Reduce Christmas Stress

4 Hacks to Ease Christmas Stress

We all get a little stressed around the Silly Season. And in the mixed-up, topsy turvy year that was 2020, coming out of lockdowns, iso, masks, and Facebook Warriors, Christmas may have snuck up on us, leaving us even less breathing room than normal. Here are a few hacks to help you reduce stress and keep your sanity.

Clearing Your Thinking

When you begin to feel stressed or frustrated, put upon, rushed, angry, remember these simple truths that will change your Christmas – and your life. Stress comes from inside! Your emotions are a response to your perceptions, not to fact or reality What happens is you perceive, and then filter your perceptions through your mind and then, you react. . So what can you do then?

Take a long, slow breath and take a moment to look at the situation without yourself in it. Does it still look the same? Perhaps you can look at those in this scene (yourself included) with a little more empathy when we stop comparing it to what we want at that moment.

Let Go of What ‘Should Be’:

Everything really is as it should be. Since the dawn of time, one thing has led to another, and that to another… right down to what is happening now. That annoying behavior or person or situation is inevitable because of everything that has gone before. You cannot change the past. The future is another matter.

Look at the moment, and instead of seeing what ‘should be’, see what is. Just that. What has already happened, is. What’s next?

When you realize that that the present is a result of a long chain of past influences, you can actively work on having an “allowing” mindset, one that permits others to have their funny ways or to be different from how you would like them to be. The future can be changed, and it starts now, the next moment is unformed. You can change that – right now!

Relax Your Body:

Here is a quick way to make a difference in your own state, right now, at any time. When your mind gets uptight, so does your body. So if you can’t quickly change your mind, do something to change your body state. This is a quick start.

Breathe: Take a deep breath and slowly let it out. This is wonderful to do before you reply, or whenever you feel things are getting on top of you.

Relax your muscles: Tighten all the muscles in your arms and hands – and then just let it all go. Arms heavy, soft. Just for a moment. Letting go with an out-breath is nice.

Meditate:

The best way to handle Christmas stress or any stress. Sit still and quiet for a period, and actively restrict your mind from journeying out to all those entrancing thoughts about how awful it is. An hour daily would be great but if Christmas has got you running, 10 minutes in the midst of things to simply be still can make a world of difference.