By Nanette M Saucier
Do you struggle with stress? Stress can aggravate or cause health problems. Stress can influence depression, diabetes, hair loss, heart disease, hyperthyroidism, obesity, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder, sexual dysfunction, tooth and gum disease, ulcers and possibly even cancer. Many people are stressed to a degree, especially during the holiday season. Work can increase if you are in a business affected by the seasons. For most of us, our activities increase. We shop more for gifts, extra food for celebrations, special clothes and shoes. We may have more events on our calendar; usually celebrations with others. We may have parties for work, organizations we belong to, church, neighborhood, family and friends. All this activity takes more time and mental focus, which can cause stress. We also may be getting together with people we love, but who trigger stress in us as well. So how can we take care of ourselves during the holiday season? How can we avoid stress? Here are fifteen suggestions. I hope you will try at least some of them.
1. Avoid procrastination as much as possible. Doing things last-minute can add stress because things may go wrong, or we run out of time.
2. Plan extra time. Take the time you think a project will take and double that.
3. Prepare ahead. As much as possible, prepare meals and other projects ahead of time, like wrapping gifts. For example, I tend to shop year-round for gifts for the winter holidays.
4. Prioritize your day. Make a to-do list, but pick three things that are the priority and do them first.
5. Meditate. If you have never tried it, it really works to help you de-stress. Meditation clears the mind, renews it, relaxes tension, and calms you. Your local library is likely to have a book for the beginner on meditation, or you can look up ideas online. You can use guided meditation, listen to music or just silence. The main idea is to clear your mind of thoughts by releasing them as they come up. I meditate for 15-20 minutes usually, and some meditate for an hour, but even 5 minutes can help.
6. Exercise can raise endorphins and release toxins from stress through perspiration. Yoga is especially good at de-stressing. You can exercise indoors. If the weather is good, you can go for a walk.
7. Know that your holiday does not have to be perfect. Accept mistakes as gifts to remind us of our humanity and of a learning experience.
8. You don’t have to do everything that everyone else does. Narrow it down.
9. Don’t do everything by yourself. Delegate. If you have a family, let the children and partner share in the responsibility. Invite friends over to decorate.
10. Be careful of spending. Overspending causes stress. Make a budget and plan ahead on your purchases so you can add them up and see what your total will be. This will help you avoid the stress of after-holiday bills.
11. Laugh. Find the funny side of as many situations as possible. Laugh heartily and long. Laughter releases stress, builds up muscle and burns calories. See a funny movie, read the comics, read a funny book and talk to a funny friend.
12. Listen to relaxing music. If you don’t have any music that is relaxing, (I’m not referring to holiday music) find music for meditation at the local library or online. Music for meditation is very relaxing and can be listened to while you do your activities or work.
13. Get plenty of sleep. Sleep restores the brain and renews it. Getting eight hours of sleep during the holiday season can be one of the best ways to de-stress.
14. Eat well. Good nutrition can feed your brain. Get plenty of omega-3 fatty acids that are found in vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, as well as oily fish and ground flax seed. It nourishes your brain.
15. Get a massage. This will feel wonderful, will relax the tension from your body and help you to de-stress.
