6 Tips on Spending the Best Christmas Day on Your Own

Christmas is fast coming upon us. One minute we are basking in summer sunshine, the next the temperature drops, sweaters are pulled out of closets and viola! Christmas is here! Unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere, then you are quickly dumping sweaters back into closets. Oh, the thought of warmer days!…

Christmas always brings back a lot of memories for me, some good, some bad and some downright ugly. There is one though, that spins around in my mind now each year. It is one of the Christmas’s I spent alone. There were no friends or family to visit and say hi too. They were all busy with their own families, after all we are told it is a time for sharing time, gifts and food.

My car that year was feeling rather unwell, I know it wasn’t going to a 400 mile trip, so I sent cards and presents and decided to hunker down for some “alone time”. I was nervous about, but I learned a lot from that day. I, also, planned. Yes’ I planned the day out ahead, putting the nerves to rest. After all I can do one important day alone, right? It turned out to be one the best!

If you are spending Christmas this year, don’t fret, you can make it an amazing day too! It can become healing, transforming, relaxing, uplifting and totally indulgently, yours.

Here’s my tips for an amazing soul filling, happy Christmas day:

1. Plan it, seriously. This will be a day of “Me Time” Plan the food you want because you can go by your own rules! Turkey? Ham? Sure! But you can think outside the box without offending anyone. It is open and the ideas endless. Sushi? Lasagne? A frozen meal to make it easy, to just pop into the microwave or oven. A day to yourself means not spending hours slaving in the kitchen, unless you find cooking, relaxing or therapeutic, if so enjoy!

2. Take a stroll. Just because we are on our own doesn’t mean we can’t go out. I took a stroll down the harbor. I sat on a bench watched people hurriedly walk their dogs so they could get back to their families. They had after all, been told to hurry. I sat on a bench, and watched the boats bob up and down in the water, hearing their masts clang, as the wind that tugged at my coat and hat, tugged at them too. It was peaceful, I hadn’t seen the harbor so quiet, it felt like it was mine just for a short time.

3. Be self indulgent! Before the day arrives, treat yourself to something purely for yourself and your senses. I had bought some luxurious bath salts and candles. I had prepared for my own at home spa. The ringer was turned off, candles lit, scrubs washes and oils filled my senses. It warmed and coddled me after my stroll, heaven!

4. Put some time aside to call, Skype, Hangout with those you want to wish a Happy Christmas too. Enjoy the family, friends you would like to be with but can’t be. Connect simply and enjoy the moments. After all none of us are total islands!

5. Buy yourself a gift, because you deserve it! I had bought myself a Martina Cole novel I had been excited to read and a cheap guitar, along with the book “Learn the Guitar for Dummies! I snuggled down on my sofa to be lost in Martina’s world of London, East End crime drama. I struggled and laughed as I learned some new basic keys on the guitar until my fingers felt a little sore. It felt strange to press on the strings and find a tune, but absolutely worth it.

6. Watch, the movie you have always wanted to watch but never had time, because of all the usual commitments our normal, daily lives hold for us.

When we are busy all year, our minds active, it can be difficult to unwind, to let our minds drift. To stop and breathe, simply for just one day with no commitments but to ourselves. It gives us a chance to really decide what we want for the new year ahead. We can make each moment count, for it to be a blessing and to be our authentic selves.

What do you plan this Christmas?

Do you have plans even just moments for self care?

Some decadent self indulgences?