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Have you ever had that experience where you work really hard, hanging out for a break, but once the break comes you find it tough to actually switch off? Then on top of it you feel even worse because you think you should be feeling better and savouring the moment more as it’s going to end soon and you’ll have to go back to work before you know it! Like ‘Sunday-itis’, but on steroids.

We just spent a week in Noosa and Fraser Island (where we got stranded for an extra day when our car broke down… but more about that in next week’s newsletter) and had a similar experience at first. There was almost a bit of a resistance to letting go for fear of it it going too far and then it being too hard to settle back in on the other end. How ironic that our minds can sabotage our present moment experience in an attempt to prevent our future selves from suffering. Yet we end up paying the suffering price regardless by not fully enjoying the present, and then it’s often not as bad to settle back in as we had in fact anticipated.

Here are our 5 tips to unwind on Holiday:

  1. Acknowledge and accept how you are feeling. There are no ‘should be’s’ – you simply feel as you feel. We find it helps to verbalise how you are feeling to another person too;
  2. Make sure you actually switch off. Whether it’s work related notifications, or just social media – a little digital detox goes a long way;
  3. Give yourself time. It’s often not until you stop that you realise how wound up you actually were. It simply takes some time for your mind and body to literally unwind and de-stress;
  4. Do things that help you relax. Get a massage, have a warm bath, drink a cocktail, take a walk through nature or stroll through boutique shops – you know what gets you centred the most, just make sure you actually do it;
  5. Be compassionate with yourself. Each time you find your mind rejecting your current emotional state, or projecting into a potential future one, simply label them ‘thoughts’ (without judgement), and then gently return your attention back to your present moment experience.