Episode 389: Thriving Through the Holidays: A Masterclass in Boundaries & Self-Care
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Spotify
The holidays don’t have to mean burnout, digestive chaos, and throwing all your healthy habits out the window. They can be fun AND joyful too! In this episode, Erin shares part of a powerful masterclass from TFN practitioner Nicole Antes, FHP-C, who offers practical strategies to help you stay grounded, nourished, and calm throughout the busiest time of the year.
You’ll learn how to ditch the all-or-nothing mindset with the “eat what you want, add what you need” approach, prep smart for travel with supportive snacks and supplements, and build daily routines like walking, breathwork, and screen-free time to support your nervous system and energy levels.
Women are so often the caretakers, the peacekeepers, and the chronic “yes-sayers”. Putting yourself first can feel hard, but the holiday season is actually the perfect time to set boundaries and practice self-care!
In this episode:
The simple “eat what you want, add what you need” mindset Nicole uses to enjoy holiday desserts
Why saving up for a big holiday meal by skipping breakfast or lunch can actually make digestion, energy, and cravings worse
The yummy protein-rich snacks, electrolytes, and digestion aids Nicole packs in her holiday travel toolkit
How herbal teas with lemon balm, passion flower, skullcap, or holy basil can keep your stress in check
The importance of walking after meals to aid blood sugar and digestion
Resources mentioned:
Apply to work with Nicole1:1 here!
TFN Travel Guide: How to Stay On Track While Traveling
LMNT Electrolyte Replenishing powder (Use code FUNK and get a free sample pack with any purchase!)
Qualia Senolytic (get up to 50% off and an extra 15% off your first purchase with link + code FUNKS)
Bon Charge (Use code FUNK to save 15%)
-
Nicole Antes:
Eat what you want, add what you need. So as you're going through the holiday season, if there is something that you want to eat, might not be the healthiest thing on your plate, but you enjoy it and you are happy eating it, you can add that to your plate and then focus on adding in other nourishing ingredients that you know your body needs, that you know you feel good eating. That way you have a little bit of that balance. It doesn't need to be a strict style of eating where you feel like you are denying yourself things that you want to enjoy. I often find that people do better with this mindset because you're not having that. That restriction that's leading to you maybe in the end, like overeating something that if you had just had a serving of it when you wanted it and got that fix, it can be a lot more supportive that way.
Welcome to The Funk’tional Nutrition Podcast, spelled with a “K”, because we do things a little differently around here. I'm your host, Erin Holt, and I've got 15 years of clinical experience as a Functional Nutritionist and Mindset Coach, creating a new model that I call Intuitive Functional Medicine™, where we combine root cause medicine with the innate intelligence of your body. This is where science meets self trust. Your body already knows how to heal and this show is going to show you how. If you're looking for new ways of thinking about your health, be sure to follow and share with a friend, because you never know whose life you might change.
Erin Holt:
Hello, everybody. Today's episode is about thriving through the holidays. We were considering creating a healthy holiday guide for all of you guys, but when I pulled you on Instagram and asked what you needed, I was totally expecting to hear things like holiday recipes. But what you actually wanted to know about and what you needed help with was how do I stay calm with all of the holiday chaos? So I thought it would be just a really good thing to release here on the show because we're in it right now. So much of this time can be really fun and joyful and exciting, and so much of it can be hard and stressful, and we feel like we have a lot of pressure on ourselves and it can be really busy. So both truths can coexist. You know, it's. It's a lot. So on today's show, I'm sharing part of a class that our awesome practitioner, Nicole, recently taught to our clients. She's giving a lot of ways to help you prioritize yourself, your sanity, and your health in a really notoriously hard time to do that and she gives such practical and easy to implement advice.
That's what I love about it. It's not overwhelming. It's easy to implement and how she navigates her holidays is pretty much exactly how I do, too. And I think it's just helpful to hear how real people are actually doing this in real time. As practitioners, we aren't perfect, but we do really embody the work that we teach here. And it's kind of just, like, baked into the fabric of our existence. It's just how we show up. It's how we live our lives. So holidays or vacations don't have to be times that totally throw us off base and throw us for huge loops.
Now, as a side note, I just want to say I could listen to Nicole talk all day. She offers such a calm and grounded presence. It's a really good juxtaposition or Yin to my Yang, because I am like, tough love. I'm going to tell you how it is. And Nicole's like, I'm going to walk you through it now. So just love her for that.
And got to shout her out because she's been with the company now for a year officially, and she is truly such a gift to me personally, but also all of us here at TFN and of course, all of our clients who just love her so much. So, yay, Nicole. Now, one of the things that she mentions as a way to support yourself during the holidays is setting some boundaries. And she kind of shouts me out as somebody who models this, which is nice to hear because it has certainly been a work in progress and something that I'm constantly working on. I want to speak into that just for a quick minute, because I do think sometimes people see me and they're like, oh, it's easy for her to set boundaries, but it's really not. It's like, really, really, really not. It is not easy for me to advocate for my own needs, but I do it anyway, because if I don't, then my body does. You understand what I'm saying? You're picking up what I'm putting down.
This week alone, I've had three separate conversations talking to people who just keep getting sick, just keep getting sick and just keep catching the next cold that comes around and having a long time recovering and having coughs for, like, three weeks. And it is 100% because they are running themselves ragged, putting everyone else's needs first and foremost and putting their own health needs, their own mental health needs, their own priorities last. And this is just what happens. This is part of having a human body.
When you're constantly saying yes when your body needs you to say no, when you're taken in and absorbing everyone else's stress, when you're ignoring your own needs for the sake of others, your body picks up the slack. When we can't say no, the body will always find a way to say it for us. Fatigue, exhaustion, hormone burnout. You know, none of these things are random. They are truly your body's way of saying no for you.
It's your body's attempt to set the boundaries that you haven't been able to. Women, you guys, we're the caretakers. We're the peacekeepers, we're the say yes-ers. We're the people pleasers. We're the ‘put ourselves last-ers”. We are taught and conditioned to be this way. So doing the opposite of this is going against our very programming.
That's why it's hard. And for some of us, you guys, this is the biggest work we will do in this lifetime. It is no joke. So it's not easy for me, it's not easy for you, I know that. But it's imperative and it's crucial. And if we can start to implement some of these things now, during, let's face it, the hardest time of the year to do it, when we're, like, surrounded by our biggest triggers, our family, then it becomes a lot easier to do it in your day to day life. And you guys, it doesn't have to look like some major league bombastic table flipping episode. I mean, it totally can, I've certainly been there.
But it can also be gentler, like, hey, I'm going to go for a walk because I need 30 minutes of alone time to recharge. Or I'm actually going to prioritize an hour workout before I tuck and roll into cooking a meal for 30 people or cleaning the house for a house full of guests. Or, or it could look like recommitting to a morning routine, which is what I started right around Halloween. So at the end of October, I recommitted to my morning routine and it is changing my life. I need to do like a whole ass podcast episode just dedicated to that because girl, it's so good. Anyway, I hope the episode helps. And if you want Nicole's calm, steady presence in your life helping you navigate your health journey, we're here, we've got you. You can wait until January to start or just do a whole ass pattern interrupt and be like, I'm starting today, I'm gonna start now. I'm reaching out to them today. Anyway, happy holidays. I hope you're having a wonderful time. Take care of you. And here's Nicole.
Nicole Antes:
Today I'm really gonna focus on tips for thriving through the holidays. If you can believe it, the holiday seasons are upon us. We have Thanksgiving coming up and then we also have Christmas shortly after. And so I just talk through some ways to be really intentional with your health, your mindset, your body as we move through these next couple months. Because I realize that the holiday season, while it's a very joyous time, we get to spend time with family and loved ones, it can also be really stressful if you're traveling, if you're away from home, there's lots of things going on and it can feel really chaotic and we can really get into an all or nothing mindset during the holidays and kind of our routines can get thrown off. So I really want to talk through ways to regroup, ground and be really intentional with your habits during the season of life. So I always want to start with when we're thinking about, like creating a plan for how we are going to support ourselves through the holidays. I think the first place to start is to just check in with yourself.
And I think it's nice to have a plan in place that's going to secure your joy so that you know that you can feel your best, feel great, and also enjoy yourself throughout the holidays. This is really what we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about some of my favorite things that can be really supportive to anchor into throughout the next couple months. But I also think this is a great time to check in with yourself and say, what's your mindset and how do you feel about making your health a priority during this season? I know a lot of people that are in the collective, they're not new to Aaron's world and you may have things going on in your health journey that's brought you here, that's brought you to this space to really work on yourself, pour more into your cup. And that doesn't all need to go out the window during the holiday season. We can definitely sit down and really create a priority list of what is most important to you and what is most supportive of your body during this season as well. And I think it's helpful to know, like, what are your top priorities, whether that's you over the next couple months, as your routine shifts, as you're eating foods you don't normally eat, as things are changing, what is one or two things that you can anchor into. Whether that's having a daily movement practice where you get outside and you go for a walk every day, or really leaning into nourishing your body with supportive foods, or focusing in on your sleep routine, or having a consistent daily nervous system practice that you turn to every day to really reground and support your nervous system through the next couple months.
So it might look different for everybody. I know for me personally, I am always traveling for the holidays. I live in Southern California, all of my family lives in Northern California. So I always end up going up in Northern California for the holidays and I'm staying with family and it definitely throws off my routine. And so one thing that is a priority for me this holiday season is making sure that I either get out and go for a daily walk or I dedicate at least 20 to 30 minutes to do some sort of either Pilates or yoga movement practice every day. Because I know when I move my body and take that time, for me I feel a lot more energized. I feel so much better, especially thinking about the holidays. You're around a lot of people, which is great.
I love my family, but I also know that I do really well with alone time and really just having that space to create time for myself. So I encourage you to kind of write what your one or top two priorities are and have that in mind as you go through the next couple months. I also want to speak a little bit in to travel because as I just mentioned, I'm traveling for the holidays. I know a lot of people also travel as well. Whether you're traveling to visit family. I was just talking to a client of mine who is going to be traveling out of the country and so it's nice to have a plan in place for what you're going to bring to support your body throughout traveling. I know I talked about this recently. We also have a whole travel guide on the blog as well.
But I just wanted to talk through some of the essential things that I would be thinking about or that I would bring with me when I'm traveling. One of the easiest things that you can do is pack snacks, pack things that are easy to travel with when you're at the airport, when you're between places, when you're even on the go, whenever you're in a new space and you don't know what the food situation is going to be like. It's really nice to have quick options on hand that you know you feel good eating. Some of my go-tos are things like nuts or protein protein bars. I really love the aloha protein bars. You do whatever protein bars that you like. Bringing like an apple and little nut butter packets or bringing something like dried fruit. I will always, always bring electrolytes when I travel just to make sure that I'm staying hydrated and supporting my body.
Another option that I feel like is a good quick and easy option. I know Erin has mentioned this before, but the Organifi green and red juice powders are really travel friendly. You can get the bulk container, but they also make individual sticks that you can bring. So you can pack some electrolyte sticks, your Organifi, either the green or red juice powder sticks as well and bring those with you. I think it's really nice when you're traveling and you're just not sure what the food situation is going to be like. It's nice to have something like the Organifi green or red juice sticks with you because that way you know you're going to be hitting your fruit and veggie intake. There's also some adaptogens in Organifi as well. So really supportive herbs that are going to help a resilient and healthy stress response as well while you're traveling.
So I've long made fun of the gummies as supplements trend. It's kind of like adults taking candy and calling it health. Until I realized that it's the only way my husband will actually consistently take supplements. Every day. He takes Organifi's creatine, cherry chews, and Organifi's chilajit gummies, which is super mineral, rich with fulvic acid and humic acids. But my personal favorite, and I do take them every day, is the Happy Drops. They're yummy little lemon gummies that are made with ginger, Gotu cola and Passion flower, all of which are shown to have positive effects on mood and emotional well being. Plus it has saffron, which is shown to help your brain modulate its levels of serotonin. And I do notice a difference in my mood when I am taking these gummies every day, even if they do taste like candy. So if you're excited to try Happy Drops or you're just sick of taking your supplements in pill form, you want to get in on the gummy action, head to organifi.com/FUNK that's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com/funk and you can save 20% off your order with that code FUNK.
If you're anything like me, your skin needs a little extra TLC this time of year. I love my outdoor walks, but the cold weather makes my skin wicked dry and kind of inflamed. So that's why I've been sticking with One Skin. Certified safe for sensitive skin, One Skin products are free from over 1500 harsh or irritating ingredients and their patented OS1 peptide has been validated in five different clinical studies. It targets the root cause of wrinkles and loss of elasticity. One Skin just launched their limited edition holiday set including nightly rewind gift set which adds the perfect touch of luxury to your gift list. Featuring their best selling face moisturizer, their brand new peptide lip mask which I love, and a sculpting Gua Sha tool. For a limited time, try OneSkin for 15% off using code FUNK at Oneskin.Co/Funk. After you purchase, they'll ask where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you.
And then if you're somebody who tends to get sick, this is cold and flu season. I'm getting over a cold myself. So if you tend to get sick when you travel or if you know that your digestive symptoms tend to flare when you're traveling, here are some options that I would bring with you or just have on hand when you're traveling. Mega IGG. This is a great supplement. It comes in powder form. It also comes in capsule form and it's a really good option for immune support. This is something that I will have with me when I'm traveling and you know, a couple days before while I'm traveling and then a couple days when I get home, I'll just have this on deck that I'll take daily.
You could also do something like vitamin C. I know I've mentioned this. I really like them. I'm blanking on the name of the brand of the vitamin C pouches that I really like. I hope it comes back to me. I know I've mentioned them on these calls before and for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the brand. They're super popular. They also have like the liposomal glutathione.
They have a lot of other supplements that are really popular. I. If I think of the name, I'll. I'LL mention it. It's escaped my mind right now, but I really like their travel vitamin C packets as well. You could do any vitamin C brand that you like, but bringing something like that could be great for immune support. Also bringing some digestive support as well. Something like digestive enzymes or bitters can be really nice, especially during the holidays when you're going somewhere else for the holiday meal or you're just eating foods that your body's not used to, it can be really nice to have some digestive aids as well.
And then if you are somebody who tends more towards the constipated side while traveling, bringing something like magnesium citrate to support bowel movements, or if you have trouble sleeping when you're traveling, magnesium glycine is a really good option to just support stress, anxiety, sleep as well. I was recently talking to a client who is going to be traveling out of the country for the holidays. And so if you're somebody who, when you travel out of the country or traveling in general, if you tend to pick up gut bugs and have pretty intense digestive symptoms, having something like a binder can be really, really supportive of just mitigating any symptoms that could happen from picking up any sort of bugs. I really like the GI Detox binder. All of the supplements that are listed off right here between the mega IgG, magnesium glycinate and citrate, enzymes and bitters and the GI detox binder are all available on FullScript. So if you ever order supplements through there, you can pick up a lot of these options there. And those are some options I would think about if you are just wanting to support your body, support your immune system, support digestion while traveling. And then this might sound simple, but while you're traveling in a way, throughout the next couple months, eat how you would normally eat outside of the actual meal on the holiday.
I know that sounds super simple, but we often kind of get caught up in all the food and everything that's going on, and we don't have to completely throw out our style of eating over the next two months. You can continuously work on your nutrition foundations and eat really solid meals and focus on nourishing your body, but you can also enjoy yourself for the holiday meal as well. Something else that I want to speak a little bit about is not leaving your food to chance. And I would say this is particularly most relevant if you're going to be traveling or just away for the holidays or going somewhere else for the holidays. It's really helpful to have a plan in place for your food where you focus on making sure that you are bringing food options that you know that you can enjoy and eat. One of my favorite things whenever I go anywhere for a holiday party or spending the holidays with my family is I will bring and prepare something that I know that I could eat, that I really enjoy and that my body will do well with. So that's a great option to bring something to contribute to the holiday meal, but also have something that you can enjoy. I also think we can kind of zoom out a little bit too and think about holiday meals.
There's plenty of ways you can go through the holidays and enjoy meals that still are going to be supportive for your health. Focus on adding proteins to your plate. Focus on adding veggies to your plate. Really work on balance. And if you can't control the whole day of eating, anchor into two meals. For example, if you're going to be going to a holiday dinner, really anchor into your breakfast and lunch meal. Make sure that those are balanced choices. They're foods that are supportive of your body.
Kind of like your regular typical meals that you would have. And then that dinner meal can be a little bit more flexible so that you can enjoy yourself at the holiday gathering. I also think it can be helpful to be prepared so the holidays can be really busy. Whether you are traveling, whether you're going to be hosting. We tend to be a little bit in the go, go, go mindset, kind of wrapping things up at the end of the year. And so it can be nice to have just some quick and easy options on hand. I know last month I did a master class on just tips for re grounding at the beginning of the school year or like a back to routine reset where I talked a lot about things like quick and easy support options for food. So that would be a good one to ch.
But here are some options that I mentioned in that video as well. Of having quick and easy options like rotisserie chicken that you can shred up and throw in a salad or throw in a bowl. Having things like canned salmon or canned tuna that you can throw in as well. Having pre chopped veggies or bagged salad and then having things like yogurt or cottage cheese for a quick meal that you can top with frozen berries. Having things like eggs. These are all quick and easy proteins, fruits and veggies that you could have on hand to just make it a little bit easier in between the holiday meals. Then the last thing that I wanted to mention in terms of food is a mindset that I like to share with clients because I feel like it can be really helpful as we're approaching the season. And there can be a lot of feelings around food, a lot of guilt and shame and just feeling like we're not doing either like denying our body what we want or just not eating in a way that's supportive of our body.
And so one mindset piece that I feel like can be really helpful is eat what you want, add what you need. So as you're going through the holiday season, if there is something that you want to eat, might not be the healthiest thing on your plate, but you enjoy it and you are happy eating it, you can add that to your plate and then focus on adding in other nourishing ingredients that you know your body needs, that you know you feel good eating. That way you have a little bit of that balance. It doesn't need to be a strict style of eating where you feel like you are denying yourself things that you want to enjoy. I often find that people do better with this mindset because you're not having that restriction that's leading to you maybe in the end, like overeating something that if you had just had a serving of it when you wanted it and got that fix, it can be a lot more supportive that way. So eat what you want, add what you need throughout the holiday season as well.
Another thing that I think can be helpful is making movement non-negotiable. I think schedule in walks or workout classes, like calendar appointments. It can be really helpful for accountability and making sure that you are dedicating time for yourself, especially if your schedule gets really busy over the next couple months. I think you can also make it super simple and do a post walk meal with your family after the holidays. It can be really supportive of digestion. Walking after meals is also really supportive of keeping your blood sugar stable. And you can make it a group activity to get some quality time in as well. If you're somebody that needs a little bit more accountability, you can also have a friend schedule workout classes with your friends together so that you have that friend to make it a little bit more enjoyable. But you also have that accountability partner as well. And then I also think this is something that I do in practice a lot because I do really feel like when I'm traveling, when I'm around people a lot, my daily movement practice really is my time to myself.
So you can also use your daily movement practice in that way as well as kind of like habit stack, like combine your nervous system. Reset your nervous system support with your movement practice. For me, that looks like going outside and going for a walk or taking 20, 30 minutes to do something like a breath work practice or a yoga class. So doesn't need to be anything crazy. The key with movement throughout the holidays is not to make these drastic changes. When the new year hits where you're gonna go and do an hour workout seven times a week, I think we can start now and start to build those habits slowly over the next two months. That way, by the time the new year rolls around, you've got that under your belt and you can always build on it. But it's nice to have those healthy habits in place to just support your body, support digestion, support your nervous system throughout the holidays as well.
If you're low key, obsessed with aging and longevity, stem cells is one of the things you want to be thinking about. They're like your body's built in repair crew, but as we age, that system slows down. So Qualia Stem Cell was created to promote healthy levels of circulating stem cells and help your body renew itself. So if you've ever felt like your body just isn't bouncing back like it used to. Whether it's after a tough workout, getting sick, or just the wear and tear of life, this one is for you. Qualia Stem Cell was designed to support your body's natural repair systems, helping you heal, recover and keep going strong. And right now, you can try it for up to 50% off at qualialife.com/funk. And here's a bonus. Use code FUNK for an additional 15% off your order. That's Q-U-A-L-I-Alife.com/funk. Your body's built to repair itself. Qualia just helps it do that better. And a big thanks to Qualia for sponsoring this episode.
I am so excited to announce a new sponsor with you guys. Bon Charge. I love this brand. They make the most incredible products and the one that I've been using and love for the past six months is their red light face mask. The past few years, my rosacea and the redness on my face has gotten worse. Now you guys know the deal. Skin is an inside job. Our gut health, what we're eating really impacts the health of our skin. So we do have to support our skin internally, but it can also be supported externally as well. And that's where the Bon Charge red light face mask has come in for me. I use it about three to four times a week, 10 minutes a pop. It's super easy. I do it first thing in the morning and I have noticed less redness and even a more even skin tone. Other things that the red light mask can help with are fine lines and wrinkles, acne, eczema, sore jaw and migraines. Red light therapy is awesome. It's hugely researched. There's thousands of peer reviewed studies on it. So if you want to take advantage of red light therapy, it's currently the Bon Charge holiday sale. So you can save a massive 25% off. Just head to boncharge.com and your 25% off code will be automatically added to your order. The sale will end on 31st of December 2025, so hurry and don't miss this massive chance to save big on your favorite Bon Charge products.
And then this is something that I wanted to spend a little bit of time talking about. I know I spoke a little bit into the food piece, but I think the holiday season can be a little bit tricky when it comes to food and our mindset around food. And I really want to emphasize the importance of nourishing your body and not neglecting ourselves. I think it can be really easy during the holidays to, like I mentioned earlier, really kind of fall into that all or nothing mindset. Whether that's all or nothing mindset around food or all or nothing mindset around movement about a lot of things. And I think two common patterns that I see oftentimes during the holidays are people will skip meals to kind of save up for later, or feeling like they've eaten one sweet treat or one food and the whole day is a loss because of that one sweet treat or one food that they've had. And I think it's really important to remember that one meal or one dessert is not going to derail your progress. What really matters is how you show up for yourself a majority of the time.
Nicole:
And the holidays don't mean that we have to throw all of our daily habits and daily routines out the window. The holidays really, like, if we think about Thanksgiving, it's one day. Christmas is two days, so it's a couple days. And I realized that, that there's going to be treats, there's going to be foods that you don't normally eat that are going to be in the house outside of just those one or two days for the holidays. But you also can enjoy yourself and you don't need to get rid of your routine that makes you feel good. We can have both. You can enjoy the foods that you want to enjoy, but you also have to be there for yourself the rest of the time and maintain that consistency. Because if you think about it, if you eat in one way, most of the time you are moving your body, you're taking care of your body, and then all of a sudden you completely change that routine and you're eating foods you don't normally eat, and you've stopped with your movement practice.
Obviously you're not going to feel as good as you would normally feel if you were doing all of the things that felt supportive of your body. So the key, I think, really is maintain that consistency of doing what you know feels good to you and enjoy yourself throughout the holidays as well. And I think too, like, keep your meals grounded and balanced, even if you're going to be eating foods that you don't normally eat. I think a great example of this is like when you're thinking about a Thanksgiving dinner, you can still eat foods that you would normally eat and work on a balanced plate. You can have turkey, you can add some veggies, you can add mashed potatoes and gravy. You can have all of the things that are going to be on the table, but just eating them in a way that's supporting balance. Don't forget the foundations with your meals and aiming for that balance plate. You can do that with any meal or any food that's going to be presented to you.
You can pair it in a way so that it's still supportive of your energy, of your blood sugar, and you're still going to feel good after having it as well. And then arguably, I feel like one of the most important parts during the holiday season is really focusing on not only protecting your energy, but also maintaining regular nervous system support as well. I think it's really helpful to have boundaries to protect your peace. I feel like Erin is a great example of somebody that really sets and uphold her boundaries. And that's the reason why she's been able to do all of the things that she does and put her autoimmunity into remission, because she has those boundaries in place that she knows are going to protect her energy and her nervous system. I think she's a great example of really anchoring into these things during the holidays as well. Like I mentioned these, it's going to be a little bit more of a hectic time. You're maybe having a little bit less alone time, and you're going to be around people and that might stir things up for you and your nervous system.
So I think it can be really helpful to have buffer zones between events between, you know, throughout your workday, between travel days that are just for you, whether you want to spend those buffer zones doing a nervous system supportive practice, whether you just sit there and do something that you enjoy, or maybe you use your buffer zones as your time to do your daily movement practice, whatever that looks like for you, having those five to 10 minutes or 15 to 20 minutes just to yourself can be very, very protective for yourself to fill back up your co cup. I also think it can be really helpful to just schedule some screen free time before bed and when you wake up in the morning, just to kind of ground your body, lay there, take a couple deep breaths, do something that helps kind of regulate your nervous system before you hop on a screen, just to help support sleep, support your energy, and support your nervous system as well. You know what you can also do is in the morning, when you wake up again, spend two to three minutes of breath work, do something like journaling, do some stretching. It doesn't need to be anything crazy, but these little practices can really help to keep our nervous system calm and really support stable energy throughout the day. I think another really simple habit that can be really supportive of our nervous system as well is just getting outside. You can kind of habit stack some of these things, like start your morning, sit outside, do a little bit of breath work, do some journaling, go for a walk and just get some fresh air, have some time alone to really reset for the day. And then one thing that I think is a good option, whether you're going to be at home, whether you're going to be traveling, is to have some teas on hand, a lot of these teas. You could bring loose leaf tea with you.
You could bring some tea bags with you and have these as an option as well. There's some great nervine herbs that can really help to calm the body, be really supportive of stress of sleep. Some of my favorites are things like lemon balm, passion flower, skullcap and holy basil tea. These are all options. You could combine them together, you could get a blend, you could drink whichever one you prefer. I think that lemon balm and passion flower can be great for sleep. Holy basil is really good if you are feeling really stressed and you want something that's going to help to calm your body a little bit. All of these options are really, really good to have with you to drink in the evening, closer to bedtime, to just support sleep and help decrease some of that stress in your body as well.
And again, you can have it stack some of these things in the evening. You can have a little cup of tea, do a little bit of breath work, do some journaling for some screen free time before bed. Doesn't need to be anything too complex. And then I also think it's important to note that I think it's really normal to feel selfish when you are talking to yourself during the holidays. Especially if you have traveled somewhere and you're visiting or if you have people visiting you. You can almost feel like you have to be hosting all the time or you have to be present all the time and you are not alone if you feel that way. But I also think it's really important to remember that you can't pour from an empty cup. So if you are feeling drained, you're not going to be able to show up as your best self.
You're not going to be able to do all of the things that you want to do and feel good doing them. So I think it is really important and it's not selfish to take two to three minutes for you every day and do something that's going to be supportive of your body during the holidays as well. I think a lot of this stuff that we're talking about applies to the holidays, but it also these are great things to be doing on a daily basis even outside of even outside of the holidays as well.
Thanks for joining me for this episode of The Funk’tional Nutrition Podcast. Please keep in mind this podcast is created for educational purposes only and should never be used as a replacement for medical diagnosis or treatment. If you got something from today's show, don't forget, subscribe, leave a review, share with a friend, and keep coming back for more. Take care of you.