
Stress Relief For Christmas
I had one message this morning as a guest on Marlow FM with the lovely Donna Thacker and friends..ban the words ‘Perfect Christmas’ !
Since mid-November I’ve been hearing this a lot – and seeing it on magazines – how we have to have the perfect mix of food/wine/decorations/presents/hair/dress etc etc the list goes on.
And I had this to say : when people come to see me in their adult life, for whatever problem, no-one has ever told me that their problem arose because they didn’t have a perfect Christmas as a child.
They do tell me, though, about the times mum and dad argued, got stressed, didn’t spend enough time with them, and how this ruined the day.
Christmas does NOT have to be stressful – often it’s made so by those little voices in our head that gives us our expectations of what we SHOULD be doing at Christmas – not what we want. Of course, its ok to want to give people and family a good time and a day they will remember when they get older…just make sure you give them the right memories – no-one wants to remember a crying mum or stressed out dad!
Stress symptoms are easy to spot when you take time to tune in to yourself – aching shoulders or back, being a bit snappy, getting tearful. If you feel any of these, stop and ask yourself ‘is this worth it?’ Christmas is meant to be a good time for all – and that includes you!
Here are my 10 Top Tips for a Stress Free Christmas and New Year
1. Forget the ‘Perfect Christmas’. It’s only one day, avoid internal or external pressure to be a ‘super Christmas organiser’
2. Say no if you have to. If the whole extended family wants to come for the day, and you can’t manage it, or can’t afford it, say so.
3. Reduce the ‘to do’ list to the things that really matter. Delete anything that you believe you ‘should’ be doing and focus time and money on the essentials.
4. Make sure you have your own ‘me time’. Plan in things that you want to do, as well as focus on children and extended family.
5. Get out of the house for walks. Exercise reduces stress and keeps family strife to a minimum.
6. Share out the tasks – allocate jobs to individuals for the season.
7. Set boundaries on behaviour at the outset. If the family are at home make it clear what is acceptable behaviour and what isn’t.
8. Have a plan and enlist family support if you have a difficult relative coming – give them just enough focus to keep things under control.
9. Consider cancelling traditional festivities and volunteering to help a charity – helping others generates good feelings all round.
10. Don’t try to change your whole life in January. Focus on one or two things that matter and are going to make a difference
If you would like help with Christmas stress, or problems with stress that you have at other times of the year, then please do contact me in confidence, cognitive hypnotherapy and NLP can help you learn to change your response to stress and be more in control of how you feel.
And…have a god Christmas holiday!
sue@ freedomfinders.co.uk 07721 410813
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sue@freedomfinders.co.uk
07721 410813
Cognitive Hypnotherapy for stress relief. Sue Roberts in Burnham Slough Berkshire