Behind the Bluff
Uncover best practices to participate in life on your terms. Every week, hosts Jeff Ford and Kendra Till guide listeners with short conversations on trending wellness topics and share interviews with passionate wellness professionals, our private club leaders, and additional subject matter experts offering valuable tips. Each episode conclusion includes Healthy Momentum, five minutes of inspiration to help you reflect and live differently. Subscribe now and discover the keys to living your greatest active lifestyle.
Behind the Bluff
6 Gifts to Give Yourself This Holiday Season
The holidays can feel like a sprint with no finish line, but they don’t have to drain your well. We unpack six practical gifts you can give yourself—presence, recovery, connection, boundaries, nourishing fuel, and compassion—to help you slow down without losing the joy that makes this season meaningful. Through personal stories, gentle prompts, and simple routines, we show how to trade frantic schedules for intentional pauses, late nights for sleep that restores, and endless small talk for one conversation that actually matters.
We start with presence: one daily pause, a short walk in gray weather, or a three-line journal entry that brings you back to what’s real. From there, recovery becomes a shield against chaos—sleep curfews, scaled-back workouts, five-minute morning meditations, and the grounding reset of yoga nidra. Connection gets a refresh too. Instead of chasing every invite, choose the one person who keeps you steady and build a moment that goes deeper than holiday chatter.
Boundaries tie it together with buffer time, honest scripts like “Let me get back to you,” and permission to schedule a day with no plans. Fuel and hydration keep energy steady when routines wobble: balanced plates with protein and vegetables, one festive favorite with tradition, planned meals so you don’t crash at night, and water always in reach. We close with compassion—letting go of perfection, softening self-talk, and remembering that joy should not depend on circumstances. Gratitude expands what’s good; pressure shrinks it.
Choose one gentle gift to practice this week and feel the difference. If this resonated, subscribe for new Wednesday releases, share with someone who needs a calmer season, and tell us which gift you’re choosing. Your one habit could be the memory worth keeping.
Are you ready to live an active lifestyle? Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms. I'm your host, Jeff Ford.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm Kendra Till. Today we're talking about the six gifts you can give yourself this holiday season. So not the ones you buy, but the ones that actually keep you grounded, healthy, and well.
SPEAKER_00:We are going to allow you to not pull out your pocketbook or your wallet today. This is all about slowing down during this chaotic time of year. For so many of us, we're we're occupied. Our schedules are full. For many people out there, this time of year reveals a financial burden. And even if you're anything like me, it also uh reveals an emotional burden. I lost my uncle on Christmas. And every year I think about him. My dad lost a brother, my Grammy lost a son. And so we don't want to shy away from that shadow that is around this time of year. We have to acknowledge that it's an emotional time. It's an occupied time. You can see I'm avoiding the word busy. And so there are a lot of things that we can do to slow down and experience joy.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm with you, Jeff. And I'm sorry about your uncle. That's that's tough, especially this time of the year. And you're right. I think we all have a tendency to overextend ourselves and just put ourselves in these positions that basically our wells are dry, you know, towards this time of the year. So I think that when we put together these six gifts, we really wanted them to be simple and accessible for everyone during this holiday season, like you said, without having to pull out your pocketbook.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Because we're doing that enough.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And and the way we wanted to go about this today is break it down into the six gifts and then give you a question to reflect on. We'll we'll give our personal take today. Yeah. Kendra, are you ready to dive in? Let's do it. So the first gift that we have that you deserve to give yourself today is the gift of presence. And the question is: where in your day do you need to slow down long enough to actually experience what's happening instead of rushing through it? I was uh in service this weekend, and everyone likes to talk about how joyous the holidays are. Have you ever been to Walmart on the holidays?
SPEAKER_01:I was there this weekend. There you go.
SPEAKER_00:And and I I stole that from my pastor because it's it's super funny. We we go into this time of year and we rush through it. We experience a lack of presence. And just in my everyday life, as as you've seen, Kendra, when I'm dialed in, when we have things going on as part of our wellness business here at Pummetal Bluff, you tend to get caught up focusing on your own agenda. You get distracted, you don't slow down to look people in the eyes, you just don't take time to pause.
SPEAKER_01:And it's almost like these little moments create the bigger picture. And I think we sometimes forget that. So the holidays are a very special time that either with your loved ones or doing the traditions, etc., you really need to take that time to pause and look around and really notice where you're at in this point in life and how lucky we are to be able to be here and doing what we're doing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So we're bridging into a new year. And I often feel like the analogy for this time of year that that strikes most of us is we fall into sprinting versus pacing. And of course, there's going to be a running analogy if if we're getting philosophical with me, but it can it can feel like there is so much to do. We have this tendency to feel like we have to fill our calendars. And yet the big thing that we could attempt to do this time of year as a gift to ourselves is slow down in practical terms. So for everyone out there, what I would say is start to plan a way in each of your days where you have one pause. Um, for me, speaking personally, it's pausing during lunchtime. I'm very excited about what we get to do here at Palmetto Bluff. I'm very excited about the new year and a lot of the programs that we have right after the holidays, that it leads me to forgetting about how go, go, go and trying to get everything into the hours that we have can get in the way of the actual end result. So the first step that that I would throw out there is take a pause in your day. What else would you recommend, Kendra, for the gift of presence?
SPEAKER_01:Uh just going off of that, the pause is a time to also just be a little reflective, to allow that pause to, you know, take that deep breath and to really be reflective on the moment and where you're at and what's going on. I think what also helps for me personally is even to keep a journal. I mean, just even writing one to three sentences of how you're feeling or maybe what's happened that day, that morning, et cetera. But it just allows you to just pause and be present in that moment rather than, you know, trying to think about what's going on in the future, et cetera.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah. Kind of a journal check-in to check in with yourself emotionally. And probably a couple other capstones to this would be breathing, slowing down. Uh, for for me, taking time to breathe at night after dinner, after spending time with the family, it starts to downregulate that body. And then uh taking taking more steps outside. It's it's been uh rainy here at Pomoda Bluff for the last three or four days.
SPEAKER_01:Very dreary.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, a lot of folks can have that uh impact their mood, but getting outside, no matter if it's sunny out, if it's overcast, it it can allow you to slow down all the events that you have scheduled.
SPEAKER_01:Couldn't agree more.
SPEAKER_00:So the second gift that we're gonna ask folks to give themselves this time of year would be what, Kendra?
SPEAKER_01:The gift of recovery.
SPEAKER_00:And I love this one.
SPEAKER_01:That's a good one.
SPEAKER_00:All about recovery.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:The question that we have is what is one simple recovery habit, sleep, movement, breath, like we've already mentioned, that you can plug into this time of year to protect yourself from the holiday chaos. Kendra, what would you choose if you had one recovery method to keep as part of your routine this time of year? What would how would you go about that?
SPEAKER_01:My rec well, I would say sleep. Absolutely. And if I know that I'm attending a holiday party or a gathering, I still try to put like a time frame in line where I want to be able, like I'm gonna be home at this time and in bed, do my nightly routine, even if it's pushed back later than what my normal bedtime is, just to make sure it's still getting done and get those hours of sleep so rest.
SPEAKER_00:What you're saying is even before going to the party, have a time where you're gonna try to be back and then a define time of when you would be in bed.
SPEAKER_01:Set myself a curfew.
SPEAKER_00:I like that. Yeah. Adults need curfews too. Yeah. And it's funny you mentioned that because Mia is sort of my cue to go to bed. She'll get in in bed 8 to 8:30 is kind of the time range. And I should be pretty much at that same time too, I think. Yeah. Um, but I usually lengthen it out to 9, 9:30. Um, but I think what you're talking about with having a a cue, like a plan around when you're gonna get your sleep can be super important this time of year. Recovery, people trying to travel and see other folks, it's it's constant. So a small, consistent bedtime could go a long way for a lot of our folks this year.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely. What about you? What's your number one recovery tool?
SPEAKER_00:I I put sleep in the category, but I'd also put a focus on movement and doing movement that's maybe a little bit more gentle this time of year. Perfect example. Woke up this morning, had a big weekend of workouts, big weekend of um serving and family time, that I just decided that a higher intensity run wasn't what my body needed. Yeah. So I think people out there can be a little bit more gentle with their workouts. I know our high performers don't like the word gentle, but scaling back this time of year could be extremely powerful for those who want to give themselves the gift of recovery.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I love that. And you can even invite other loved ones with you to do those forms of movement. We did, for example, on Friday, our team did a workout together.
SPEAKER_00:Quick little workout after the holiday fun presentation. It was so much fun.
SPEAKER_01:So, yeah, maybe invite other, you know, loved ones to join you on this form of movement as recovery too.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah. And we just passed Thanksgiving. It was so interesting. Uh, we were out walking um in the afternoon, and it had to be like two o'clock. And it was bizarre to me because there was another family that was coming out. I'm gonna try to stay non-judgment, I'm gonna have a non-judgmental approach with this with this story. But they came out and they were saying how, oh, everyone's coming out of the woodwork, finally escaping all of the food. And I found that just interesting that that's what we think about around the holidays. Yeah. That, oh, we can now move instead of proactively planning the movement before that. And I think that's just nature of the holidays. We sometimes feel like we can completely take breaks. What I'm sort of proposing here is like modify the schedule, make sure you work movement in, and then to your point, take take more of a family approach with it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, definitely. And I think another one that is been very important for me lately is a meditation practice. And I know that can look different for everyone. Um, but again, I guess it goes back to that reflective time, you know, diving in spiritually or, you know, just taking that moment and time to look at the bigger picture of the holidays.
SPEAKER_00:How do you set up your meditation time?
SPEAKER_01:I try to do it first thing in the morning. So I allocate five minutes at a minimum to just, you know, either put on either meditation, a guided meditation or meditation music. Um, and then usually after that is is when I journal straight away, kind of get your thoughts. And before you have any sort of distractions coming in for that day, especially if you know it's going to be a very busy day, you're gonna be seeing a lot of people at events and gatherings. It just allows you that one-on-one time with yourself.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it seems like presence and recovery go hand in hand, these first two gifts is like we can be more present by having a regular recovery practice. It's it's almost like sleep is that secret weapon. I can totally tell the difference between going to bed at nine versus going to bed at 10 and how much more energy you have the next day. Totally. And I just like that you have a minimum on it. So there's not, you know, it has to be 20 minutes. So we stay out of this all or nothing workout mentality that's out there where I think a lot of people just stop working out over the holidays because they can't do it the way that they want to. Right. Oh, and uh last um kind of cornerstone on the recovery piece here before we shift to gift number three, the Yoga Nidra series that you and Sydney came up with. I didn't even put it together until our conversation here. Was there a deliberate plan to do it like over the holidays? But we're seeing lots of participation in Yoga Nidra.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, Sydney and I have talked about how just the how important it is to have that available during the holiday season. And the class has just been very, very big booked, which is great. So there's a lot of participation, and we actually just decided today that we're gonna carry that into the new year into January.
SPEAKER_00:So for listeners who aren't familiar with yoga nidra meditation, could you give them a deeper description?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so it's it's essentially Sydney does a really great job. So it is an hour long, which sometimes can scare people away, but rest assured that Sydney takes you through gentle movements.
SPEAKER_00:Rest assured, no point in time.
SPEAKER_01:Um, but she'll have sometimes her sound balls there, and she'll take you through some gentle movement and breathing, and then take you through like a it's like a guided meditation. So again, just a really special time to tune into yourself, your feelings, and just get that that inner peace.
SPEAKER_00:Nice. Well, we'll go ahead and shift gears into the third gift. The gift that you can give yourself this holiday season is connection. And the question that I love for this one is who is the one person, not the 50 people, who is the one person you can intentionally connect with this season to help you stay grounded and supported? I think so often we try to do it all ourselves. We take on things and always focus on how am I gonna get it done versus who can help me. Yeah. And I share that because I'm reading a book called Who, Not How. Yeah and it's really inspired me that at times and all the time essentially, we we need to be figuring out who can be on our team to help us get the things done that we potentially don't need to be doing. And then also everyone needs people to connect deeper with than just surface level conversations. This holiday season, be on the lookout. You're gonna see a lot of people, you're gonna be at holiday gatherings, and a lot of the conversations are surface level, small talk. And what I'm preaching essentially here is go deeper than the small talk this season. Who is that person that you can connect with on a on a real and authentic level? Because especially during the holiday season, uh it's more quality over the quantity of relationships. And I think we get caught up in seeing everybody that we don't foster a deep level of connection with the people who who are in our top five, who are those people who are going to be for us, us there outside of the holiday season.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. It's it's less about taking the box of oh, I caught up with this person. I, you know, I made sure I caught up with this person, but but really allowing yourself to deeply connect with those people. And then to your point, anchoring to that one person that you know is going to help you through the holiday season because it is a lot. Let's let's all be honest. It can be a lot for all of us in different levels. And so I love this gift. I think um we are a very socially connected um species, and that is such a gift in itself that we have people around us, and to your point, making it less onerous on just ourselves. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So who not how. And for me, I've got a close buddy, his name's David. Uh I actually got a group of friends who are coming up this weekend. Uh well, one's coming from Florida, and then everyone else is local, but we they're probably they are my top five. Like they're in the top five. We're we're doing the Buffalo run.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, you are gonna do it. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So we've got a team of five of us. Uh, each person does a 10K. Yeah. And it's fun that it is around the holidays. Yeah. Uh so we'll be connecting deeply through through movement and just fun. Our team name is the Trailhogs. Ooh. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I can't. Who came up with that?
SPEAKER_00:It's a team effort. It it is one of my buddies who's probably the the funniest of the five. Uh his name's Alex. And uh we have custom singlets with the trail hog on there. Fancy. But there was a lot of brainstorming going on. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And um, I bring that up because there's this app that you and I have both been on lately. And I I I love it. I actually only use it with one friend primarily, though. Um, David, who you know, he teaches here on Saturdays. We do a lot of reflecting, reflective questioning and just support through video calls, video messages. And it's it's different than FaceTime because it's like a text message. It's called Marco Polo, and you can look at it anytime. Would I say I'd want to do this with all of my friends? No, because it's hard to keep up with. I mean, you're on there, you've seen it. It can be hard when you see a lot of messages in there. Um, but I bring up the example of doing quality type events with people who are are in your top five, making sure they're the priority. And then and then maybe traveling less, maybe saying no more often to the types of events that aren't as connective. Like prioritize connection with what you put on your schedule this time of year.
SPEAKER_01:I like that a lot. And that probably helps people to eliminate the busyness of it all.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and don't feel guilty about it.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:A long time ago, not a long time ago, but two years ago when Lindsay and I moved back to South Carolina. We the first year we traveled, we tried to see both families. And I think there's a lot of stress around that. Yeah. It's like I've got to see everyone, where, you know, we've got Mia, who's gonna turn six. It's better for us to be home. It's better for people to come see us versus running around trying to see everyone. Now, everyone has a different approach. I would just, I would just encourage people that whatever your approach is, make sure that you're you're going deeper with the connections that you're making this time of year.
SPEAKER_01:Love that.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That's a special one. Shall we move on to number four?
SPEAKER_00:Let's do it. What's number four, Kendra?
SPEAKER_01:So I guess going hand in hand with what we just spoke about, but the gift of boundaries. So the question to ask yourself is where do you need to set or reinforce a boundary so you don't overschedule or overextend yourself? This is a big one for many of us this time of year.
SPEAKER_00:Are you allowed to use the word, the B-word in the podcast? Boundaries.
SPEAKER_01:I think in this instance, absolutely. So I guess the way I like to bucket this in particular is you have time boundaries, you have wet rest boundaries, and then you also have emotional boundaries, which we spoke about at the beginning of this episode. So time boundaries in particular, I think it's important to schedule buffer times before after these events or gatherings, to just give yourself that time. And I think that it adds a tremendous amount of value to just how you approach the events as well, in the to in the sense that you hopefully feel a little more calm and can, you know, centered and the energy that you can bring to those events because you you have the buffer built in. Exactly. So I think that's a really important one as well. And and also what I mean by by time is also to not be afraid to say no to things. I I am actually one of those people. Jeff knows this. We talk about it all the time. The end the N word's not very good. It's not big on my in my vocabulary, so I need to I personally need to get better at this, but it is okay to. To prioritize your time and who you're connecting with, how you're connecting with them, and really set it in your terms is important.
SPEAKER_00:That's a great message. And I want to follow up with that. As someone who's a yes person, how would you help that same yes person out there if they get these requests, they they struggle with the N-word. What advice would you have for them?
SPEAKER_01:I would tell them to not feel the need to answer something quickly, to give yourself a little bit of space and say, oh great, let me think about that and get back to you. So if you're like me and under that pressure really makes you nervous, and and you just that yes word is just right at the tip of your tongue is yeah, give yourself make that an answer.
SPEAKER_00:Almost give yourself some space when the requests come.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. Yeah. Let me get back to you on that one. It's just it's a huge script that would be very healthy to practice. Um, and then second, like I mentioned, the rest boundaries. I think prioritizing mental health, um, even if you feel like you are disappointing somebody, um, I think like planning a day that you have no plans. I know it sounds ridiculous, but literally plan a day where you have no plans. And you can do that with loved ones, you can do that by yourself, but giving yourself rest, whatever that looks like for you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I like how a lot of these gifts that we're advising folks to give themselves this time of year are very interconnected. So the gift of recovery can only be given to yourself if you set a clear boundary with how you're gonna get that recovery in a specific way here, socially. 100%. Not having plans.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:Anything else on the gift of boundaries?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, just last the emotional boundaries. I think just giving yourself permission to feel what you're feeling.
SPEAKER_00:And you mean it's okay for me to feel upset?
SPEAKER_01:It is, yes.
SPEAKER_00:It is, it's a honor honoring that.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. There's a ton of emotions that people can feel this time of year and know that it's okay to feel what you're feeling, but from a boundary perspective, to create these boundaries for yourself, to either not engage with somebody who might, you know, spark an emotion that's too much for you, or um yeah, just things like that. I think it's important to bear that in mind from a boundary perspective.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, listen to your emotions, be with those emotions, don't label them as good or bad.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think that's a great summary on the on the boundaries there. So let's let's go ahead and move into the fifth gift, the gift of fuel and nutrition. This can be a tricky one for folks this time of year.
SPEAKER_01:Big time.
SPEAKER_00:What's the question?
SPEAKER_01:What's one way you can nourish your body daily without the all-or-nothing holiday mindset? So I know this is probably, you know, like you said, around Thanksgiving, it can be, I know that's past already, but coming into this holiday season where most gatherings events, there's food, there's alcohol, there's a lot going on. So I think what's what's a nice approach with this one is to think about like balanced plates. So if you give yourself this rhetoric before the holidays and say, I'm going to build my plate with protein and vegetables and maybe something festive that I'm super excited about. You know, like my grandma's sugar sugar cookies.
SPEAKER_00:That's what I was gonna ask you. What would be a good example of festive? So something that like has tradition behind it, something that you look forward to every year.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. Because I think that mindset of going into that, it's like, okay, I'm having a balanced plate and it's okay to indulge in these sweets, whatever that might look like, um, because that can be part of it, with the, especially if it's tied to a tradition. But I think it's just important to know that it, you know, by actually eating healthy alongside some of these unhealthy um aspects of the holiday, just keeps your energy steady and um yeah, just helps you enjoy those treats more too. So um, and I think too, just remember remembering to eat regular meals when you're busy. So, Jeff. Wait, hey, this is a big this one's actually for you and people.
SPEAKER_00:You know, we don't want to always make things about me. Well, this one is.
SPEAKER_01:This one is.
SPEAKER_00:It it you're pretty much nailing it because I'm the first person to skip a meal. And it's it's out of um not having a plan around it and not taking the time to be clear of when I'm gonna eat.
SPEAKER_01:There you go.
SPEAKER_00:And I I think with a schedule like the holiday season, it's it's even more important to be aware and have a plan.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely.
SPEAKER_00:I'm gonna work on it.
SPEAKER_01:There you go. This is your this is your gift to yourself, Jeff. So yeah, just even on those hectic days, just pausing, eat breakfast, eat lunch. Um, and so then you're not starving by the end of those the day and when those events are usually happening in it anyway.
SPEAKER_00:So it might be good for folks out there that like if you're in a different environment, kind of walk through on your daily planner of like when you're gonna eat and and get some parameters around that because I think sometimes we just leave it up to chance. Absolutely. And that that usually doesn't go well for fueling.
SPEAKER_01:100%, yeah. Agree. And then last for this gift, I would say hydration is a holiday superpower. And what I mean by that is we know that some gatherings events can involve alcohol. And um, you know, it's important to stay hydrated, firstly, but it's also very important to stay hydrated if you are going to drink. And um, I think a nice reminder is to yourself is okay, I'm gonna bring, I'm gonna make sure that I bring my water bottle when I'm shopping or when I'm cooking or when I'm going to these events, so that you, as a reminder that water bottle's with you, if you're anything like me, it's just attached to your hip, you just know that it's you've got to drink it. You know if it's still full or you know if you need to refill it. So that's a a good way to test. Okay, how much water have I gotten today? Um, and then also just even just drinking a glass of water before you go to a party.
SPEAKER_00:You know, or very practical.
SPEAKER_01:I think what I like to do is I drink a water between cocktails if I'm gonna be at a party.
SPEAKER_00:That's quite diligent.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I do have to run to the restroom all the time, but hey, it's a good way to know that you are getting hydrated. So so yeah, hydration as a superpower.
SPEAKER_00:Excellent. Yeah, so it's it's number one, let's have an anchoring meal. Let's have a meal that's balanced, let's have a plan for all of our meals in the day. Let's indulge, and then let's have some sort of plan around hydration.
SPEAKER_01:Totally. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And that's it by your hip.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. And then you know that you're nourishing your body daily.
SPEAKER_00:So Kendra, what would be our final gift for listeners to give themselves this holiday season?
SPEAKER_01:The final gift is the gift of compassion.
SPEAKER_00:We've been all around this episode.
SPEAKER_01:It's a big one. So the question to ask is what pressure or expectation can you let go of to show yourself more grace this holiday season? It's a big one.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And it's funny because I watched a movie recently. I'm gonna kick off this little gift with a movie. Um my husband and I watched this movie, I think it was on like Prime, Amazon, one of those. And it's called Oh What Fun with Michelle Pfeiffer. I haven't seen her in a movie in a long time, but she was in this. And it essentially, the movie centralized around this um need for perfectionism with the way she had all of her family coming over. Her kids were coming over with their fam with their families. And so for the holiday. For the holiday, correct. So she was hosting, and you know, it started off showing around the house of her baking and cleaning and doing all the things to make everything just so perfect for her family. And it got to her, you know. I think there was a deeper, deeper level of like appreciation not being shown, etc. But it just absolutely got to her and to a point where you saw this bigger picture of like, what's the purpose of all these, you know, this level of perfection perfectionism that, you know, people can sometimes strive for during this period of oh, the cookies have to be perfect, or the meal has to be perfect, the house has to look a certain way. And um it just doesn't have to be like that. Sometimes being done is just being better than perfect, which you and I just spoke about before this episode kicked off.
SPEAKER_00:So I think there's something to be said. That's woven, you know, outside of the holiday season, it it happens a lot where you know it may be comparison with how someone else is doing things or a certain and it's often like self-imposed expectations.
SPEAKER_01:Totally.
SPEAKER_00:So, like with the movie you're describing, it sounds like it it wasn't much fun. Yeah. Uh there's no oh what fun when you're you're not slowing down for yourself, you're not having compassion for yourself for um what you're putting out there, the energy level you're putting out there, and things you were needing things to go a certain way.
SPEAKER_01:Totally.
SPEAKER_00:It's just uh it's a lack of uh self-respect for you when when we're being a little intense about it.
SPEAKER_01:And there's an emotional labor that goes with that level of perfectionist perfectionism. And so I think first and foremost, going back to this, you know, compassion gift is allowing yourself to just be human and you know, to say to yourself, it's okay that I'm tired or um, you know, I'm I'm allowed to rest and it's just to do the best that I can and just give yourself that dialogue and stop trying to, you know, power through and I guess just honoring what your limits are on things.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah, because everyone's working hard this time of year. Give yourself credit for that hard work. Uh know that the stress could be coming from a perfectionist mentality. And if you can just have compassion uh for how you're going about things, it'll relieve the pressure.
SPEAKER_01:Totally. Yeah, relieving the pressure. And I think that self-talk to just soften that more is super important. Um so on that, too, it's also important to allow yourself to feel all your feelings. I mentioned that earlier, but um, it's okay if you feel overwhelmed or sad or anxious. Holidays are complicated and you might be going through something, and the person next to you might be going through something, but to give yourself that compassion of it's okay to feel it and to allow yourself to feel it. Um, I think some really nice little tips is if you are feeling overwhelmed or sad or anxious, to, you know, step into a quiet room for a little bit and give yourself that time, which is what we were speaking about in earlier with the gifts. So um, you you know, taking that short walk or journaling, like we mentioned earlier, might be another easy tool to help soften how you're feeling.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, super interrelated if you get caught up not being compassionate with yourself. Yeah. Go right back to being present with some of the steps that we shared.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. Yeah. But the the impact of that self-talk to alleviate the stress and give yourself that space.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. Well, Kendra, I've I've enjoyed this thoroughly. You know, I thought I think this is well timed so that we can all go into this season um with just the right perspective, the right expectations. Uh, I want to give our listeners a quick recap here. We talked about six gifts to give yourself today. The first one was the gift of presence. So ask yourself how are you gonna go about this year without rushing through it? Second was the gift of recovery. What's the one simple recovery habit, sleep, movement that you can plug into your daily life to protect you from the holiday chaos? Uh, third gift was the gift of connection. This is where we spoke about fewer people that you connect with as a potential strategy and making sure that there's one person in your life that you can turn to this season who's gonna keep you grounded, keep you supported. Kendra, I turn to you all the time to keep me grounded for sure. And I always feel supported, which is is why I just love our partnership. Uh I probably won't call you this holiday season, though. I'll I'll probably be checking in with David. Um we know messages. Yeah, we like our we'll be together a lot, anyways. Uh, fourth on the list was the gift of boundaries. So, this this one, I think, of all the gifts, is the most interconnected. Like you're you're not gonna have connection with people, you're not gonna recover, you're not gonna fuel and nutrition yourself if you don't have boundaries. So think about what that looks like and and don't overextend yourself. Fifth is the gift of fuel nutrition. This is out of the six, the one that Kendra exposed me on. I'm gonna work on heavily. I'm gonna, I I I really need to have an anchoring lunch, I think would go a long way for me. Uh so I'll publicly put that out there. That that's that's my uh gift that I'm gonna work on. But the gift of fuel nutrition, what's what's one way you can nourish yourself daily? Don't feel like all three meals have to be perfect, but what's that one meal that's gonna be balanced? And then hydration as that superpower. And then the last piece, I think a little bit more broad, but the gift of compassion. This is where we we don't want to set our expectations too high. I think for all of us, we have this picture in our brain of how you know the holiday is gonna go. And I don't think we should get as vivid as as we tend to do with what that picture is. So just be careful on those expectations and then show yourself a ton of grace. Give yourself grace for the effort that you're putting in for your family, for the time that you're spending to have enjoyable memories with your family, because at the end of the day, many of our memories stem from this time of year. So maybe it's just focusing in on one key memory dividend that you want to create versus feeling like you have to have the house perfect and the party perfect and all of that. Um, so those are our six gifts that we would like you to give yourself today. Kendra, what's the final encouragement here?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so final encouragement. So following these, you know, very gentle practical gifts that we have provided. Try and pick one gift to practice this week. Just one. That's all you need. Just pick one of these six and give yourself that gift. And I think you will feel just the value from it.
SPEAKER_00:Right on. Well, this is the end of our main conversation today. Uh, if you're not already subscribed to the podcast, please go ahead and subscribe. We have a new episode every single Wednesday. And uh share this episode out. I think this may help a lot of your friends and family this time of year. And we would love to hear from you via message. We know a lot of you uh see us every day. So maybe it's just you letting us know which gift you're choosing this year, which of those six gifts that you that you're gonna focus on. And then um what we're gonna be doing a little differently over the holidays is we're gonna be slowing down. We're gonna be taking a break. So these longer, full-length episodes that you're used to, we're gonna actually be giving you the gift of recovery via the podcast with our own short meditations by one of our expert yoga teachers, Jessica Hooper. So she's putting, she's put together a collection of meditations that will be perfect for this time of year. We'll still give you the dose of healthy momentum every week alongside. And then we've got big plans for 2026. There's gonna be a little more structure to the podcast. We have some exciting guests who we plan on uh uh coming on, uh, some folks who you know and love who will be on more regularly. And we're just so grateful for you taking the time to listen each week. Kendra, thanks so much for today.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks, Jeff.
SPEAKER_00:Listeners, feel free to hang out with me for a few more minutes and get some healthy momentum for the rest of your week. No matter who you are, no matter what time of year it is, there's one thing that we all wish we had more of. And that one thing is joy. The difficulty comes because we look for joy in all the wrong places. I was inspired this weekend because a message was put on my heart that helped me to look at joy differently and to look at how we can go after getting more of it in our lives, and how important it is to seek it. One truth about joy There will be joy in your life when you don't depend on it coming from your circumstances. We fall into thinking that one day when this happens, we'll be happier and we'll have more joy. Or when this situation is over, gosh, joy is coming. We have to realize that that's not where it comes from. It shouldn't be dependent on our circumstances. And one of the other truths here is that joy doesn't come from fixing your life. It's just not how it works. Do you know that person in your life who walks into the room and you just want to talk to them? They just exude joy and happiness. For me, I'm thinking of my wife Lindsay, and even how she's put that joy into our little daughter Mia. Every time I see her, joy it it overwhelms me, and I I think she has that level of impact uh with with most people that she meets. And I reflected on that deeply because I don't know if I'm the type of person who always radiates joy. I don't think I'm someone that you would say when I walk into a room, immediate joy overwhelms you. And I reflected on that because joy isn't meant to be private. It's it's meant to be shared. And this season, regardless of the season, really, with life in general, wouldn't the world be better? Wouldn't our lives be better if if we had more joy and seeked to become the type of people who radiate?
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SPEAKER_00:We get so caught up in the negative in life, the things that aren't going well, that if we just looked at all of the positive, all of the things that we've been given, all of the blessings that we do have, well, I think right there is where we would experience more joy. And so for this week, I want you to keep these truths in mind. I want you to think about how you can push your circumstances to the side so that you can experience more joy. And look deep within yourself, look to the places in your life that are exuding joy. Exploit those places. Where can you spend more time in those places? Because that is where I think we're fulfilling our purpose. That is where we are meant to be. And gosh, what a time of year it would be for all of us to find a lasting source of joy. I want to thank you for taking the time to listen this week. We are so grateful that you've joined the conversation. And remember to actively participate in life on your terms.
