity, mood regulation, and cognitive function.

3. Redesign Your Routine from the Ground Up

When you’re out of your usual context, your triggers and habits are no longer automatic. This is great, because it gives you a unique “blank slate” moment. Behavioural psychology refers to this as the fresh start effect, a psychological window when motivation is heightened, making us more likely to adopt and stick to new behaviours.
You don’t need to overhaul your life. And if you’re on holiday it’s actually about taking a pause from your usual routine. Enjoy that space and see how it feels to be less frantic, you might try journalling each morning, or doing a 10-minute stretch routine outside in the morning light, going for a gentle walk then having breakfast rather than racing out the door to a frantic gym session. See how those little things land and how different your body’s response is to them. Then you can take grains back with you to slot into your regular routine.

4. Choose Foods That Regulate Energy and Mood

Travel often means eating out more, and that’s absolutely fine. But the key to feeling well is supporting your glycaemic balance and neurotransmitter production through steady nutrition.
Aim to eat some form of protein every 4–6 hours to maintain blood sugar stability, which helps avoid energy crashes and mood dips. Incorporating cooked vegetables (rich in prebiotic fibre) supports your gut microbiome – closely linked to both digestion and mental wellbeing. And when you’re in a place rich with local produce and traditional ingredients? Even better. A diet that’s diverse, colourful, and minimally processed naturally nourishes the body’s systems of repair.
My suggestion is always to start the day well – a nice protein rich breakfast, perhaps with the addition of a pastry or something you wouldn’t usually have at home. But pop that after the eggs/fish/bacon/sausages/yoghurt and a slow release carbohydrate like oats or toast. Enjoy a portion that feels satisfying, that could be a whole croissant or it might be half that you share with someone else. But you will have set the tone for the day. Then if you fancy an afternoon ice cream go right ahead – your blood sugar is far less reactive by mid-afternoon + your overall stress state will be lower so you won’t have an appetite distorting response as you would do if you started the day on a croissant, jam, coffee and fruit.

5. Hydrate for Resilience

Travel (especially air travel) can leave you mildly dehydrated, which negatively affects mood, cognition, and digestion. Hydration isn’t just about water; it’s also about electrolyte balance (sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc.), which helps regulate nerve function and cellular energy.
Bring electrolytes (I like Artah) with you to add to your water in the mornings, and aim for steady hydration throughout the day – even mild dehydration can increase your perception of fatigue and stress. If you drink alcohol, make sure to buffer with extra fluids.

To Sum Up…
Travel removes us from our comfort zone – but that’s exactly what gives it the power to shift patterns that no longer serve us. It’s not about rigid structure or restriction, but about tuning into what your body truly needs in a new context.
When approached with intention, travel becomes not just an adventure, but a reset button for the body, brain, and nervous system.

My husband absolutely loves travelling. I, on the other hand, do not. This is most unfortunate for him, as he sends me 10 reels a night of sparkling blue seas in the hopes that it’ll ignite my sense of wanderlust. It does for a second, but then I think about the logistics, and it’s gone as swiftly as it arrived.

Instead, all I can think about is a tornado of what-ifs and potential problems: who will water my houseplants? What if I forget to pack something vital? What if we don’t get to the airport on time? Will my ears hurt on the plane? What if I leave something precious at the hotel? Can we afford it? What if we get there and all we do is worry about money? What if we don’t have fun?

The questions endlessly bob about in my brain until the thought of a holiday no longer feels appealing or worthwhile. I’d rather just stay at home, safely on the sofa, travelling vicariously through TV reality shows.

I know this might seem odd, and I think it’s probably because I have anxiety, and I like things to be within my control. So, I’ve tried to put mechanisms in place. My partner takes care of all of the logistics because he knows they stress me out, and I can’t sort them without catastrophising or freezing. He sorts the the booking, transport, money and everything else you can possibly think of. All I have to do is show up with my passport and suncream, so why do I still find it so anxiety-inducing?

When people ask me if I’m looking forward to an upcoming holiday, my answer is always the same: “Um, I think I’ll feel more excited once I’m there.” Let’s be real, the actual being on holiday part is lovely, but it’s bookended by so much stress and uncertainty in my mind that it dampens my desire to travel entirely. I simply cannot fathom how those who constantly travel, bouncing from place to place, manage to hold themselves together.

“This cascade of pre-travel anxiety is absolutely something I recognise,” says Charlotte Fox Weber psychotherapist and author. “It’s almost as if the anticipation becomes so loaded with potential catastrophe that the [holiday] feels secondary to managing the mental siege beforehand.”

Apparently, I have a tendency to transform ‘expansion into contraction’, which basically means, instead of holidays opening up possibilities for me, “anxiety narrows everything down to a series of logistical tripwires”, according to Fox Weber. I’m essentially living through multiple versions of the holiday before I’ve even left, and most of them are disasters.

Why do I feel so stressed?

“I’ve noticed this pattern tends to affect people who are naturally conscientious or who’ve had their sense of control challenged before,” Fox Weber explains. “The holiday represents a temporary abdication of your familiar systems, and anxiety rushes in to fill that void with hypervigilance.”

There’s also something to be said about the cultural pressure surrounding holidays.  Thanks to our ever-online lives, there’s an expectation to have the most transformative, restorative, investment-worthy, aesthetically pleasing time, and Fox Weber says this can make the stakes feel impossibly high.

 Chance Marshall, a psychotherapist and co-founder of Self Space says much the same thing: “We went on our first holiday with our little boy post-pandemic, and we were sat at the airport and we just thought, Wow, there’s so much pressure to make this the perfect trip! But actually, it’s OK to let it be a bit rubbish. It’s OK if we don’t visit every restaurant. I wrote five pages of pre-holiday research because there was so much intensity to get it ‘right’, but in the end, we spent the first few hours sleeping, and I’m glad we did. It didn’t need planning, and once we took the pressure off, we ended up discovering things we might not have otherwise. I think there’s so much pressure to do everything that we sometimes don’t come back from a holiday feeling rested, which is the whole point.”

Social dynamics can also be a source of holiday anxiety, Fox Weber adds, as you might feel vulnerable in an unfamiliar place, even when with people you generally feel comfortable with. “The vulnerability of being in unfamiliar places where you can’t predict how things work, leads to this feeling of ‘peak experience pressure’, [where you feel like] you have to optimise every moment because you’ve spent so much to be there.”

How can I stop feeling anxious?

For the spiralling thoughts, Fox Weber suggests holding a series of ‘anxiety appointments’ with yourself. “Give yourself a designated 15 minutes each day to mentally rehearse the worst-case scenarios, then firmly close that mental door until the next appointment. While it sounds counterintuitive, it often defuses the background hum of worry.”

The practical side matters too, she says, “Create detailed but flexible lists, book things in advance that can be booked and have a ‘good enough’ standard rather than seeking perfection. Sometimes the antidote to anxiety is simply lowering the bar for what constitutes success.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Finally, Fox Weber says her most “essential” piece of advice is to “internally permit yourself to enjoy a moment, wherever possible. Because the world won’t do it for you.”