Reduce Holiday Stress

Do you want to reduce holiday stress? Who isn’t overwhelmed with this season, especially following up the last two years of unrest physically, mentally and emotionally. We need some quick remedies. This articles explains really quick ways to “get back to center.”

1. BREATHING EXERCISES. There are many breathing exercises that can reduce your heartrate and blood pressure rapidly. You’d be surprised. You can make a noticeable difference in less than two minutes! I will outline two. One is called “square breathing.” Imagine a square, drawing a line with your eyes from Left to right, say in your mind, “breathe in, two, three;” now imagine the line dropping down on the right side of the square and say in your mind, “hold, two, three” (as you hold your breath); now draw a line in your mind’s eye from the bottom of the square, right to left, as you breathe “out, two, three;” Lastly, draw a line with your mind’s eye from the bottom left of the square to the top as you “push out more breath for a count of three.” A second breathing exercise comes from Buddhist Monks. Breathe in for the count of three and let it out for the count of three, counting as slow as is comfortable for you. Then breathe in for four and breathe out for four. Do this until you are able to breathe in for a count of 10 and let it out. This is a great habit to challenge yourself with. (Now you know why monks are so calm.)
2. LAUGHING AND BEING SILLY. Laughter has some amazing healing properties. Laughter brings in more oxygen to all your organs, stimulating them, cooling down your stress response, reduces heart rate and blood pressure which reduces tension and increases endorphins. There is an overall sense of well being. This also happens quickly! If you are curious, you can check out Laughter Yoga for added benefits.
3. DANCING AND SINGING. Act similarly to breathing deeper. It increases oxygen and endorphins (acting like natural painkillers). This great activity helps you sleep better too, reducing stress.
4. TAKE A WARM BATH. A warm bath can reduce pain and inflammation and calming the nerves, which changes your mood.
5. JOURNALING YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. This gives you an escape and a private place to release negative emotions and focus on the positive. Journaling helps us see our situation outside of ourselves, making it easy to see the big picture by observing patterns. This can help you to prioritize your problems, fears and concerns. In other words, you will focus on what really matters to you.
6. GUIDED MEDITATION. These days it is a lot easier to access guided meditation as it becomes more acceptable way of calming the mind and training the brain and body to work together. YouTube has many different meditations. Start small with something about 5 minutes or so and work your way up. Know this, the goal isn’t to “silence” your mind, that is impossible. Meditation can bring you calm and stillness. There are so many ways to meditate, even while doing mundane chores like doing the dishes. If you’d like to know more, please contact Marie@MariesGold.com for a look at some upcoming courses in mindfulness and meditation.

This one isn’t on our beautiful chart above, but it can be just as vital. When you can, put away your cell phone and other electronic devices like televisions and computers. Sometimes the energy of them can cause angst and feelings of being out of touch.

These are just a few simple tips to reduce holiday stress which give immediate results. Check back for more mindfulness tips that will help ease your life. In the meantime, happy holidays to you and may your family feel warmth and love.

in joy, Marie, aka Luv Rev