1. Create a new Mid-Winter holiday tradition. Nobody said that the lights and cheer need to come down right after New Year’s Day. Keep them up, enjoy them, and have another party to keep things bright until spring is just around the corner. Mid February would be a great time for this little bash. It could be like a second Thanksgiving to close out the season and welcome in the spring, only featuring healthy light foods in line with everyone’s New Year’s resolutions.

2. Have a spa day at home. Start the day off with some exercise, take a long relaxing bath and treat yourself to a manicure, pedicure and facial. If you are super motivated, some masseuses even make house calls.

3. Throw a luau! Get out the grass skirts, tropical drinks and Hawaiian décor, and invite over your best friends for a tropical party! Ask everyone to dress for the occasion and bring their favorite Hawaiian music so you can dance the drearies away.

4. Meditate. Whether you choose to meditate at home or go to a retreat, meditation can help you to appreciate any day for what it is… dreary or not. Check out my blog at http://www.virtualitystudio.com/blog/ for some free and easy meditation techniques.

5. Do your spring cleaning early. There is something refreshing about cleaning out your closets and organizing your drawers and cabinets. Even though it sounds like a mundane task it can really make you feel better. Figure out what you no longer need and donate it or give it away to make room for new things. Once you are done organizing, clean up your home and finish up your to-do list so you can relax. Plan a special treat for yourself once you are done to motivate you to finish everything quickly.

6. Exercise. The benefits of exercise are obvious and you don’t even need to banish yourself to the gym to do it. Try making exercise fun while enjoying the season at the same time. Go sledding, snow tubing, cross country skiing or just play with your kids in the snow. Even building a snowman or making snow angels can be great exercise all while creating memories with your family that will last a lifetime.

7. Light up the fireplace or light some candles. Fire has a wonderful way of adding cheer and ambiance, especially to a dreary room. Enjoy the warmth and light it adds to this season and just let yourself relax.

8. Have a tropical movie night at home with your family or friends and serve up fresh fruit in place of popcorn. Look through your collection of movies and pick out anything that seems warm and tropical and then have a tropical movie marathon!

9. Plan a vacation. Part of the winter blahs people experience at the beginning of the year isn’t so much from the lack of sun and warmth, but from the lack of things to look forward to. The holidays end abruptly after New Year’s and we’re left with a few months of cold and ice afterwards with nothing to make it special. Give yourself something to look forward to and plan for. Make plans to do something that you love or go somewhere you have never been before.

10. Spend time with those you care about. Get together as often as you can to experience what life was meant to be about… joy, kinship, laughter, fun and love. You don’t even need to plan anything extravagant, just spend time together and create your own joy!

Melissa Marcy, RMT

Virtuality Studio Reiki and Meditation

Home of the Reiki Vacation, Reiki Charged Reiki Meditation Videos and MP3’s, The Manifestation Guidebook and more!

Disclaimer: this article is intended for inspirational purposes only and the techniques and ideas described herein are not to be used as a substitute for professional medical or psychological treatment or without prior consultation with, approval of, and under the supervision of your physician or therapist. Application of the information, techniques and ideas in this article is at the sole risk and discretion of the reader.