The holiday season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Yule, Kwanzaa, another holiday, or don't celebrate at all, is often stressful and overwhelming. There's events, family visits, gifting, financial pressure, travel, and an expectation to do it all with a big festive smile.
Its all too easy to accidentally sacrifice your personal peace, and positive energy to the hustle and bustle of the season. Here are my tips for how to reduce stress and protect your energy during the holiday season.
1. Set boundaries.
Remember that "No." is a complete sentence. Its not always easy, but you deserve to be comfortable and happy just as much as everyone else does. Creating an affirmation such as 'my time is valuable' or can help to keep you in the right mindset to assert your boundaries.
Too help ease financial stress, agree a reasonable budget for gifts - if others disregard the agreement as so often happens, that is their choice, and does not indicate any kind of obligation from you.
Not every event feels escapable, so set clear boundaries on how much time you have the capacity to offer. If an hour is what you have the capacity to offer, you do not owe any additional time. You always have the option to change your mind if you want, but it shouldn't be for anyone else's wants.
2. Prioritize time to yourself.
Space to decompress is always valuable, but never more so than during the hectic holiday season. If you've travelled to spend time with family or friends, it can be hard to get any space or time to yourself.
Some great ways to get some alone time are to go out for a walk or run, take a long bath or shower, spend time reading, or take a mid-day nap.
Getting an early start, or staying up later, can also be helpful in getting some time to yourself if you're in a full house this holiday season.
3. Keep your practice.
Whether you usually start your day with a meditation, end your day with a journaling session, take a mindfulness walk in the afternoons, or a cold water dip in the evenings, make keeping that practice a priority during the holidays.
Disruptions to your practice can make it much harder to deal with stress, as your body comes to rely on these practices to keep your nervous system regulated.
If the day gets away from you, last minute plans happen, or you're otherwise kept away from your usual practice, give yourself at least a minute or two of conscious breathing to help with regulation, and get back on your practice game asap.
4. Visualize your shield.
The holidays win the award for 'time when its most likely to bump in to someone you want to avoid'. Whether its a relative dropping by unannounced, an over crowded store, or - the energies of other people or environments can have an impact on our own energy.
To help protect your energy, imagine yourself inside a big, shimmering bubble that the Universe has blown. Imagine the bubble acting like a shield, preventing any negative energies from filtering though it. The bubble moves with you, protecting you from every angle, adding a pearlescent sheen to the world around you, reminding you that you and your energy is safe.
When you're out of the situation, you can imagine the bubble popping, dissipating any remaining unwanted energies around it.
5. Take a social media break.
Social media during the holidays is often more performance art than anything else. Smiling families in matching festive pajamas, huge piles of presents, expertly arranged displays of food, a full face of make up at 9am, engagement announcements - its easy to feel like you're the only person having a hard time, or even just an absolutely average time.
To protect your energy, limit how much time you're spending on social media, and don't hesitate to mute or unfollow anyone who you know will impact your energy. Set a timer when you start scrolling to help avoid scroll-holes, and remember - people post their best moments. Behind that smiling picture of the family in matching pajamas with big smiles are 100 photos that didn't make the cut.
Don't be afraid to make yourself a priority this holiday season - your value is not dependent on the opinions of others.