Managing Your Stress During the Holidays and Beyond: Tip #26 – Embrace the Let Down

It’s inevitable. All the weeks of building up to your holiday celebration, preparing, getting things ready, talking about it, and then in a flash, it’s over. It’s okay to allow yourself to feel the let down that often comes after a long-awaited event. It’s your body and mind’s way of letting go of the tension and build up that’s occurred. And it’s a natural and necessary part of the process. A time for you to re-energize and get ready for what’s next.

Managing Your Stress During the Holidays and Beyond: Tip #25 – Believe in Magic

You only have to look at a young child enjoying the holidays to get in touch with the magic of the season. The magic of anticipation, of wonder, of believing in that which we cannot see. As we grow up, we often lose sight of this type of “knowing” and some of us spend a great deal of effort trying to recapture it as adults.

On this day, stop and take a moment to remember the magic. Get in touch with your inner child if you have to. But try to look at what’s in front of you through innocent, trusting, and believing eyes. And see what kind of a difference that makes in how you experience not only this day, but tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on.

How would your life be different if you believed in something without seeing it first?

Managing Your Stress During the Holidays and Beyond: Tip #24 – Enjoy Yourself

Stop. Breathe. And enjoy all that you have created so far this holiday season. So many times, we get caught up in the planning and the doing that we forget to relish in that which we’ve planned and done. Sure it’s a wonderful feeling to watch others enjoy the fruits of our labor, but shouldn’t we enjoy it as well? Today, give yourself permission to enjoy yourself and all that you’ve created.

Photo: Happy Smiles (Nicole & Kati) © by aaronkaiser

Managing Your Stress During the Holidays and Beyond: Tip #23 – Pamper Yourself

It’s so easy to get caught up in doing for others, but when we neglect ourselves in the process, it can do more harm than you think. You might start to buy in to the notion that you are not as important as others, or that others deserve more than you. Bahumbug to that! Let someone else worry for a while and do something special for yourself. Take a long, hot bubble bath, get a massage, get your nails done, or something else that makes you feel special.

Photo: facial massage © by o5com

Managing Your Stress During the Holidays and Beyond: Tip #22 – Expect the Unexpected

While the holiday season is generally a time of traditions and routines, there’s still room for unexpected things to pop up. Out of town guests, stores sold out of what you were wanting to buy that someone special, etc. The holiday season, just like life, is filled with opportunities for us to practice the art of expecting the unexpected. Sure we cannot plan for it or know how to respond until whatever unexpected thing comes along. But we can be open to dealing with whatever situation does come our way. And that doesn’t require much more than a decision.

Managing Your Stress During the Holidays and Beyond: Tip #21 – Embrace the Sounds of the Season

There’s no lack of sounds we associate with the holidays. Everything from bells and a crackling fire to holiday music. Some sounds may bring up some fond memories of the past, while others bring up painful ones. Take some time to reflect on the sounds that bring about good memories, thoughts, and feelings. Then surround yourself with those sounds this holiday season. You might even make some sounds of your own.

Photo: Singing Christmas tree © by zhov