Six Stress Relief Tips for Holiday Heartaches. It’s hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner but the Christmas ads on TV are a sure sign that we’re heading in to holiday season – for some a time of sharing family time and, for others, a series of headaches and heartaches.
At this time of year, more than any other, taking care of your emotional needs is essential to enjoying a truly happy holiday. This isn’t always easy to do but here are six key points to keep in mind in the weeks ahead.
1. Give up on perfection.
The holidays are supposed to be perfect – perfect gift, perfect dinner, and perfect family interaction – like a Norman Rockwell painting. Real life isn’t like that so the turkey may be a bit overdone or the New Year’s Eve punch tastes like brake fluid.
Forget the perfection model. Accept setbacks, missteps and miscues with a sense of humor. No holiday is perfect. No family is perfect. No family member is perfect so give up the idea of seeking perfection, go with the flow, forget the stress and have fun.
2. Pace yourself.
Life goes on even though Christmas is in the air. There’s still the morning commute, the weekly chores and lots of social events. Don’t try to do it all. Send regrets to some invitations, just to take a night off and curl up with a good book. Spread out your holiday
obligations to carve out recovery time in between.
3. Don’t be afraid to say ‘no.’
No to the child’s demand for a certain toy, no to the in-laws, no to the co-workers, friends and neighbors. Put yourself in control of your activities. However, tread lightly and do your best not to hurt any feelings. Friends will understand the need to take a break during the holiday rush. The in-laws? Maybe not.
4. Do you want to simplify holiday chores?
If you’re used to spending hours slogging your way through the holiday crowds at the mall, change your buying habits. Shop online. (It’s secure.) Or go through the blizzard of catalogs that arrives each Christmas and shop by phone. It’s faster and a whole lot
less stressful.
5. Don’t overdo it.
Too much wine, too many martinis and way too many celebratory toasts with Champaign on New Year’s Eve. Too many sweet treats and huge Just in moderation. Over-imbibing through the holiday season is only going to tire you out and make you feel worse.
6. Can you give yourself 20 minutes of “me” time every day?
We need to close out the world for stress to actually leave our bodies. Muscles will remain tensed (very fatiguing), joints will ache (annoying) and your immune system will be weakened by the constant bombardment of holiday stress triggers.
Take 20 minutes each day – that’s all you need. Close the door. Turn off the phone. Get into a comfortable position and just close your eyes. Breathe deeply several times and let the world go by.
This is especially important during the upcoming holiday season. So get ready. Santa Claus is coming to town, but you can keep stress at bay this holiday season by thinking of your well-being and emotional happiness, too.
Think of it as the best holiday gift you could give yourself. I wish you all the best during this Christmas and Kwanza season. And a most happy Chanukah to my friends who celebrate all of these wonderful holidays.
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Cecil McIntosh, The EYC™ Stress Relaxation Expert with 14 years of experience helping Entrepreneurs like you, stay focused, get more done and find more time, so that you can live in the moment. He is a published author of many audio Relaxation Programs using accelerated learning approaches and a Teacher, NLP Trainer and life Coach. You can reach Cecil at cecil.mcintosh@gmail.com
Want to learn how to easily take a 20 minute break each day? Or ** IS YOUR LIFE TOO BUSY … TOO MUCH STRESS? ** Do you want to find more time to enjoy stress relief? – Split Second Stress Relief
[tags]Stress relief, Stress relief tips, Holiday stress, Holiday season, Happy Holiday, Holiday, Holiday headaches, Holiday heartaches, Christmas, Kwanza, Chanukah, Norman Rockwell, shop online, Cecil McIntosh, Technorati[/tags]
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