Mindful Tips to De-Stress the Holidays

Introduction

The holidays are a time for celebration and togetherness, but they can also be stressful. This year, we’re sharing some mindful tips to help you reflect on the season, slow down your pace and enjoy life’s joys in all their glory.

• Plan Ahead of Time
• Accept that Things Won’t be Perfect
• Simplify your Holiday Plans
• Respond with Kindness
• Remember what Really Counts
• Be Mindful about What you Buy
• Rethink Your New Year’s Resolutions

Plan Ahead of Time.

Planning ahead of time can help you avoid stress and overcommitment this holiday season. Planning ahead allows you to come up with an action plan prior to the holidays, which will enable you to stay organized and reduce the amount of stress you experience throughout the season. This is especially important if your family members have a tendency to arrive unannounced or invite themselves over for dinner. You can also use this time as an opportunity to get to know them better by having conversations about their interests and hobbies, or helping them out with their Christmas lists or gift ideas.

Mindfulness can help us improve our relationships with others and ourselves during stressful times such as the holidays, but it also has many other benefits!

Accept that Things won’t be Perfect

• The holidays can be stressful, and we all want to make the most of them. But setting the bar too high for your own happiness can lead you down a road of disappointment and frustration.
• When things don’t go according to plan—whether that’s because you get sick or your family is late or your house isn’t decorated just right—it’s important not to take it personally. It’s okay if some mishaps are normal and healthy, especially when they’re part of the learning process.
• Remember: You don’t have to be happy all the time; sometimes it’s okay if you’re just content with where things stand in life at any given moment.

Simplify your Holiday Plans

The holidays is a busy time of year, and it’s easy to lose track of all the things you want to do with family and friends. To stay organized, you can create a list of everything you want to accomplish this holiday season. Then sort your list according to importance and urgency so that you know what needs to happen when. Make sure you have enough time to get everything done—if not, cut something out!

• Make a list of what you want to do
• Prioritize the list based on importance and urgency.
• Make sure you have time to do everything on this list. If not, cut something out!

Respond with Kindness

When someone is rude or mean to you during the holidays, remember that they may be suffering. They may be going through a difficult time in their life. If you are able to respond with kindness and compassion, it can help diffuse the situation and reduce feelings of anger and resentment.

Take the time to reach out to others who might be alone this holiday season. Send them a card that shows how much you care about them because they matter just as much as everyone else does! Even if they aren’t close friends or family members, it’s always good to let people know that they’re not alone in this world.

If things get tense and heated at home during celebrations, take some time away from the situation so that you can relax without being stressed out by other people’s antics.

Remember What Really Counts

When you are feeling stressed, it is important to remember the things that you can control. For example, you can control your own actions and reactions. You can’t control what other people do or how they act.

When you are feeling stressed, it is also important not to worry about what happened in the past or what may happen in the future. If something goes wrong with your plans for Christmas dinner because of missing ingredients or poor weather conditions, don’t worry about it! Instead of worrying about what went wrong last year or might go wrong this year, focus on enjoying yourself right now by eating healthy food with family and friends who love you just as much as those who have passed away from cancer did when they were alive too!

Be Mindful about what you Buy – and Why You’re Buying it

During the holiday season, one can easily become overwhelmed by all the big sales and deals. However, a mindful shopper won’t be swayed by these promotions. They take a deep breath, check the list of what they need, shop smartly, and get back home with plenty of time to spare. By being mentally prepared and creating a plan of action, you can stay in control of how you spend your money and actually find joy in the act of holiday shopping.

• Be mindful of what you’re buying.
• Think about the gifts you buy and why.
• Ask yourself if it is something you really need.
• Consider buying experiences instead of things, like a concert or a trip to the spa for your loved ones.

Rethink your New Year’s Resolutions

The holidays are the perfect time to evaluate your goals. If you’re like most people, around this time of year we start thinking about what we would like to do in the new year. It’s a great opportunity to reflect on our intentions and how they might be different than what we’ve been doing in years past (or even months past).

The key is not only setting goals but also being realistic about what you can achieve, starting small, being specific about what you want to achieve and having plan for implementing those goals.

Conclusion

This is a time of year when we are bombarded with messages about what to buy, what to eat and how to spend our time. By slowing down and focusing on being mindful of your needs and desires, you can make this holiday season your own.

Self Care Impact offers Anxiety and Depression Therapy

We would like to help you have a happy and peaceful Holiday Season!  

Let’s figure out what triggers your Holiday stress and find some mindful methods that help you deal with life in a non-anxious, healthy manner. Please contact our Client Care Coordinator for your complimentary 20-minute phone consultation today and read more about Anxiety Therapy or the Depression Treatment on our website.

Self Care Impact Counseling envisions a new age of counseling for adolescents, adults, couples & groups that makes a REAL difference with core values of GROWTH | BALANCE | COMPASSION | INNER HARMONY.