The holidays are usually a joyous and wonderful time of the year for most, but for many of us they can also be very stressful. Whether it’s related to gift-giving anxiety, travel upsets, inclement weather, difficult family dynamics, isolation or overindulgence, this time of year can make us all more susceptible to colds, flu, fatigue, depression and general malaise.
Instead of allowing ourselves to go into hibernation mode as there is less and less sunlight during the holiday season, we pull our coats tight and brave the cold weather, traffic jams, crowds, and long lines to get our gift shopping done (often at the last minute). We stay out late, drink too much, eat too much, and scramble under pressure to complete projects or plans before the close of the year.
Add the pressure of living up to the expectations of family and the inevitable weather-related travel upsets and you’ve got a recipe for major stress.
So what can you do to take a little bit of the edge off this time of year? Here are some tips to help you keep your stress to a minimum and improve your mood so you can enjoy the holiday season with some sanity:
Get plenty of rest. Stay hydrated and remember to breathe … deeply! Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night or make up for lost sleep by taking naps or sleeping in. Lower alcohol consumption and drink plenty of other fluids, especially water, to stay hydrated. And remember to breathe deeply.
Avoid refined carbohydrates and sugars. OK, I know this is a tough one, but it can make a huge difference in how you feel! Refined carbs tend to spike then deplete your serotonin levels leaving you exhausted. So, indulge a little, but try to stick to healthier treats like dark chocolate or seasonal fruits. Balance things out by eating fiber-rich serotonin-enhancing foods like whole grains, root vegetables, beans, legumes, seeds and nuts, along with a little lean protein (turkey or fish).
Load up on Omega 3 essential fatty acids. Research shows a strong association between Omega-3 fats and brain health. Definitely a case of the more the merrier! Your brain needs a certain amount of fat to function properly and remain healthy. but not all fats are created equal. Some of the ones you may think of as unhealthy are actually good for you (in spite of the conventional wisdom), while others that you may have been led to believe are healthy, are actually quite harmful for you due to their high Omega 6 content, not to mention the significant amount of processing that goes into making them. That’s why it’s important to increase you essential fatty acid intake during the winter months and times of high stress like the holidays. You can get your omega 3s from wild caught salmon, walnuts, avocados and chia seeds!
Slow down. Take time to savor and enjoy the rituals of the season. Stay present with yourself and everyone around you and practice forgiveness and acceptance. Remember, you can choose to let go of whatever is troubling you for the moment.
Reach out to others, especially those in need. The holidays can magnify feelings of isolation or loneliness for those who can’t be with family or don’t have family to be with. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help and comfort if you are in need. Helping others in need also has a profoundly healing and uplifting effect, both physiological and psychological.
Surround yourself with uplifting and nurturing sounds and smells. During the holiday season it is especially important to surround yourself with soothing and uplifting smells and sounds. Listen to music that makes you happy and calm even if its not holiday music. A great place to start is with one of our Soothe collection of aromatherapy products. The combination of lavender, geranium, clary sage and chamomile essential oils in this blend help you stay calm and grounded, even when things around you are a little chaotic.
If you need a little extra help adjusting your mood try our Inspiration blend with it’s uplifting mix of citrus essential oils –sure to put a smile on even the most stubborn of scowls. If traditional holiday smells stress you out or make you depressed, avoid them as much as possible.
Happy Earth Day! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of honoring and acknowledging the contribution of others to our lives and personal well being, as well as those whose efforts contribute to the greater good. The second half of April commemorates two special occasions that give us a wonderful opportunity to do just that: Earth Day (today) and Administrative Professionals Day (April 25th).
Whether you view Thanksgiving as a religious celebration, a pagan tribute to the bounty of Mother Nature, or the official ringing in of the holiday season, the celebration of Thanksgiving gives us a rare opportunity to take a collective time out –to reconnect with loved ones and remember just how much we have to be thankful for.
Two of the fastest ways to raise your vibrational frequency (which is low when you’re sick or stressed out) are listening to music and using essential oils. Listen to music that you love or that soothes you as often as possible. As for essential oils, citrus oils are the most effective for alleviating depression and improving your mood, especially grapefruit, orange, tangerine, and lime (oils typically extracted from the rind of the fruit). More expensive but also effective are oils extracted from the orange blossoms, stems, and leaves of the citrus trees such as bergamot, petitgrain, and neroli.
You don’t need to give away money to make a difference in someone else’s life. Do a volunteer shift or two at a local soup kitchen or toy drive or offer to buy a bag of groceries for a family in need (this can be done anonymously if that makes it easier). Go to a local house of worship and attend a sermon. If you feel yourself falling into a sinkhole of loneliness and/or depression, there are many ways to pull yourself out. So don’t give in to the urge to withdraw or become reclusive. Reach out instead!
Do a little stretching or practice a little yoga every day – either first thing in the morning when you arise or at night before retiring for the evening. Find a restorative pose that doesn’t require a lot of skill or props. One of the best for this is “legs up against the wall.” Lie flat on your back perpendicular to, and facing a wall. With your knees bent and feet flat on the wall, slide your rear end forward until it touches the wall then with your back flat on the floor, slowly straighten your legs so they are both straight up and resting against the wall. Stay in this position for as long as you can (at least 5 minutes). You may need a bolster or pillow under your lower back to support you. When you are done, bend your knees, and with feet flat against the wall again, slide your body back into the starting position. Get up slowly. Combine this or whatever poses or stretches you choose for your routine with some deep breathing exercises to help relieve tension that can build up in your neck and shoulders, and to find your center and get grounded. Be an oasis of calm amidst the chaos surrounding you! You’ll be surprised by how your calmness can subtly influence others who are not and help them to come down to earth.
If you’re feeling unusually blue, you may be suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), which is in part, the result of a Vitamin D deficiency brought on by insufficient exposure to natural daylight. SAD primarily affects people who live in northern latitudes (north of San Francisco and Washington D.C.), and seems to affect more woman than men. This condition can become acute right around the holidays when days are the shortest, Longer nights tend to trick our brains into producing more melatonin at the expense of serotonin (the “feel-good” hormone). To compound matters, our bodies are used to rising when the sun comes up but during this time of year it’s still dark out when we get up in the morning. This anomaly seems to be the crux behind SAD, which can last throughout the winter months and into early spring depending on where you live and what the climate is like.
This is a tough one for most people with all the scrumptious desserts and cookies that seem to surround you wherever you go. But refined carbohydrates (mainly white flour and starches) tend to spike, then deplete, your serotonin levels giving you the equivalent of a sugar rush.
Louis Pasteur, the creator of “Germ Theory” which asserts that germs are “out there” ready to invade and attack our bodies, made this statement on his deathbed: “The microbe is nothing, the terrain is everything.” With this statement, he validated the work of his contemporary Pierre Bechamp who showed that what’s important is the “terrain” (i.e. the environment inside your body, not the “germs” themselves). So taking a page from Bechamp’s playbook, the best way to beat the germs that cause colds, flu and other illness is to maintain a “clean” and healthy environment inside your body. Forget the vaccines! Take better care of yourself.
This seems so basic it’s almost laughable, and yet lack of planning is probably one of the biggest factors that contribute to holiday stress. How many times have you found yourself waiting until the last possible minute to do your holiday gift shopping or holiday greeting card mailing? You scramble to find something, anything that can pass for a gift, or worse yet, you’ve waited to the last minute so you can take advantage of those big holiday sales and discounts only to find there’s little or no selection left! As time starts to run out your stress levels go through the roof and your heart isn’t in it at all – you’re just going through the motions so as not to disappoint your family and friends, especially those who do put some care and thought into this ritual.
