Holiday Stress Busters

You’re already walking your “holiday” walk—slumped forward, as if the weight of planning and preparing for the holidays rests squarely on your shoulders. The approaching holiday season is stressful anyway, but with your concerns and worries and caregiving responsibilities, the stress can be overwhelming.

When planning for this year’s holiday season, keep in mind the real purpose of the holidays: To enjoy and celebrate our life and those we share it with. To ensure your time is well spent with those you love, we’ve come up with some suggestions to help you relieve stress during the holidays, as well as year-round:

1. Exercise regularly. Walking, in particular, is a great way to release your pent-up frustrations. Set aside time to walk as often as you can–whether it be in the morning after breakfast, or in the evening after dinner. If your care recipient is able, you might want to include him or her in your daily walk. In the winter, when the snow flies and the wind howls, take cover at your local shopping mall. Many malls open early in the morning to accommodate walkers.

2. Take regular breaks–daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. For instance, plan on a daily break of perhaps a half hour, spent on an activity you enjoy. Then, plan a weekly activity, such as a trip to the local library. A monthly break could be a night out with friends. A yearly break could be a family vacation. Planning ahead is important for two reasons: You can make appropriate care arrangements for your care recipient, and you have something to look forward to. Regular breaks during the holiday season are a must. Removing yourself from your situation on an ongoing basis will help you keep a perspective on what’s really important.

And, visit our game break section to play Solitaire and Find Your Way home. You won’t leave the house but you’ll feel like you did.

3. Start new traditions. Rather than insisting on keeping to ways of the past (you host and cook Christmas Eve dinner at your house), develop new ways–new traditions. Involve family members and friends in your holiday planning. If you feel resistance from some family members, then just work around them. For instance, if your sister-in-law insists that she’s too busy to bakes pies, then order pies from your local bakery, rather than relenting and baking them yourself.

Be creative in the new traditions that you develop. If shopping for presents will be too great of an ordeal for you, shop instead at your kitchen table, with catalogs, or at your desk, on the Internet. Give gift certificates for restaurants, spas and clothing stores as presents this year–easy gifts to give that will be well-received. Whatever works best for you works best for your family.

And, be sure to schedule time to spend enjoying the holidays. Perhaps the night you finish decorating your tree, you order pizza and enjoy a quiet evening admiring your Christmas tree lights.

Be sure to tell us about your new holiday traditions in our comment section below.

4. Be flexible. Your husband forgot to pick up your mother at the day care center, your daughter burnt the cookies and your dog is throwing up. And, it’s Christmas Eve. What do you do?

Laugh, regroup, and make the best of it. You can plan, but you can’t control. Unavoidable mishaps or accidents will happen. Rather than allowing the mishaps to control you, control them by keeping your sense of humor, keeping a positive perspective and adapting with different solutions.

5. Let moderation be your guide. Only overindulge in laughter. Too much rich food, too many egg nogs and too many chocolate Santas will play havoc on your digestive system–not to mention on the day after.

Have a wonderful holiday season–you deserve it.

• Keep Your Cool

• The Chocolate’s Okay, But I Melted

• Holiday Stress Busters

• Ten Signs an Aging Relative Needs Help

• Take Our Button-Pushing Test

• Your Wish List

• What Do You Want?

• Bah Humbug? A True Tale of Christmas

• Listen to Managing Your Holiday Stress teleclass (Before listening, a little homework for you: What do you dread about the holiday season? What’s one wish you have for yourself? One wish you have for your care recipient?)

• Tell Us: What do you hate about the holidays?