AHHHHHHH - the holidays! Here are Tips 1 through 5 (including a couple recipes) for how to manage and minimize stress this holiday season. This turned out to be a rather long article so I thought I would break it up into two sections.
Here we are once again. The busy, hectic, and often stressful holiday season. We often find the effects of the holiday rush manifesting in us as irritability, headaches, feeling a desire to withdraw, and short temperament. Many of us just wish we could wake up when it’s January 1st!
I have to say that since my children have started getting older (12 and 16 to be exact) this holiday stress has eased up. So for all you parents with young children there is hope! I no longer have to shop for two for Christmas (myself and the jolly old dude in red). And nice crisp bills in an envelope suit them just fine – thank goodness! I still do the stocking for Christmas morning though and even that finds me standing in the aisles at various stores looking blankly at my options and trying to figure out what I can get that is useful and won’t be thrown away within a couple day because it was just a stupid filler to take up space.
So, when in the throes of holiday panic what can you do to ease the stress? I’ve come up with a few ideas for everyone. If any of these ideas don’t resonate for you simply move on to the next one. I’m going to full spectrum here from woo-woo to every day! You will notice that I am not listing a nice pumpkin brew, holiday sangria, or a spiked and spiced egg nog. Well, not in the official list anyway – hehehe! (Disclaimer, if you choose to drink alcohol, drink responsibly, of course - duh!)
Here we go!
Self-care – ALWAYS a must-have! Don’t skimp on this one. We all need time to ourselves to take care of ourselves, mind, body, and spirit. If we are not taking care of ourselves we cannot take care of others in the way we would like. Does this mean massages, mani-pedis, and facials? It may but it doesn’t have to cost a thing to take care of yourself. Try a relaxing bath with some favorite bath salts that incorporate a lovely and relaxing essential oil. Add some of your favorite music and some candles and voila! I can just envision it now. Oh yeah! If there are others in your home (like little elves for instance) make sure they understand this is do not disturb time. If you have a spouse or someone else that can keep those little ones busy for a bit, encourage them with puppy eyes and love, to do so.
A couple lovely and super easy bath salt recipes for you!
(Add some lovely crystals such as rose quartz, clear quartz, amethyst, shungite, or any combination of these to add a little extra punch to your relaxation! I’m getting giddy just thinking about it!)
Oh, these can make lovely gifts. BAM! Gift yourself and gift others! Double or triple the recipe, head to the dollar store for some cute jars, grab some ribbon, add a beautifully scented lavender votive and voila! I'm thinking teacher's gifts here – we all know they could use some of this lovely self-care.
Relaxing
16 oz Epsom salt
20 drops lavender essential oil
Muscle Tension Relief
16 oz Epsom salt
15 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops eucalyptus oil
Friends – this time of year is busy and we often overlook the important of hanging out with our best buds. Trust me, you will all benefit from even a couple hours of chill out chatting time. You’ll be glad you reserved this sacred little space of comradery.
Meditate - Yeah, some of you may know how beneficial this little number is but feel like you don’t have the time. I totally get this! But a little time is better than no time. You can make this a no-brainer with a 12 minute isochronic meditation that you can listen to before you start your day, during your lunch break, or before you go to bed. I adore this one because of its simplicity – Zen12. There are literally thousands of guided meditations out there and lots of various methods, such as mindfulness meditation. Give one a try, even if it’s just for 5 minutes. Set a lovely little meditation timer on your phone and settle in. I like the Insight Timer app. This is actually a little community of meditators and you can see where across this planet people are meditating at the same time as you!
Chakra Balancing – You can do this yourself but it is much more relaxing to have someone else do this for you. I use a pendulum to balance each chakra and then place the appropriate crystal on each to support that lovely little energy center with healing and complementary vibrations. You can leave these on for about 10 – 15 minutes or longer if you feel you need to. Listen to some light, relaxing music and savor the moment.
Breathe – Many people feel a certain amount of anxiety or stress when out shopping. This is often the result of being sensitive to energies around you. I know, woohoo stuff! But everything is energy, WE are energy, and it can be felt very subtly at times and more abundantly at other times. You know when you walk into a room of people and sometimes feel a denseness in there. “You could cut the tension with a knife.” You are sensing the energy of those in the room.
If you are out and about and find yourself feeling overwhelmed or stressed (I always feel this way in Walmart – I avoid that place if I can ;-) ), simply take a moment to take a deep breath in, hold for a moment, and intentionally breathe out any stress or negative feelings. This is something we have been practicing in the 30 Day Abundance Adventure with Sharon Wilson. As one of the Abundance Coaches in the group it has been amazing to see the results of this practice.
Breathe in an intention (calmness, relaxation, love, etc.) breathe out anything less than that. Simple right? Give that a try any time you feel a little stressed out!
I'll send out part two in a couple days so you have plenty of time to put them all to use over the next month and a half or so. In the meantime, put some of these little stress relieving treasures to use this holiday season and breathe in relaxation. Enjoy the moments you share with family and friends and think of all the things, even the seemingly small things, that you are grateful for. The more you acknowledge them the more you'll notice them.
Wishing You Abundance!
Cherrise