Give Yourself the Gift of Relaxation this Holiday Season

The holidays can be a wonderful time, abundant with celebrations, get-togethers with family and friends, food and drinks, giving and receiving, and creating lovely memories of happiness, love, and high spirits.

The holidays can be one of the most joyous times of the year. And, during the holidays, an array of different emotions can surface, including negative feelings like anxiety, grief, and stress. Many people experience increased stress during the holidays as they try to organize the “perfect” holiday events, deal with family drama, holiday shopping and financial pressure, and balance work and social obligations.

Also, worries related to work tend to peak during the holiday season, such as completing year-end projects and getting enough time off.

For most people, time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is when life gets even busier, and making time for relaxation, exercise and adequate sleep becomes harder than ever.

The American Institute of Stress estimates that over 75 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are due to stress-related problems, a big reminder that relaxation is more important to our overall health than most people realize.

Relaxation as a daily practice is vital to our mental health and wellbeing, and yet we tend to forget to take care of ourselves when things get busy. Here are some tips for relaxing and finding balance in life:

While a small dose of stress can help increase our creativity and motivation, and even encourage enhanced memory and learning, a lot of stress can be detrimental. When its effect becomes overwhelming, an accumulation of tension and frustration can throw us off balance.

Awareness, living in the present, proper breathing, meditation, exercising, water therapy, being in nature, are some of the relaxation techniques and mindfulness practices that can help make you more relaxed and your holidays more enjoyable. Whatever form(s) of relaxation you choose, making it a priority and scheduling it as your everyday activity, while also developing a daily habit of introspection, is a key to living a healthy, well-balanced life.

It’s also important to realize what makes you the most stressed during the holidays. If, for instance, a certain holiday tradition creates more stress and discomfort than joy, give yourself permission to do things differently from now on; start focusing on and creating more of what makes you truly fulfilled and relaxed.

Exercise

De-Stress with movement. Being active can relieve stress and tension, as endorphins get released and our focus shifts. Whether it’s a brisk walk during lunch break at work or after dinner, stretching and running, playing your favorite sport few times a week, or doing yoga; physical activity can positively impact not only an underlying stress, but also your body, mind and soul.

Yoga is an excellent way to increase flexibility, muscle strength and tone, maintain a balanced metabolism, and improve energy and vitality. Also, yoga offers meditative qualities that encourage people to be in the present and breathe deeply, which soothes the mind, helps to minimize feelings of stress, tension, anger and frustration.

Meditation

More and more people use daily meditation or prayer to maintain balance in life and better cope with stress and tension. A daily discipline like this is considered a practice that highly benefits body, mind and soul.

Some of the benefits of meditation are increasing awareness of yourself and your surroundings, gaining a new perspective on stressful situations, focusing on the present, enhancing intuition, imagination and creativity, developing positive outlook, self-discipline and moderation, healthy sleep patterns, building patience and tolerance, as well as non-judgmental and other skills to reduce anxiety and manage stress.

And you can practice meditation and prayer wherever you are — whether you’re out for a walk, riding the bus, waiting at the doctor’s office or even in the middle of a difficult business meeting.

Find a quiet, secluded space in your home before work, or a serene park at lunchtime, or use your office when you know you won’t be disturbed. Make sure you have at least five minutes of uninterrupted time.

Water Therapy

The benefits of good hydrotherapy, swimming, or using hot tubs can be significant because you can find the state of calmness that will produce a healthier you.

So this holiday season, give yourself a gift of more relaxation, creating more balance, and improved well-being by focusing on what really matters during this time of year when spending time with loved ones, even if it means crossing a few less important items off your to-do list.

If you are interested in exploring the benefits of mindfulness and/or looking for a leadership coach, or executive coaching to support you with leadership and personal growth, I invite you to contact me today.

On the journey with you,

Access more resources for your leadership journey: