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Coping with Holiday Stress

It’s the most wonderful time of the year - and it can be the most stressful too.

From gift-giving and decorating to entertaining and navigating family gatherings, finding time to finish everything on your to-do list can seem impossible and leave us stressed and frantic. Stress uses up our energy reserves and seasonal stressors take extra energy that we may not have. At least one study suggests that it can literally give you a heart attack. But it’s unrealistic to think you can eliminate all holiday stress entirely. The key to managing stress is to recognize it and work to minimize it so it doesn’t overwhelm you. There are a variety of simple ways to trim your to-do list and skip some of the stress, like shopping online to save time. Ste. Anne’s Marketplace offers a curated collection of unique gifts for everyone on your list – and you’ll be giving small businesses the gift of support. Everyone wins!

Research shows that gift buying tops the list of anxiety-provoking tasks of the season. Think outside the box and wrap up an experience – it will be long remembered after the holidays are over, according to science. Intentional gift giving, like experiences, is socially connecting and emotionally inciting during gift consumption, and long after the big day. The calmness of a shared spa day visit will create wonderful memories and deepen bonds.  Set realistic expectations. Things often don’t go as planned so be forgiving of yourself and others. The holidays don’t have to be perfect. Can good be good enough? Yes! No one is going to remember the sparkly gift wrap or perfectly decorated tree – but they will remember the laughter from a game of charades or a caroling session or a budget-friendly Secret Santa exchange.

Family traditions are wonderful but if they’ve become less fun and you’re feeling more frazzled, then maybe it’s time to re-evaluate and alter them. Families change and grow and that can make maintaining holiday traditions difficult. Simplify by adapting the most meaningful pieces of it. For example, change up the all-day cookie bake-fest and connect with a cookie exchange – make or buy one type of cookie – or ditch the gift exchange for a holiday hangout making gingerbread houses. New traditions will someday be old-valued traditions. So find ways to simplify. Potluck is in, and so too is online shopping. Give up buying for everyone and choose names instead. Or even better make a group donation to a great charity.

Keep these top tips in mind to make the holidays brighter:

• Design the holidays that you want. Set priorities and decide where you want to spend your energy, time and money.
• Take the 37 things on your list that need to be done and cut it down to seven.
• Don’t over-commit. Block off time just to take in the holidays – to sit by the fire and enjoy that cup of hot chocolate without the rush.
• Take care of your health. Eat right, get enough sleep, get outside for a light break each day and exercise. 
• Plan some post-holiday downtime with the gift of self-care – a massage or exquisite body wrap will bring calm and joy to your heart, body and soul.