Five Tips for Relieving Holiday Stress

The holidays are a stressful time of year for many individuals. Whether it's because you have to deal with difficult relatives, prepare large meals, or deal with crowded stores, the stress of the holidays can really get to you, affecting your physical and emotional health. If you are someone who gets stressed during the holidays, try using these tips for dealing with holiday stress.

Plan Ahead: Whenever it's possible, planning ahead will help you reduce holiday stress. For instance, if you know you're going to have to prepare a big dinner for your family, make a grocery list of everything you'll need for the dinner and make one shopping trip to get all of it. Prepare things that can be frozen ahead of time so that you'll have less to do on the day you actually have to cook the big dinner.

Ask for Help: Another way in which you can deal with holiday stress is by asking for help. If you are hosting a big dinner for your extended family, ask each relative to bring a side dish so that you won't have to do as much cooking. If you have kids, ask them to help you clean up the house in preparation for the celebration.

Take Time for Yourself: This may seem like a hard thing to do in the midst of the busy holidays, but it is an important tip for holiday stress relief. Try to set aside a half an hour each day to spend some time doing whatever you enjoy doing. Read a book for pleasure, take a bubble bath, take a walk, knit, crochet, watch a favorite television show, write in a journal, or do something else you find pleasurable.

Gratitude: Michael Sichel, a licensed clinical social worker and an author at About suggests having an attitude of gratitude when you feel stressed during the holidays. He asserts that misery and gratitude cannot co-exist and we possess the ability to choose one of these emotions. Personally, I've found that when I'm stressed out if I make a list of things I am thankful for, I tend to feel less stressed as well. If you feel stressed this holiday season, think about or write a list of things in which you are thankful. It may include people in your life, pets, your job, your home, and so forth.

Don't Overbook Yourself: Another great tip to relieve holiday stress is to not overbook yourself. It seems that everyone wants to see you during the holidays and while you may want to see everyone and do everything, too, be realistic about how much time you have and how much you can reasonably handle. You might not be able to attend three Thanksgiving celebrations in one day, for instance, but you might be able to reasonable make it to two of them.

While the holidays can be stressful for many people, using these holiday stress relief tips will help you combat the stress of the holidays so that you may enjoy them more fully. Happy Holidays!

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About: Ten Tips for Coping With Holiday Stress:

http://mentalhealth.about.com/od/familyresources/a/hoildaysichel.htm