4 Xmas Stress Hacks
Avoid overwhelm, stress and anxiety with these simple hacks
The gift of presence
Only about 20% of us have a love language that involves receiving gifts. That means 80% of us really don't want you to stress yourself out in Christmas shopping ques. Many of us value spending quality time together way more than physical gifts.
If you haven't done the LOVE LANGUAGES QUIZ give it a go.
If you’ve got to buy STUFF, buy it online
A MUST DO if you're experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression or overwhelm. It sounds simple but if you want to feel better this season avoid the shops and perhaps think about helping someone grow their business through your online gift purchases. (you can be sure us small business owners do a happy dance when you choose to buy our products)
Listen to music
According to a 2011 review paper in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, Music is proven to calm anxiety disorders and depression. It is also proven to have a beneficial effect on your heart rate and breathing.
I love music, and Christmas for me is an excuse to listen (and love) all the cheesy tunes lol
Practice Deep Breathing
We all know that the deeper we breathe the more oxygen enters our bodies and energy levels improve. Breathing slow and deep stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system to get us out of flight or fight mode and reduces the feeling of overwhelm. The added bonus is that when you breathe deeply you become less reactionary so relationships benefit as you're able to let things go more easily.
So....
- Take a big deep breath in
- Hold it
- ...and breathe out (long and slow)
- Repeat as many times as you need to, to feel calmer.
Each time you do this you're setting up a new habit to induce more calm in your life (and who doesn’t want that ...Christmas or not?).
Vx