3 Mindfulness Tips to
Manage Holiday Stress
The holidays are a weird time, aren’t they? It’s supposed to be “the most wonderful time of the year,” yet for a lot of people it becomes the most stressful time of the year.
For some, it’s a stressful time of year because they’re dealing with serious mental and emotional issues and the holidays have a way of magnifying those issues. For others, it’s stressful because they’re trying to please everyone, do everything they’re “supposed” to do, and keep up the appearance that they have their shit together.
If you’re in the second group, this post is for you. Let’s quickly (because I know you’ve got holiday stuff to do ?) talk about using mindfulness to manage holiday stress.
What’s mindfulness? It’s not just about practicing yoga and meditation. Mindfulness is about intentionally focusing on the present moment, becoming aware of your thoughts and feelings, and then directing those thoughts and feelings toward what is important to you.
Keep scrolling for my 3 mindfulness tips.
3 Ways to Stay Mindful
During the Holidays
- Remain aware of who you’re trying to impress. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of one-upmanship involved in holiday prep. From finding the perfect gift, to the perfect gift presentation, to the perfect Elf on the Shelf pose. As you’re struggling to bake the perfect holiday cookies, think of who you’re cooking them for. Do you even care about their opinion, really? And if you do, do you think they really care if you don’t deliver perfect cookies? If they really care about you, the answer is No!
- Sit down and write. Dump everything that’s running through your mind onto a piece of paper, sort it out, and prioritize it. It’s easy to become overwhelmed if you don’t do this because a thought will repeat over and over again in your head, making it seem like 10 thoughts rather than one. But you won’t be able to see that until you get the thoughts down on paper.
- Stop! Come back to the present moment, and reassess. When you start to spiral into a fit of anxiety, stop what you’re doing, and think about why you’re doing whatever’s stressing you out. Is it really that important in the scheme of things? Will it even be remembered a week, a month, or a year from now? What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? For example, if it’s spending time with your family and friends, is this thing you’re stressing out about adding to or subtracting from your family/friend time?
If you can remind yourself to do these three simple things (which aren’t necessarily easy by the way), you’ll have a much better chance of managing that holiday stress.
Here’s one more quick tip: Take a screen shot of these 3 tips so that you can easily reference them when you need to. ?
Click here for more posts with a “mindfulness” theme.
If you’re ready to Stop Settling & Start Living! check out our home page to learn more about what The Expectation Gaps has to offer.
Some posts you might want to Pin or email yourself for later, when the holiday season slows down.
Be Decisive: Practice This Powerful 3-Step Process
The Best Personal Growth Goal You Can Have
Do You Have the Audacity to Define Your “Why”?
Confessions of a Safety-Holic (Now in Remission)
How to Stop Being Codependent: My Personal Journey
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