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It’s getting close to Christmas so this month Courtney, our Practice Manager, talks about some tips and tools that you can use to decrease stress and anxiety over this Christmas break.
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Christmas can be stressful
Christmas can be a time of laughter, fun and joy with family, friends and entertainment. However, for some people it can be quite a stressful time and also a time when anxiety is quite high. It can also be a time when we place high expectations on ourselves and also the people around us. Have you had any of these thoughts, or feel that you might have some of them in the lead-up to Christmas:
- How am I going to get everything done before I go on leave?
- How am I going to find the time to go Christmas shopping?
- How am I going to find the funds to be able to buy gifts, go on social events, buy Christmas food? and
- How am I going to manage Christmas Day, between managing my family and also my partner’s family?
Managing stress and anxiety
If you have found yourself asking these questions, that’s okay. It’s perfectly normal. You might even find that, if you haven’t already started asking yourself these questions, you might do so in the lead-up to Christmas. However, these questions create stress and anxiety. So, it’s important that we manage these stressors in a productive way to ensure that we are mentally and physically fit and healthy.
Self-care
It’s important, not only that we are getting enough sleep, but also that we are eating healthily and we’re exercising regularly. As far as our mental health goes, it’s important that we’re engaging in self-care and doing things that will recharge our batteries. I like to use the analogy of our smart phone. In the morning you unplug your smart phone and you use it throughout the day and watch those batteries drain. Well, we humans are a little bit like that as well. We get up in the morning, we make a cup of coffee and then we start going to work We might get stuck in traffic. On the lead up to Christmas, we might be trying to organize work, we might be trying to make sure that we’re prepared for next year. We’re trying to organize Christmas gifts and Christmas food and what happens is we are also draining our batteries.
Just like that smart phone
We’ve got to make sure that we are really charging our batteries and the way that we do that is by self-care. So do those things that you enjoy. What I want you to do this Christmas is spend at least 10 minutes every day doing something that you enjoy to recharge these batteries. This will make sure that you have patience, enough energy and also enough compassion to be able to deal with yourself and your own thoughts and your own stressors and your own anxiety, but also give you that patience with other people around you.
Get some space
Make sure that you’re getting some space of your own. Christmas can be a time that’s jam-packed with family visits and social events and therefore it’s important that we’re making time just for us to recharge those batteries as well. Maybe you could go for a walk or you could go outside and do a meditation. You could also just put your headphones on and listen to some music. But just get that time for you.
Prioritize and make a list
The way to do this is write down a priorities list and tick them off as you start achieving them. Just be mindful that we are setting tasks that are achievable and not unrealistic, otherwise this will just add anxiety and stress also. Christmas is a great time to also prioritize people and loved ones, so even on your priority list make sure to include people that you enjoy spending time with and really use that opportunity to strengthen those relationships as well.
Say no!
Just have a think before committing yourself to other people’s expectations and plans over the Christmas period. We do tend to kind of jump back a lot into our old ways. We also try to squeeze more into our calendars. Be mindful that you can’t do everything and sometimes things are just not achievable. What I want you to do is know that it is okay to say no and I want you also to practise this. Then, if you do feel that someone around you is placing an unrealistic expectation on you or you don’t feel so you are going to have the time to do something, it’s okay to say no. So practice this over Christmas to reduce that stress and anxiety.
Plan
Identify stressful situations and also plan for these. Write a list of everything that you feel is going to be emotionally draining in the lead-up to Christmas and for each of these situations, write two things that you could possibly do to reduce that stress. An example could be going to the shopping centre where there are lots of people and something you could do is possibly put headphones on and listen to music as you’re shopping. Another thing that you could do, when you are finding yourself to be a little bit overwhelmed, is to engage in some deep breathing. The last thing that you could do, maybe at the end of the shop, is grab a cup of coffee. You could go sit in the park or at a beach just by yourself and get that space to recharge those batteries.
Take your time
Especially in the lead-up to Christmas, we can feel quite rushed trying to get every done. However, when we feel rushed, we are more susceptible to making errors and this can also create more stress. So don’t be afraid to request more time until you’ve had a think about different things or orientated yourself within a situation. Remember that you can just remove yourself from the situation even if it’s just for a few moments to engage in some deep breathing, collect your thoughts and then go back into the situation.
Don’t be alone
The next tip is to not be alone. Christmas can be a time that is quite isolating for people. It can be a time of high anxiety and high stress so make sure that you are connecting with other people you know. Pick up that phone and have a conversation with a friend or a family member. Make sure that you are taking time out to go and visit friends and family and
people that you enjoy spending time with. Also, if you do want to put a plan in
place or even gain some strategies to manage anxiety and stress over Christmas
give us a call and book in a session with one of our friendly counsellors and we can assist.
Have fun!
The last tip for you is to remember to have fun. So, let’s not just get caught up in the stress and the planning of Christmas but make sure that we’re also there being in the moment having fun, having a good laugh or letting our hair down and even just being silly.
Courtney
Two-Way SMS
If you’ve had an appointment in the last couple of weeks, you’ll have noticed that we now have two-way SMS enabled. This means that when you receive an SMS from Blissful about your next appointment you can respond YES or NO depending on your availability. With 48 hours’ notice of a cancellation, your counsellor will be able to book in another client and save you a cancellation fee.
Services over the Holiday Season
We would like to inform you that our phone 1300 59 39 55 will be continually operated over the holiday season for bookings. Some Blissful Minds Counsellors will continue working over the holiday season to honour any previously scheduled sessions. If you need to cancel for any reason with 24 hours’ notice, just log in to your Halaxy portal.
Feedback
Did you find this newsletter interesting? As always, if you have any questions or comments about anything above, feel free to contact us and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year.
The Blissful Minds Team