Yes I finally mentioned it the big C word…. Christmas! With the day and season fast approaching as well as the perceived frenzy of everything that comes along with it e.g what to eat, wear, play, gift comes for some of us a sense of overwhelm which can turn into to dread. The never ending pressure of what to buy our loved ones, underlying family rivalries about who can gift the best this season or who can put on the best food spread and all the trappings that come with it. What if we could turn everything that we know about this season on its head? take a different perspective and see things with a different lens. Following on from my previous post about slow living and what it means for me, I have decided it might be a good idea to apply some good old slow living magic to the Christmas season too. So how exactly do you apply slow living to Christmas a season that is “supposed” to be all about the frenzy? I’ve been thinking about this and have created a little list below;

Spend time wrapping your Christmas gifts

Sometimes there is not greater joy than gifting at Christmas so why not make the process into an enjoyable ritual. Set aside some time over the next few days to wrap your presents, I’m not talking about rushing to wrap all your presents on Christmas Eve but rather taking a few days earlier to do so. Why not put on some seasonal music or a nice movie on Netflix while you do this it is a sure way to lift the spirits.

Have a Christmas card writing session

The same approach as above can be used to tackle your Christmas card list this year. Now I am by no means condoning drunk writing ( Haha!) but a nice tipple of mulled wine or cider with some festive tunes in the background is a great way to tackle that list and have some me time.

Have a low key seasonal party

Why not have a low key seasonal get together? Invite some friends round with nibbles and cozy food and drink and all hunker down while you enjoy a Christmas movie and a good old fashioned chat.

Indulge in some Christmas crafts

How about making some lovely Christmas baubles to go on the tree or some additional decorations to go around the home? You can incorporate some natural elements like pinecones and chestnuts or some twigs with berries, these can all be found at either your local craft store or on a lovely walk out in nature.

Slow down and savour the big day

So Christmas has finally arrived why not take your time on the big day, instead of a big frenzy of opening all the presents at once it might be an idea to open a couple in the morning and spread out the opening of other gifts through out the day. It gives you something to look forward to as well as freeing up some time to just savour the day and spend quality time with loved ones.

These are some the ways that we can apply slow living to Christmas to make it a memorable and relatively stress free period for ourselves and our loved ones.

Eme x