Taming Christmas Stress

Whatever our unique temperaments, family dynamics, and life situations, we all face stress this time of year. Some of us stress over buying gifts or baking cookies for the neighbors. Others face difficult relatives, an unexpected illness, or a holiday without a loved one.

Here are some tips to help you recude stess and enjoy the holidays.

5 quick stress-busters

• Sniff citrus – the scent of lemon or orange is a quick pick-me-up. Sniff the real thing, or add a few drops of essential oil to a handkerchief.
• Laugh – It’s good for the soul. Watch silly videos, read a funny article, or spend time with your pal who always makes you laugh.
• Uplifting Music – Whether you need a tune to cheer you up or calm you down, music might be just what you need.
• Sunshine and exercise – Believe me, I hate the cold as much as you do (more, probably) but getting outside in the sunshine is just plain good for us. Try it.
• Gratitude adjustment –Stop the sour thoughts by looking for some reason to be grateful. No matter how rotten life seems, there is always something, if you are willing to look.

5 stress-reducing strategies

• Be present – When you spend time with your loved ones, resist the siren call of technology and give them your full attention. You will all enjoy the moment more, and so will they.
• Get enough sleep – Lack of sleep weakens our immune system, and reduces our ability to cope with stress. If we want to be at our best, we need to get to bed on time.
• Maintain regular exercise and diet habits – Holidays wreak havoc with our regular schedules and tempts us with calorie-laden goodies. We need to cut ourselves some dietary slack, but too much eggnog or chocolate truffle cake will only make us feel miserable. If we do it right most days, we can indulge without guilt.
• Ask for help – Don’t try to do it all yourself. Be honest about your time and energy constraints. Ask family members to contribute, or else agree to simpler holiday. You may be pleasantly surprised at the responses.
• Cut people some slack – Remember why Jesus came: to extend grace to a world full of broken people. We can do the same, using this for a definition of grace: Giving a break to people who don’t deserve it. So, this Christmas try to extend grace to others. Pick your battles. Agree to disagree. And generally cut people some slack. Even the jerk who stole your parking space.

5 links for more information

• What causes stress during the holiday season, and tips on how to manage it, from webmd.
• Some tips for getting through the holidays with a minimum of struggle: How to thrive not just survive the holiday season from psychcentral
• Wishing for a Christmas make-over? Some advice on making positive changes from psychcentral.
• Christmas stress can bring out the worst in our spouse. Here’s a few tips to help you navigate the season from crosswalk.
• Some expert advice on how to handle the supermom meltdown and other top holiday stress triggers, from todaysparent.

Photo credit: Viola’s visions via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA