11 Ways To Reduce Holiday Stress

Here in the United States, we are beginning the rapid slide into the holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and a few others.

Many perfectly sane people seemingly lose their minds at this time of year. They get stressed out and overwhelmed with all sorts of planning, family activities, parties, shopping, etc. It’s as if there is some universal contest about you can do the most at the holidays!

Do you want to win the contest?

Or would you be willing to give yourself the gift of a mini relaxation meditation? It doesn’t have to be long, just a few minutes can have a huge benefit!

Here are a few things that can help bring a little calm and sanity into your life.

Just Stop

Yes, just stop! Stop running around like a mad person, stop taking care of everyone else. Just stop for a few minutes! And then do one of the other things listed below!

Let Go

YES, let go of all of those things you are trying to deal with for everyone else that aren’t yours …. LET THEM GO!!

You can let go of other people’s problems, their burdens, their illnesses, their expectations, their demands … they aren’t YOURS so LET THEM GO!!

Just say, “These aren’t mine, bye bye!!!” and let all that weight and burden leave you! WHEW!!!

Close Your Eyes

Closing your eyes helps block out the rest of the world. You can be somewhere else when you close your eyes. Just close them and relax. Relax your face, relax your shoulders. Add a big sigh as you let that energy go. You can add “Let Go” and “Breathe” to further your release of stress.

Breathe

It’s amazing how you tend to hold your breath or breathe shallowly when you are stressed. So stop and take a few deep breaths. Close your eyes now and take a few more. Let the tension flow out as you breathe out, now breathe in the energy of calm and relaxation. Repeat a few more times. Better?

Picture Meditation

I used to have this at my desk at work. I had no windows in my office, so I had a few pictures of mountains and trees, places that I considered beautiful, on the wall above my desk. Every so often I would just stop and look at them an imagine myself being there, breathing in the outside air and feeling the sunshine on my face. Just for a few minutes. It was quite refreshing.

Put Your Feet Up

Raising your feet, especially if you can raise them above your heart, helps your circulation, increases lymph flow and helps relieve the pressure on weakened and varicose veins. Plus it just feels good to get all that gravity off your feet!

List Things You Are Grateful For

Write or just think about the things in your life that you are grateful for … people, pets, memories, things, situations, etc. It helps you realize just how blessed and lucky you really are!

Take a short stroll down memory lane, remembering happy times and people you love. Allow that warmth and joy to wash over you and wash away the stress.

Plan For Fun

Plan some fun outings or even just a pleasant stroll. Not only does this allow a short escape to where you’d like to go, but it also gives you something fun to look forward to.

Get Your Bars® Run

As an Access Consciousness Facilitator, I have seen so many people have amazing results from getting their Bars run. These can include deep relaxation, revitalization, letting go of frustrations and limitations, releasing stress, and increasing happiness.

Click here for more information about the Access Consciousness Bars.

Get A Massage

Massage can be a huge benefit to your body. The Mayo Clinic Studies of the benefits of massage demonstrate that it is an effective treatment for reducing stress, pain and muscle tension and may also be helpful for anxiety, digestive disorders and more.

Sit With Your Pet

Sit with your pet on your lap or shoulder. Now, of course, this doesn’t work well with fish, but other pets, even birds, can share love with you and help you release stress and even reduce depression. In fact, relaxing with a purring cat has been shown to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, reduce swelling and promote healing.

Be in Nature

Being in nature, whether walking, riding a bike or just sitting, can reduce your stress hormone levels, decease depression, decrease negative thoughts and energize you or even relax you so you can take a nap. In fact, a recent study (well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/how-nature-changes-the-brain) showed that walking in nature changes the blood flow in the brain to improve moods.

And another way to relax is to join me for “Relax, Release and Rejuvenate In 3 Easy Steps“ on the Friday after Thanksgiving to decompress from and for the holidays or just from life!

Register at http://iampurpledawn.com/relax-release/