Spa a thought for your relationship this Christmas: do you need a rest before the holidays?

The shops are full of Lindt chocolates and Advent calendars in preparation for Christmas, and while we look forward to the Christmas holidays as a time for eating our favourite foods, spending time with loved ones and watching Love Actually on repeat, it's also a very busy period. So, here's a thought - do you need a rest before the holidays?

For lots of us the holiday season is a great opportunity to spend more time with friends, go to parties, tuck into festive treats and bring fairy-light-lit joy to the otherwise grey, wet and dreary winter months. However, it can also be a time of stress as well - the overindulgence can make us feel a little less like our best selves; there's a lot of pressure to please, buy gifts and entertain; and with the best will in the world emotions run high. So, can you prepare mind, body and soul to best support your wellbeing over the holiday season? Here are some ideas.

Stay inspired with physical wellbeing

The best way to feel inspired to stay feeling well, is to start feeling well. It might sound odd, but instead of viewing a wellness getaway as a post-Christmas recovery strategy, what about viewing it as a way for supporting your body and helping you to feel your best throughout the holidays? A health retreat can be a great way to get ideas to support healthy snacking over the holidays, as well as give us the rest we need to enjoy all the entertainment.

Spa for relaxation

We all know that a massage makes us feel good but we often underestimate quite how powerful it is and why. Of course, a massage helps ease physical knots and tensions, but one of its great benefits is that it helps us get out of our heads and back into our bodies. We tend to spend too much time in our heads when we are stressed and busy, causing us to shallow breathe and feel disconnected with ourselves. A massage is a great way to reconnect and be present, which in turn will help us enjoy the holiday season and take it all in our stride.

Spa for holistic health

The word detox is bandied around a lot and we're always a little bit careful about being too prescriptive about it. The body is very clever when it comes to having its own detox mechanisms, but sometimes we can give it a joyful boost to give us a little extra glow. An enjoyable way to do that, and a way in which we can share quality time with friends in a healthy way or before dressing up for Christmas parties is in a thermal suite. Sauna, steam and swim around in that hydrotherapy pool to ease muscles, wash the stress of the working day away and emerge feeling like your best self.

Boost your natural glow

A spa treatment is always a good idea in our book, but one of the best ways to shake off the winter gloom is to literally scrub it off. After you have spent time in that thermal suite we mentioned, why not opt for a body scrub treatment? It's invigorating, relaxing and rejuvenating, but at the same time it exfoliates the skin and leaves it feeling soft, supple and glowing. You will be ready for that party... or that cosy evening by the fire, whatever you prefer.

Restoring emotional balance

Relatives asking awkward questions about your private life over the Christmas turkey? Someone criticising your parenting skills? Kids making more noise than a fireworks display in a tin can? One of the simplest ways to stay calm and support your own wellbeing in a stressful environment is to breathe. Unfortunately, as tensions rise we tend to respond with shallow breathing, which is to say breathing into our upper chest instead of into the abdomen. Abdominal breathing however, helps us to control our nervous system and to relax. So, how can we remind ourselves to breathe deeply - it takes practice. Spas can be great environments to encourage us to do just that however, through thermal suites, spa therapies and aromatherapy as well as dedicated coaching sessions. Another option is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), otherwise known as tapping - which you can easily practice at home.