Managing Holiday Stress
The pressures keep building over the holiday season, expectations skyrocket and yet we’re expected to be merry. Let’s unpack that.
While we may be presented with an image of glowing holiday memories, perfect gifts, family gathered around, and smiling faces, this is not what Christmas looks like for many. Even if we try to recreate it, it is simply two-dimensional. As humans with complex and tricky minds and ever-changing emotions, it gets a bit complicated.
Our context (in this case - Australia! 2023!) creates expectations of:
Togetherness with family and friends
Gift giving (often the ‘perfect’ gift, which has been heavily marketed to us)
Creating epic memories
Travel - even if it’s just to the beach (oh boy, will the traffic prove that one)
Taking time off work (even though many industries are in high demand - retail, hospitality, emergency services, healthcare)
Being merry, joyful, happy, cheerful, etc etc
This puts pressure on us to come up with the money, time, energy, emotional bandwidth, and social connections to make all that possible. And make it look effortless! You are not alone if you need to work throughout the holidays, if you cannot afford to travel or purchase gifts, if you feel lonely, and if you would rather it wasn't Christmas.
While it can be a wonderful time to slow down for the year, perhaps taking a break from some things, reconnecting with ourselves, and do what is meaningful for us - all those expectations get in the way. One way to navigate this is to manage our stress, release expectations that are not congruent with our values, and take it one moment at a time.
Here are three effective ways to manage stress this holiday season:
Brain dump - get a piece of spare paper, write out everything that has been flying around your brain in a stream of consciousness, then crunch it up and throw that paper away.
Gentle movement - stress is one of those emotions that can get stuck in the body, so low-intensity exercise is great to move it on. Try: walking, yoga, or stretching.
Small wins - each day, set yourself 3 goals/ tasks that are easily accomplished within the time you have available and make a point of celebrating ticking those off.
Once you get some relief from that immediate sense of stress, you'll be able to work on patterns that cause stress (too many time commitments, too many expectations of ourselves, not enough rest… etc). Therapy can be a great place to untangle some of those if you want extra support. Remember, therapists are humans too and our Christmas is no more ‘perfect’ than yours. We get it.
I hope that gives you some space to change things if you need to… or at least 3 minutes of reading to distract you!
Wishing you a moment of peace and calm this silly season, take good care of yourself.
Warm wishes,
Grace