Gilmore Girls Holiday Traditions to Support Your Mental Health
by Ari Bliss
We know the holiday season brings mental health priorities to the forefront. Even with festive gatherings, parties, celebrations, spreading good cheer and giving presents, we must remember to value alone time and reflect. To help us with this reflection period, let’s throw it back to the Gilmore Girls holiday traditions that support our mental health.
Stillness Is the Gateway to Serendipity
Have you ever stood in stillness as the season’s first snowfall commences? If you have done that, you’ll be that much closer to following the footsteps of Lorelai’s (Lauren Graham) holiday tradition. Lorelai loves her snow, and she might even be a bit psychic, as one of her all-time favorite Christmas traditions is to stand in stillness and gratitude while smelling the onset of snow. Electricity is in the air on this magical day before the first snowfall.
In Season 1 Episode 8, “Love and War and Snow,” the first snowy episode of Gilmore Girls, we are reminded that being grateful for our intuitive senses is ever-present, especially during the holiday season.
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Build a Snowo(man)
Be the feminist you know you are and get your friends together for bonding time, building a state-of-the-art snowwoman. Get creative, dress it up in colorful clothing and accessories and take a picture for your winter-themed scrapbook. Don’t forget the snowwoman’s wig and scarf courtesy of the Gilmore Girls’ traditional Christmas fashion statement. Celebrate sisterhood with your friends and the snowwoman.
The Easiest Winter Activity: Take a Walk in Your Neighborhood
A nice walk around your community is highly underrated during the holidays. It is a great opportunity to calm your mind and cleanse your spirit. Stars Hollow is the magical community where Lorelai and Rory (Alexis Bledel) like taking strolls during Christmas. It brings them closer together as they pass by the snowy streets with a hot cup of coffee in hand. Ah, the joys of winter.
Walking is a form of meditation, bringing silence and movement into presence and gratitude. Even if you’re on a holiday somewhere else, take a walk and soak in the culture, as that is a holiday tradition for anyone to enjoy.
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Take a Magical Ice Skating Excursion
Let’s get physical. Remember when Luke (Scott Patterson) built a private ice rink for Lorelai? How romantic is that? He always chose to express his love for her in small, consistent increments until their love story blossomed. Ice skating is an excellent winter activity that relaxes your nervous system and inspires movement.
Grab your siblings, family members and friends and head to the nearest ice rink in your city to join the wintery seasonal fun. You can most likely rent ice skates there while skating outdoors to beautiful Christmas music in your perfect holiday outfit.
Mistletoe Marathon
Let’s get physical, part two. To connect back to love and connection through physical activity, have a moment with your partner under the mistletoe, Gilmore Girls-style. “We tape it (mistletoe) to one of the blazes of the ceiling fan upstairs, so that way, the kissing is more like a sport.” — Gilmore Girls Season 7 Episode 11.
This encourages physical movement, a top-tier form of mental health support.
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Make a Santa Burger to Cheer Up the Mood
Lastly, we all know the holiday season is incomplete without an argument or two. Don’t feel too sad about it. Just know that Gilmore Girls has got full support for you. In the show’s first Christmas episode, “Forgiveness and Stuff,” Season 1 Episode 10, Lorelai and her mother, Emily (Kelly Bishop), are fighting. Lorelai is rejected by her parents’ annual Christmas party at their Gilmore home.
On her way home, she stops by Luke’s Diner as he whips up a holiday meal to make her happy — a burger decorated to look like Santa. Though it is not appealing at first glance, with some piped-on cream cheese and an obscene amount of ketchup, it becomes a thoughtful moment to remember as her mood shifts into joy and friendship is deepened.
Happy Holidays to all! If you’re under the weather or need happy holiday traditions to brighten your mood, look no further than your TV screen to be inspired. Gilmore Girls has got you covered with the perfect Christmas traditions, from meditating in stillness to preparing for a big snow day, going ice-skating, eating a Santa burger, kissing under the fan mistletoe, taking a nice walk in your neighborhood and building a snowwoman.
Don’t forget to bundle up with warm clothes and appreciate the beautiful season December brings.
Gilmore Girls Seasons 1 through 7 are streaming on Netflix.
Ari is a relationship expert, focusing on innerchild healing and merging the masculine and feminine attributes to create more harmony within the self and partnership. Connect with Ari on Twitter, Instagram and her podcast, Growth, Grace and Gratitude.
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