Tag Archive for: Stress Management

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What to Do When Holiday Stress Takes the Jingle Out of Your Jangle

When Holiday Stress Takes the Jingle Out of Your Jangle

Is holiday stress giving you a case of the bah humbugs? You’re certainly not alone! North Americans report experiencing increasing stress levels approaching the holidays, resulting in muscle tension, fatigue, and burnout. Thankfully, there are things you can do to immediately reduce stress and tension and find ways to enjoy the holiday season again.

According to survey results outlined by newswire.ca, even as of 2018 (before COVID complicated things), one-third of Canadians were already feeling more holiday-related stress than they had reported 5-years prior. These survey results reflect outcomes from other, similar surveys conducted in Canada and the United States, revealing a trend: the holidays are becoming increasingly stressful instead of joyous. A lot of it comes from feeling physically, emotionally, and financially overspent. 

What’s especially concerning are the potential health ramifications of stress. All this stress goes somewhere, resulting in restlessness, sleeplessness, burnout, skin and digestion issues, headaches, and muscle tension.

Signs & Symptoms of Holiday Stress

  • Lack of enthusiasm or “holiday spirit.”
  • Feeling overwhelmed by commitments and everything you think you need to do. 
  • Loss of interest in holiday activities you typically enjoy doing. 
  • Feelings such as guilt and dread when considering obligations. 
  • Fearing disappointment or disaster. 
  • Experiencing muscle pain, tightness and/or tension (notably in the back, neck, and shoulders)
  • Feeling buried in tasks and loose ends.
  • Feeling tired but wired, even after a good night’s sleep.

Common Causes of Holiday Stress

Additional survey results reveal that one the most common causes of holiday stress is the feeling of having too much to do and not enough time or money to accomplish it all. Between holiday shopping, wrapping and decorating, cleaning the house, and preparing the perfect holiday meal and experience, it’s no wonder why more people are headed towards holiday season burnout.

Other contributing factors to holiday stress include:

  • Feeling overstretched physically and financially.
  • Concerns about family getting along well when everyone gets together. 
  • Feeling obligated to attend and participate in holiday festivities.
  • Experiencing feelings of guilt when turning down an invitation.
  • Physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion from being “on” all of the time. 
  • Fearing the holiday experience won’t live up to expectations. 
  • Placing unrealistic expectations on yourself and others–trying to find the perfect gift and create an ideal holiday experience. 
  • Overstimulation from crowded shops, traffic, lights, and music. 
  • “When demands exceed our ability to cope.”

Treating & Preventing Holiday Season Burnout

Rest to Prevent Holiday Season Burnout

Remember how fun and exciting the holiday season was for you as a kid? Recapturing some of that lightheartedness and fun again is possible, but it requires surrender: relinquishing the urge to “do more” and establishing coping effective coping strategies. You can start lowering stress by mitigating it at its source (as much as possible) while treating the symptoms. This could mean:

  • Planning in advance how many obligations you will agree to: giving yourself permission to opt-out of some invitations and obligations. 
  • Being more realistic about your time and energy: which may mean cutting back on shopping, baking, and decorating. 
  • Sticking to a list and budget: Resist the temptation to go overboard to find the perfect gift for everyone. 
  • Being realistic about expectations: basing your expectations on what family gatherings have been like, and remember that things don’t have to be perfect to be fun and meaningful. 
  • Reserving time for rest: this year, find ways to make rest & relaxation part of the holiday celebrations. Something may have to give to make more time and space for rest, but no one will miss the extra string of lights or fussy side dish. 
  • Asking for help and accepting support: For some people, asking for help is hard to do but worth it! Everyone benefits from having a bit of support. You can make your holiday workload lighter by delegating and adopting a teamwork approach. You can even make it fun by throwing a holiday decorating, tree trimming, or baking party with your kids or besties. 
  • Making self-care a priority: You aren’t going to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm to share if you’re not replenishing your energy stores. Don’t scrooge when it comes to making time for self-care. This can include making time to decompress, maintaining good sleep-hygiene, fitting in some light exercise, and booking yourself a tension-releasing massage or acupuncture treatment. 

For a Much Needed Reprieve From Holiday Season Tension in Victoria, BC. 

Restore and recharge yourself this holiday season with registered massage therapy or acupuncture treatment that releases tension, increases circulation, and helps you feel well-rested and ready to shine again. Give our team of practitioners at Diversified Health Clinic a call today at (250) 382-0018 or book an appointment online. 

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Stressed? Techniques for Managing Negative Stress

Stressed? Techniques for Managing Negative Stress

One of the constants in our lives is stress. Just reading that may induce stress for you but the reality is that not all stress is negative. Stress is, most simply, your body and minds way of reacting to situations in life; both the good and the not so good situations. Stress is the elation you feel when someone you’ve been missing is suddenly right in front of you. It is also the frustration that you experience when you see a parking ticket on your windshield. The term “stress” isn’t necessarily negative but we associate it that way so much that it has become synonymous with uncomfortable feelings. Which is, for many us, the main type of stress that we experience. So, let’s take a dive into the negative stress that affect us all and what we can do about it in our lives.

The First Step

The first thing to do is to identify what exactly is causing you stress. You can’t work on a problem that you can’t put your finger on.

  • Step One: Identify the cause or causes of your stress. Look at the overall view here and keep it simple. Is it work, personal life, finances specifically, health- related issues or a combination. Any problem seem insurmountable when it’s as big as a mountain. Break it down into basic, single points to focus on. Even if you have multiple areas of stress, just the act of putting it down on paper (or a spreadsheet if that’s your comfort zone) and sorting it with a plan of action can help you see that it IS manageable; even when it feels like it is too much.
  • Step Two: Identify what you can realistically do to alleviate or eliminate the stressors. Go down your list and do a quick run and tick off of what can you have an impact on and what you can’t. This is the first step here to see what you need to work on to eliminate versus what you need to slot into the category of “to be managed” if you personally cannot affect change on the stressor. Some stressors will resolve themselves with time and there is nothing that can be done but to manage how it affects you until the situation is over. Other times, the situation will not change until YOU change it. Those differences aren’t always apparent when you are in the middle of the stress.

The Next Steps

Now that you know what is causing you negative stress and which stressors are within your range of being able to make an impact or not. Let’s look at strategies to help.

  • Eliminate or alleviate what you can: Be realistic and plot out what you need to do to make things better with the stress in your life. If you can make a difference, then make the changes needed. You will thank yourself in the end. It may not be easy but it will be worth it. Since this area is specific to each person, only you can be the one to write this list. Be honest about your needs and wants and make your plan realistic to what you can offer for energy, focus and time. Even small changes and movement in the right direction will make a huge difference in how you feel about stress right now.
  • Learn how to manage the effects of stressors that you can’t do anything about: The fact is that there are going to be things that you can’t change in your life. In these instances, you will need to look at stress management techniques that will work for you, that you can put into action.

Stress Management Techniques

Negative stress can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds. Most of us are well aware of how we feel when stressed. Racing heart, elevated blood pressure, upset stomach, nervousness, anxiety, and anger are common complaints. It can affect your entire body in ways that make day to day life difficult and uncomfortable to deal with. What works to help manage the impact of stress for each person differs greatly but some options to start the ball rolling for what to try include:

  • Taking care of your body: Eat well, and drink water; exercise in a way that you find enjoyable and feels good for your body; try to get restful sleep; explore different physical relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation or focused breathing techniques.
  • Relax your mind and emotions with ways that work for you: Journaling or writing; listening to music; use guided imagery podcasts or similar media to help you if you find meditation a challenge; talk it out – find a friend or a therapist that can help you get some of the internal stress out in that way.

We tend to shy away from stress because it is already causing concerns in our lives and we certainly don’t want to put more attention to it, but that’s just what is needed for most of us.

With some focus and research into what is causing negative stress in your life, you can make a difference.

Check out this other great resource for more detailed information and suggestions on how to manage your stress.

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