Dr. Kathleen Hall

8 Tips to Beat Holiday Stress

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1. Shopping.  Sit down with the family and schedule the days and times you will do your shopping at the beginning of the holiday season. This limits everyone from frequently asking when they are going shopping and will help you schedule shopping according to your family’s busy schedule.  This stops the anxiety, arguments and constant questions of “when are we going?”

2. Tired Kids.  Knowing your children’s daily rhythm is critical.  Schedule activities during your child’s “up” times, not during nap times.  Know what food is available at the mall’s food court, so you are prepared when your child gets hungry and thirsty.  You might want to carry a favorite snack with you in a zip lock bag.  This prevents discord in the family because of one member of the family.

3. Financial Concerns.  At the beginning of the holiday season create a folder for each holiday.  Sit down as a family and make a sheet of paper for each event during that particular holiday.  For example in the Christmas folder have individual sheet of paper for: Persons who get gifts and the estimated cost of each gift, the foods served at each meal and cost associated with each meal, any new family clothing needed for holiday festivities, travel expenses for holiday visits, and any other cost centers.  This creates concrete cost centers that can be deleted or expanded depending upon the budget.  You feel more in control and less overwhelmed with the flood of unexpected expenses after the holiday.   Finances are a source of arguments during the holidays and this helps diffuse this anxiety.

4. Studies tell us that trying to keep too much information in your mind creates anxiety and loss of memory.  During the holiday season make lists of what needs to be done and file them in your day timer or your PDA.  This takes the information out of your brain and stores it somewhere else for retrieval.  Make sure to mark off the items on your list after completion.  There is a great sense of satisfaction seeing the list disappear and you will carry less anxiety within your body.  Much frustration occurs during the holidays when we don’t remember things and forget to write them down.

5. Attitude of Gratitude:  You can choose the attitude that you will maintain during the holidays.  If you have a tense attitude you will release more stress hormones and these can build up over the long holiday season.  Not only is this not healthy, it is not much fun.  You can make a decision that this holiday will be a flow experience and believe that there is a purpose for everything that gets done and doesn’t get done.  The holiday is a process and it will have ebbs and flows.   Gratitude helps our mind focus on the big picture instead of getting caught in tiny irritating details that can cause problems in our relationships.

6. Remember Your Breath:  This is your first line of defense for your stress during the season.  Most people take shallow breaths, especially when they are stressed.  This starves the body and brain of oxygen.  When we are tired we might respond to someone in a negative way and later feel sorry for our words.  Develop the practice of taking a deep breath, or 2 or 3, before you answer someone in a tense moment.  The breath clears the mind, body and soul.   In the moments you want to react with a hostile comment that may cause anger, breathing creates space for you to make a decision before you react.

7. Discover a mini:  When you are waiting in a long line at a store, in a car in heavy traffic or on hold on your telephone, use this as an opportunity for a mini.  A mini is a 1-3 minute quickie.  Take a moment, if you are able, close your eyes (not in traffic), or focus your eyes on something, take several deep diaphragmatic breaths, and repeat a 1-3 word affirmation with each deep breath.  I like to say, “Keep letting go…”  After just a minute or two you feel like a new person with a new sense of energy and clarity.   Many tense moments are caused by simple exhaustion and this mini gives you immediate centeredness.

8. A Round of Beads:  I keep a set of some sort of beads with me at all times, in my car, my purse and by my bead.  Stop for a minute, pick up your beads, and as you touch each bead, breathe, and say a 1-3 word affirmation or prayer.  You will be surprised how calming this practice can become.  When some one or a situation is stressing you out, make a round on some form of beads, repeating your own affirmation with each bead, and you will experience a sense of power and detachment from the source of anxiety.

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