Reducing Holiday Stress
Has stress taken the fun out of your holidays? Put the “jolly” back in your holidays and create cherished holiday memories with these proven strategies.
- Acknowledge that everything doesn’t need to be perfect
- Start holiday planning and preparations earlier
- Simplify wherever you can when planning and holding festive celebrations
- Stick to your budget
- Scale down your holiday plans
- Ponder what you really want to do to celebrate the holidays
- Talk with family members and friends about what they want to do
- Plan celebrations that express what the holidays truly mean for you
- Identify old family traditions. Which ones do you love?
- Opt to keep holiday traditions that bring you joy and happiness
- Give yourself permission to let go of old traditions that you aren’t fond of
- Establish the start and stop times for parties
- Take shortcuts like buying pre-made pies to save time
- Examine options for pre-made meals or catering services
- Promptly ask for help when you need it
- Inform all prospective attendees of your holiday plans in advance
- Discuss challenging issues in advance with a person who tends to create tension
- Use place cards to assign seating in efforts to avoid tension-filled holiday gatherings
- Short-circuit disagreeable family discussions by interrupting or changing the subject
- Make a gift list, considering the amount of money you can comfortably spend
- Cut down your gift list
- Shop early and make notes about where to get low-cost gifts
- Ask for gift suggestions from the people on your gift list
- Consider giving gift cards to save time and precious energy
- Suggest a family name-drawing to reduce gift expenditures
- Reduce the amount of money you spend overall for the holidays and per gift
- Avoid making credit card purchases at holiday time
- Think about making homemade food gifts to save dollars at holiday time
- Shop early and place gifts in a gift drawer so you’ll be ready for the holidays
- Schedule time to be with your kids for some special holiday moments
- Keep the kids busy with holiday crafts. They’ll enjoy it and you can get more done.
- Take time daily to meditate, even if only for a few minutes
Stress-Free Holiday Traveling
Plan holiday travel trips in advance
- Travel during off-peak hours
- Start out well-rested
- Build-in extra money to your travel budget in case of emergencies
- Arrive at the airport or other station early to more easily take care of last-minute challenges
- Expect to run into snags
- Pack light and carry on your bag, rather than checking it
- Allow extra time to travel from place to place and expect heavy traffic
- Send your gifts in advance or take gift cards
- Limit alcohol and caffeine
- Pack plenty of healthy snacks that travel well without refrigeration
- Bring plenty of things to keep the kids happily occupied
- Make waiting times go faster and regain a happy holiday feeling by meditating
- Use portable meditation props, like a favorite image on your smartphone or tablet
- Plan to arrive at your holiday destination rested and excited to share your holidays with loved ones
Meditation for a Stress-Free Holiday Travel
Sit up straight and relax your shoulders
- Let distracting thoughts dissolve away as you focus on deep breathing
- Think about your destination and the loved ones you’ll be visiting
- Remember that you’re surrounded by people making similar plans – just like you
- Once you’re feeling relaxed and happy, let go of the details and enjoy that warm feeling.
- Imagine wrapping up those good feelings and presenting them to everyone around you
- Gradually return your attention to the present moment
- Remind yourself of the fellowship you felt while meditating.
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