Berkleigh Wright’s Advice for Winding Down During the Holidays and Refreshing for the New Year

Whether you’re spending time with family or not, the 2024 SI Swimsuit rookie encourages taking time to relax and reset this holiday season.

Berkleigh Wright.Alberto Tamargo/Getty Images

Day 11 of SI Swimsuit’s 12 Days of Swimsuit. Embark on a daily journey with us over this time, as we present exclusive features with your beloved SI Swimsuit models. Delve into a festive blend of holiday style, beauty insights, and invigorating workouts adaptable to any locale. Our SI Swimsuit models graciously share their top-notch advice tailored for the season. Stay tuned and celebrate the holidays in style with SI Swimsuit.

The holidays are undeniably busy. Between family, friends and food preparation, it can be difficult to find the time to relax and unwind properly. But it doesn’t have to be. If 2024 SI Swimsuit rookie Berkleigh Wright has anything to say about it, this time should be one of rest, relaxation and preparation for the New Year ahead. 

With three full-time jobs, the Denver Broncos cheerleader knows how to take advantage of a little bit of time off. Because of her game schedule, she won’t be traveling home for the holidays this season, but she will be taking advantage of her brief time off all the same.

For her, rest and relaxation can mean a lot of different things. During the holidays, it tends to look like activity with friends and family. During any other time of the year, it can mean putting her phone away and sitting down with a good book.

Regardless of your go-to methods, the bottom line is clear: this season is a time for enjoying time with loved ones, but likewise for relaxing and gearing up for 2024. If you’re looking for new ways to unwind, Wright has you covered. Here are a few of her favorites—for the holiday season and beyond.

Unwinding during the holidays

On the years that she can travel home to spend time with her family, Wright has specific traditions that both give her a chance to prioritize family time and promote relaxation.

While we’re sure you have some traditions of your own, if you are looking for some new ways to spend time with your loved ones this year, the following come highly recommended by Wright.

Cooking

The holidays always involve a lot of food preparation—even if cooking isn’t exactly your family’s forte. For the cheerleader, the holidays at home always involve cooking with her mom. Each year on New Year’s, Wright and her mom take to the kitchen to make soft pretzels. While not “technically unique to the holidays, it’s just been a tradition” in their family for years—and not one she wants to part with anytime soon. Though she won’t be headed home this year, you can bet she will still be making her family’s famous pretzels. After all, they’re “better than what you can find at the mall,” she promises.

A Christmas Vacation showing

Each year that she spends at home, she and her dad sit down together to watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on Christmas Eve. The classic film comes highly recommended by the cheerleader. So, if you’re in search of a movie night pick for the next few days, be sure to check it out.

Leaning into self-care in the New Year

Of course, time spent enjoying leisurely activities with family and friends is always a good idea. But sometimes it’s not feasible, and other times you do just need some alone time to refresh.

Whatever the reason, Wright has some ideas for resting and relaxing beyond the holiday season, as well. Since she won’t be traveling home for the holidays this year, the following might just be her staples for the next few days.

Reading

As the creator of her own book blog, BookinItWithBerk, it’s no surprise that one of her favorite ways of unwinding is with a good book in hand. Her picks span genres and topics, but she’s always sure to have a book on rotation. Right now, she’s reading A Court of Thorns and Roses, a series of lengthy books that she anticipates will take up much of her time this season. 

“I really want to be able to put my phone away and just focus on reading through those,” she reveals of her 2023 holiday plans.

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Watching TV and movies

When she doesn’t have a book in hand, you might be able to find the SI Swimsuit rookie watching one of her favorite shows or movies. If she’s really taking the time to relax with a show, Friends is likely the series that she has on her screen. 

“It’s just a feel-good show,” Wright says. “And it’ll always make me laugh.”

If you’re looking for a good holiday movie to watch in the coming days, Wright recommends The Holiday. 

Making vision boards (and other crafts)

She’s a big proponent of vision boards. Last year around this time, she made one for 2023. At the very center was SI Swimsuit—a goal, which she can happily say, she achieved. “It’s so crazy because everything that I have upcoming and with Sports Illustrated and cheer and everything,” were placed prominently on last year’s board, she says. 

Wright likes to have goals, and encourages others to do the same. With the New Year in the horizon, now might just be the perfect (relaxed) time to set some.

If you’re not into vision boards, Wright says any craft will do as a means of relaxation. But, at the end of the day, the most important part is putting your phone away. “What I’ve really learned is a great escape and a good mental refresh is just unplugging because we can be so attached to our phones,” she says.

Creating routine

The model is very routine-oriented, meaning that refreshing and resetting usually entails leaning into—or reinstating—a routine. Throughout the year, Wright loves to prioritize certain daily activities. Between yoga (and other forms of exercise), journaling, meditating and simply making her bed in the morning, she has a few go-to practices that she really wants to make a habit come the New Year.

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A post shared by Berkleigh (@berkleighwright)

According to Wright, it’s very important “to take advantage of that time” to refresh and reinstate routines.

“Getting off of social media and unplugging is a really good mental break for me,” she explains. “It lets me refresh and reset myself so that then I can like be present.” She also recommends using this time “when there are less distractions and less excuses,” to really prioritize self-care and routines.

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