Anxiety Therapy Seattle: Why Spring Break Self-Care Isn’t Enough
Image from Pexels by Perfecto Capucine 4/14/25
It’s spring in the PNW! Some days are filled with sunny skies and colorful flowers, while others are still full of clouds, rain, and jackets. It’s a time of transition in this beautiful part of the world. For those with kiddos, in school, or those celebrating the arrival of spring, taking a ‘spring break’ can be a great time to re-charge, de-stress, and reduce anxiety that builds up during daily life. Unfortunately, I see many people put off self care until spring break, vacation, or time off rather than implementing daily and regular self care. Putting all of your energy into making it to a specific time isn’t a sustainable model of anxiety and stress reduction.
Why Spring Break Doesn’t Always Feel Anxiety Free
Are you one of those people when you take time off, you need a wind down period? It might take you a few days or even a week to fully settle into the present moment. This is a big indicator that your nervous system is elevated and, in a fight, or flight state most of the time.
People who struggle with high levels of stress and anxiety tend to focus more on the future. Sometimes having something in the future to look forward to is helpful but can mask the grind of getting through day to day. When a future vacation or break is elevated in importance and high expectations are set, it can be a recipe for disappointment. If this happens to you, it could be that old habits aren’t serving you. Perhaps what you think was working to manage stress and anxiety isn’t anymore.
Spring break, vacations, or time off can disrupted routines, sleep, relationships. Planning a vacation might lead to an increase social comparison, setting unrealistic expectations, or spur financial concerns. You might find yourself saying “I need a vacation.” Maybe that’s true, and maybe you need to examine day to day living and integrate more consistent forms of self-care.
The Pressure to Relax: When Time Off Feels Like A Task
Putting pressure on yourself to relax or have the perfect time off can create more mental suffering. What happens if you don’t fully relax or the time off isn’t ‘perfect?’ Putting all your metaphorical eggs in one basket might lead to burnout and frustration. All self-care practices are just that, practice. It’s helpful to examine what your expectations are related to self-care and self-soothing actions. Do you expect that activity to work every time? Are you critical of yourself if it doesn’t work?
Anxious Thoughts Don’t Take Vacations
People who experience anxiety might shift the content of anxious thoughts during vacation but not necessarily decrease anxious thoughts themselves. Instead of daily living stressors, the anxiety might shift to vacation related content. The vacation might bring in more ‘stuff’ for the brain to think about. This is the difference between process and content. Chances are if you typically experience high levels of stress and anxiety, simply being in a different place isn’t going to change the process your brain goes through in planning and executing. If so, it might be a temporary “fix.”
Finding Self-Care Practices to Ground Yourself This Spring
Spring break, vacations, and time off can be a wonderful part of your overall self-care routine. Don’t have it be the only thing you look forward to or shoot for because it will let you down and possibly make you even more stressed out. In addition to taking time off, it’s important to engage in self-care daily. This can include but isn’t limited to regularly soothing your nervous system, getting appropriate level of social interaction for you, and practicing mindfulness. (put in internal links to other blogs). It can also include physical self-care like moving your body, nourishing it, and getting enough sleep. Less frequent self-care practices may include addressing your relationships and boundaries with important people in your life. As it is Spring, it may be important for you to address events, thoughts or emotions that come up around Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Easter. Part of caring for yourself is knowing your boundaries and expectations with family, friends, and addressing past traumas that might be related to these holidays or time of year. Spring Break, Vacations, and time off are on the outer layer because they happen less frequently. Hopefully by now you realize relying only on spring break, vacations, and time off for self care won’t set your mental health up for success.
It can be helpful to imagine yourself care practices as compounding and additive. Ideally, there are practices you engage in daily, regularly, and semi-regularly, as pictured below.
Daily Self Care
Infographic done by Chelsea Kramer Therapy
Soothe Your Nervous System
Social Interaction
Mindfulness
Physical Self Care
Regular
Regular Self Care
Attending to relationships
Boundary Discussion
Addressing trauma
Semi-Regular Self Care
Vacations
Spring Break
Time Off
Splurges
Anxiety Therapy Seattle: Spring Self-Care and Beyond
I could go on and on about different ways to engage in self-care, but the main point I want to drive home to you is that pushing through to a single event in the future probably isn’t a sustainable model of self-care. It’s a daily, weekly, monthly and lifelong process to help combat against stress and anxiety. If you need help figuring out how this looks in your life, reach out and schedule a free consultation today.
Image from Pexels by Retha Ferguson 4/14/25
About the Author: Seattle Washington Therapist, Chelsea Kramer LMFT PMH-C
Chelsea Kramer is a Seattle Therapist who works with individual and families facing grief, anxiety, reproductive and medical mental health concerns.
Learn more about Chelsea’s specialties: grief, anxiety, infertility, pregnancy loss, chronic illness, menopause, medical trauma
Learn more about Chelsea
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