The holidays are quickly creeping up, and if you're like most urbanites and fitting in your last minute express shopping this week both online and in stores, you're probably quickly reaching high levels of anxiety and temptation to burn out.

Here is your Self-Care Prescription

that won't cost you too many pretty dimes, so you can go on maintaining your budget into the New Year.

1. Invest in a Journal

And, of course, use it too. Everything from jotting down ideas, to-do lists, brainstorming, or simply ranting out the daily schpeel, make it a regular practice each morning or evening, anywhere from 5-15 minutes.

We love Leuchtturm1970's 10-year anniversary hardcover editions in gold, silver, and bronze that come with page numbers and a table of contents.

Want to get really organized? Try Toronto's Productivity Planner by Intelligent Change or Vancouver's Focus Journal by L'Atelier with their refined and minimalist aesthetic.

2. Invest in some relaxing bath products

Even if you're not necessarily a "bathtub person," finding ingredients with high quality exfoliants, scrubs, and essential oils can leave you feeling detoxified and well-rested each evening before sleep.
- French pink clay: huge exfoliant, draws out oil, blackheads, dirt, and impurities - doesn't dry out the sky and does not leave the skin feeling harsh/dry
- Epsom Salts:
- lavender, geranium, chamomile and rosemary and very gentle and relaxing scents

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We love

Pink Clay Body Scrub from Sunday's Company
Detox Bath Salts in Eucalyptus & Mint from Bridlewood Soaps
Lavender Sugar Scrub from Leaves of Trees

3. Find a detoxifying and cleansing tea/tonic

Look for ingredients such as peppermint, turmeric, rosehips, chamomile - or simply go to a bulk food mart, find these ingredients yourself and boil down with hot water, yourself. Make a large batch in a pot and carry cups with you in a heated thermos to always have some on the go! Stay hydrated this busy season ahead.

4. Go for a sensory-deprivation float

The art of doing nothing. Absolutely disconnect for 1-2 hours as you are immersed on water in your own tank in complete silence and darkness. No phone, no electricity, no technology, no stimulants, no clothing => no anxieties, amiright? The simple disconnection from life's many distractions may cause initial concern, but the easing in process proves to be all the more crucial to enhancing the overall heightened experience of one attaining a more blissful state.

Never experienced a float? Don't ruin your experience with the expectation that you will be floating on cloud nine. The water is warmed to your basal body temperature so you will feel neither too hot nor cold, and there are over 5000 lbs. of epsom salts to make sure you stay afloat.

5. Make a one-pot meal (i.e. soup, stew, curry)

Invest in a slow-cooker or a lobster pot where you can boil cups of water or stock to make the most delicious meals to heat up on the go.

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Soup Girl has some amazing jars of pre-assembled soup ingredients filled with organic and vegan goods such as lentils, split peas, brown rice, and spices. One jar yields up to ten servings of soup! That's more than enough to have for a week and then some to freeze.

Also, check out these online soup recipes including anti-inflammatory and superfood ingredients at Joyous Health and vegan options at Oh She Glows.

6. Learn a new trade on your own

Having to prepare and clean-up after parties can certainly pose as a nightmare but by booking a class/workshop and learning a new craft, simply paying for a ticket and dropping
in is all you have to be worried about.

With so many cool artisanal workshops to choose from in the city

The Workroom: try a class or a new project using the communal surgers, sewing machines, tapestries, and more.
The Shop: take a class in ceramics, woodworking, script-writing, and more at this multidisciplinary space.
MakeLab: learn 3D printing or laser cutting with one of the experts on-hand.
PaintLounge: grab a canvas, an easel, paint, and caffeinated beverage to start your painted masterpiece.
Le Dolci: take a workshop in macaron making, cake decorating, or piping eclairs.
The Depanneur: drop in for weekly dinners, attend a cooking workshop, or host a supper club specializing in different culinary cuisines.

7. Try Accupuncture

There are a few PWYC holistic health centres in the city that are based on a sliding scale, making self-care simply accessible to people of all income levels and walks of life.
Accupuncture can help with a variety of issues, from insomnia, stress, muscle tension, poor posture, digestion, aiding in helping organ vitality and stimulating blood flow.

Different issues are addressed with each 45 minute to 75 minute session by targetting different accupressure points along all sides of the body, left, right, front, and back.

We love ToCA and Six Degrees Health that both operate on a sliding scale basis.

8. Clean, clean, clean

Cleaning the physical space may seem like a daunting task, however, we go through consuming gifts, to wrapping, to packaging, to new and old seasonal apparel, etc. etc. that we don't anticipate how much more of the excesses we accumulate.

Physically looking at all the additional crap we don't need leaves us feeling flustered, anxious, frustrated and disorganized.

Look to optimize what you can depart with and trade it on Bunz, Let Go, and donate, donate, donate.

9. Use the Infrared Sauna

A great low-intensity alternative to a great sweat that will cost you under $25 at most fitness and yoga studios. Infrared technology allows the ions to distribute evenly across your body and warms you from the inner core, out. A 20 minute session possesses the equivalent benefits of low-moderate cardiovascular exercise and promotes blood flow, detoxification well after being in the sauna.

10. Create better sleeping habits; make your bed a haven

Virtuously the best tip saved for last - invest in better sleep! A great mattress and pillow suited to your sleeping type.

Be able to create smarter habits before going to bed, turning off your phone, removing work-related items away from the bedside table, creating a meditation corner, creating an ultimate sanctuary to disconnect and unwind. (see Shawn Stevenson's Sleep Smarter)