5 Tips to Get Through Holiday Stress & Rebel Against It
This time of year typically is always a challenge, no matter how much I try to prepare. Between travel, family, friends, business events, baked goods, gifts, holiday cards, and wanting to DO IT ALL, I start to feel a strong pull to turn inward. Is it even possible to navigate this time of year without stress? With ease even? Yes! We can actually train ourselves to be easy like Sunday morning, and roll with the weather, the late car, the grumpy people in lines, with unexpected visitors, sugar fueled kids, with it all.
Here is my go to list to bring some serious “ohm” into your holidays (and beyond!):
TIP #1 : NOTICE IT. Noticing when we start to feel stressed is one of our most powerful tools. We can then take action. One super easy thing to do is shake (yep, not a typo, shake it baby!).
TIP #2 : SHAKE IT OFF. Literally “shake it off”. This works on a couple levels: one it interrupts our thought patterns (which were likely leading us to that “omg, she is late and I spilled my coffee, everything will be ruined and miserable’ place). And two, when we are stressed, our bodies have a chemical reaction so we can fight or run from that stress (not really useful, however, when the stressor is a To Do list longer than Santa’s). Shaking (or dancing!) helps burn off that reaction in the body, bring us back to a nice state of homeostasis.
TIP #3 : YOU ARE SAFE. That To Do list and your packed calendar are still not immediate physical threats, no matter how much they feel like it. Take some slow deep breaths, and remind yourself you are safe, still have access to basic needs, and slowly exhale. Repeat until you feel your heart rate return to a nice slow pace.
TIP #4 : GET CREATIVE. Activating our creative minds or puzzle solving minds, being curious and open will help tip the scales from being overwhelmed, short sighted, and irritable to more focused, problem solving, and even compassionate. Try something as simple as a new route on your commute or smooshing colors around on a paper (pen, pencils, paint, whatever you want!).
TIP #5 : FEEL ALL THE FEELS. (AKA ‘how to be present’.) One tool to quickly be present in the moment is to literally feel. Use your senses, all of them. 1. Savor your tea (or whatever you’re consuming), really concentrate on the flavors, aromas, and sensations as you sip. 2. Touch something soft and comforting, or smooth or some other texture, and really pay attention to how it feels. 3. Listen closely to the sounds around you, maybe you even hear something new. 4. Look deeply at the colors or shapes or patterns around you, look for something you’ve not seen before. 5. And go deep into how your heart feels right now, in this moment, let your emotions have a minute to express themselves, however that looks.
BONUS TIP: create a gratitude journal. Every morning when you wake up and evening before you go to sleep, write down at least five things that bring you deep sense of gratitude or appreciation, really savor them. Think of this practice as an easy twice daily Vitamin for Ease (Vit EZ!). Our brains are hard-wired to remember the negative significantly more than the positive, this is one way to help tip the scales of that proclivity.
Whatever and however you celebrate all the incredible holidays this season, I hope it is with joy, ease, and compassion. Let me know which of these you use and how it goes, I’d love to hear from you!
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Mariah Ehlert is the head Rebel Brain, a Visionary, and Lover of Tea. She is a certified Neurosculpting® Facilitator, Master Nutrition Therapist, Portrait Photographer, and Rebel. She wants to teach you tools to live with ease, calm your stress response, and be healthier in mind and body. She believes fully your dreams are worth manifesting. For most of us this requires navigating our way through stress, tricky mindset shifts, and entraining a powerful pathway for joy. Consider her your brain coach, showing you some insight into the language of your brain and why it does what it does, so we can instead use to our advantage. Her dream for you is to have you completely embody your power, to be unshakable, so that almost nothing can trigger you. And for you to approach your day with curiosity, creativity, compassion, and empathy. She wants you to feel fully grounded in your value, your authority, and focused on creating more for your career, your family, and yourself! You can find Mariah and The Rebel Brain on her website, Instagram,Facebook or LinkedIn.