Coping Up With Stress After The Holiday Season? Try These 5 Tips

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The holidays are here! How are you feeling lately?

While holidays are a time for family and friends to come together, they can also be a time of stress and anxiety as we think about all the things that need to be done. The holidays can be challenging for anyone who is dealing with a chronic illness or mental health issue. But it doesn’t have to be this way! In fact, it’s possible to enjoy the holidays to the fullest.

All you need is a little knowledge about how your mind works during different phases of life, and some tips for managing stress in these challenging times.

This year, make sure you take some time out for yourself. Make sure you schedule an appointment with your doctor before the holiday season starts so that they can evaluate your health as well.

How to Beat Holiday Season Stress?

For some people, the holidays, like Christmas and New Year are filled with joy and excitement, but for others, they can bring anxiety, stress, and loneliness. Holiday demands cleaning, shopping,and organising a party, which can be overwhelming. Then there are others who stay faraway from their loved ones.

It’s important to make sure you are taking a very good care of yourself during this time of year. Understandably, it’s not always easy to find time to relax when there are so many other things vying for your attention. To help ease some of these stresses, here are some ways you can take care of yourself during this busy season:

1. The first step is to make a spending plan.

A study in 2015 stated that holiday stressors include, financial concerns, interactions with friends and family, or unable to maintain healthy lifestyle habits, like meditating and exercising. When you think about purchasing items for holiday celebrations, you should consider your finances and make adjustments to stay within your budget limit.

Holiday times could lead to debts, which can be an additional stress. So, be practical while gifting and don’t give in to the hype.

2. Maintain a good eating habit.

Haven’t we all overindulged during the holiday celebrations? Eating that another piece of cake or ice cream (guilty pleasure after all!). So consume a little protein before going to a dinner party, so that you won’t be tempted to have junk food.

You can avoid sweets and other processed foods as much as possible throughout the holiday season because both mood and food are related! Stay hydrated and eat as much healthy food as possible.

3. Take some time to reflect

The holidays are a time of celebration, family get together, and enjoying a delicious meal. For some, though, the holidays can bring up feelings of sadness or grief.

First, take some time to reflect on what’s causing your stress or sadness. Maybe it’s because you lost someone recently, or maybe it’s because you don’t have a family dinner tradition anymore. Whatever the cause is, take care of yourself by connecting with a trusted close one or your mental health professional who can talk through your feelings and help you find ways to cope.

4. Be realistic

The holidays aren’t about perfection or keeping up with the Joneses. They’re about spending quality time with your family and enjoying the traditions that have been passed down from one generation to the next.

So, no matter how much your family has changed or grown over the years, there are some things you can hold on to and some new ones you can create. You can celebrate Christmas with your children in other ways if they cannot make it home this holiday season. Share pictures of yourself and your loved ones over facetime. You can still honour the memories even though your holiday plans may look different this year.

5. Be Kind and Grateful

The holidays can be a stressful time.

But there are ways to keep yourself calm and healthy during the season.

You want to be there for your family, of course, but you also want to make sure everyone around you is having a great time.

But here’s the thing: It’s not your job to make anyone else happy. You’re not responsible for anyone else’s happiness or stress level—you can only control how you react when things get tough.

So how do you respond? Try these strategies:

1. Take deep breaths, which can shift things and this way you will find a new perspective.
2. Focus on what is going right for yourself instead of what might be wrong with others. This will help keep your head up high!

Concluding Note

The holidays are a time for families to get together and celebrate. However, if you are feeling lonely or isolated this time of year or you are struggling with after-holiday anxiety instead of cheerfulness and joy, it’s important to talk to someone. Or if you feeling overwhelmed by your holiday duties or just want to make sure everything goes smoothly at home this time of the year then try to incorporate some of these tips listed in this article for you.

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

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