10 Tips to Have a Stress-Free Holiday Season

10 Tips to Have a Stress-Free Holiday Season

We are delighted to have a guest blogger Susan Ginsberg the founder of Stop and Breathe®,  provide 10 Tips to have a Stress-Free Holiday Season.

Although the holiday season is a time for joy and togetherness, for many the holidays come with added stress, pressure and even anxiety and depression.  The holidays present a dizzying array of demands—parties, family obligations, shopping, baking, cleaning, entertaining to name just a few. When stress is at its peak, it is important to stop and regroup.  Luckily, there are numerous ways to cope better with stress, and a number of techniques that can be implemented to prevent stress from occurring in the first place.

#1 Check Your Breath

  • Check in with your breathing and take note.
  • Are you holding your breath? Is your breath shallow? Where do you feel the breath traveling within your body?
  • Start by simply developing an awareness of how your breath feels.

#2 Balloon Belly

  • Inflate the belly slowly as if you were expanding a balloon inside of it.
  • SLOW down your exhalation as you deflate this ‘balloon’. This is the key to getting more deeply relaxed and immediately calming the parasympathetic nervous system.
  • After a few deep, even belly breaths, you should begin to feel more relaxed.

#3 Tense/Relax

  • Hold tension in your fists and all the way up your arms for a few moments.
  • Slowly release the tension gradually until there is no tightness being held.
  • Do the same thing with your feet, legs, and then your buttocks. Feel the muscles contract and then release.
  • Scrunch all of the facial muscles inward and hold. Then release.

#4 Lavender Up!

  • The essential oil lavender is one of the most calming scents and several studies demonstrate how our sense of smell can have an effect on our moods.
  • Dab a few drops of this relaxing scent to your pulse points on your wrist and on the sides and back of your neck. Rub it between your hands and inhale this calming, soothing scent. Or place on the bottoms of your feet if you are having trouble falling asleep.

#5 Make a Statement

  • Inwardly state what you want to achieve whenever you feel stressed, tense, or overwhelmed. In a sense, you are replacing a negative thought with a positive one.
  • For example, if a defeating, overwhelming thought creeps up, replace it with ‘I am calm, relaxed, and my life is in balance.’ Remember, what we think becomes our reality so state what you want positively and work towards that goal.

#6 Visualize Your Outcome

  • Like an athlete who visualizes the perfect golf shot, free throw, or home run before they even approach the ball, visualize a positive outcome of what you want in to occur when faced with an immediate stressor.
  • See the obstacle being overcome and how it would look and feel in your life when that happens.

#7 Have an Attitude of Gratitude

  • Research has been shown demonstrating the positive effects of having gratitude and thankfulness in one’s life. Even in the face of the most difficult moments, there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for.
  • Experience the healing, de-stressing benefits of gratitude as you practice this technique. Gratitude doesn’t only have to be practiced once a year at Thanksgiving anymore! Families can also benefit by individually expressing gratitude at every shared meal together.

#8 Get Moving!

  • Walk, dance, swim, run, bike ride, do yoga… just MOVE! Exercise is a proven way to increase the endorphins in our brain and people who exercise regularly benefit from a more positive mood and a lower rate of depression.

#9 Laughter Therapy

  • Read a funny book, watch a funny TV show or movie, or even engage in spontaneous laughter. Seek a Laughter Yoga class for this type of laughter. Not only is it enjoyable, but it also has aerobic benefits.
  • When we laugh, we release stress-relieving hormones and bring balance to the immune system, as well.

#10 Pocket Journal

  • Keep a small notepad with you and pull it out if your thoughts are overwhelming you and you are experiencing tension.
  • Without deciding in advance what you will write, write whatever comes to you at the moment in a freestyle way.

 

~All of these tips and techniques can be a healthy arsenal of tools to use when we face challenging moments in our lives and experience stress, tension, worry, anxiety. Use the ones that work best for you. The breath, however, is on one of the most immediate ways to calm us down in the face of immediate stress. It has been said that it is virtually impossible to have an anxiety/panic attack when one breathes in this way. Learning to breathe in an optimal way can help us cope with stress and facilitate greater health and well-being within our lives.

 

Susan Ginsberg 10 steps to a stress-free holiday seasonSusan Ginsberg is the founder of Stop and Breathe®, a company that provides soothing and informative ‘Relaxy Hour’ stress-reduction workshops teaching breathing, relaxation, and visualization techniques. She also works privately with individuals experiencing pain, stress, and anxiety or simply wanting to incorporate these valuable techniques into their lifestyle.

After providing workshops and private sessions for thousands of individuals ranging from cancer and chronic pain patients, stressed- out corporate executives, performers, and even our own US Marine Corps, Susan released a wonderfully soothing and informative CD—‘Deep Relaxation Series- Guided Breathing, Relaxations, and Visualizations’ and this is available to purchase directly through her or to download on iTunes.  For more information please visit: www.stopandbreathe.org or call (480) 388-2780.

 

©All rights reserved.  Susan Ginsberg, Stop and Breathe®  www.stopandbreathe.org

Kimberly Boynton

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