This holiday season is like no other because of Covid-19, but one thing that is the same is holiday stress. Shopping, families, finances, feasts, and kids – it all starts to build up and cause mental and physical stress on your body. When the body feels stressed, it’s performance starts to diminish leaving you feeling even worse. Tired, emotional, stiff, and bloated. To help your holiday stress, here are my top 10 ways to be proactive and destress this holiday season.
Healthy Takeaway’s
10. Increase your sense of community by asking a relative, neighbor, friend, family for a recipe for their signature dish and do a recipe swap! It’s something new and helps keep you safely connected to those close to you.
9. Create an Elf Team! Ask a relative or neighbor to be a part of your elf station. Collect your gift wrapping materials and have them wrap your kids’ presents, store them, and swap safely on your porch. It keeps you safe, but also shares the load, offers and shares support to your community.
8. Christmas Eve Huddle to get your holiday shopping done with plenty of time. It takes a bit of planning to set shopping days, but when you divide up the kids between the parents it helps make getting all your holiday shopping a more stress-free event.
7. Importance of restful and rejuvenating sleep. Holiday stress makes our systems overwhelmed including a weakened immune system. Make sure to set and commit to a solid sleep schedule, bedtime consistency and keep a to-do list at the nightstand, will help ensure you are empowered to slow your brain down and get needed rest.
6. Plan ahead and stock up. Make sure to keep a few extra gift cards around for the last-minute gifts you may have forgotten.
5. Make relaxation an important part of every day. To enjoy the holiday spirit with all your senses set a few minutes aside each day to relax and give gratitude for the holiday season.
4. Keep moving. Make sure you also carve out time each day to maintain an exercise routine or walking. Keep it simple with just 10 minutes each day.
3. Family activities together. Keep it simple to enjoy time together with simple activities like puzzles, board games, scavenger hunt, sensory box, and more to allow you to just have fun together during the holiday season.
2. Maximize Your Electronic Resources. Zoom, Facetime, and video conferencing tools make experiencing time with your family even if you can’t physically visit together. Take advantage of breakout rooms to have side conversations instead of all at once, it keeps a quality connection virtually. Try playing a game together virtually like Pictionary! Use this free website to help come with challenges – Randomwordgenerator.com.
1. Fill your cup Mamas. Remember self gratitude to fill your cup so that you can keep giving the holiday spirit to those around you.
Resources
- Come up with words/phrases for online games with www.randomwordgenerator.com
- Look for family game night ideas at Printactivities.com
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