For most of us adults, the holiday season is more stressful than any other emotion. And for those of us dealing with perfectionistic thoughts, the holiday anxiety can sometimes feel incredibly overwhelming. 

If you already feel like you’ve been sucked into the stressful whirl of holiday excitement, or if you want to prevent your anxiety levels from reaching record heights, we have a few self-care and holiday-management tips for you. 

Tips on how to deal with Holiday Stress and Anxiety

It’s important that we set up systems to relieve that holiday stress and prevent it from accelerating beyond our control. Our mental health and emotional stability is always of utmost importance, especially when we're doing our best to make everyone around us feel good. Here are our top tips for feeling your best during the holiday season without overburdening yourself with to-dos and tasks. 

1. Internalize what the holidays mean for you- before getting swept away by the holiday frenzy, or if you’ve already been swept up, we recommend you take a step back. Breathe. And ask yourself what the holidays truly and genuinely mean for you. Lay it out simply for yourself without overcomplicating it. Maybe you’ll find out it’s something as simple and invaluable as being in the same room as friends and family. And who knows, maybe you’ll realize everything else is just added benefits. Whatever insight you may find within yourself may come as a great relief. 

2. Console that Perfectionist Voice Controlling Your Holidays- for those of us who lean towards perfectionistic thinking, holidays can be especially demanding. Rather than trying to do everything perfectly, from the recipes, outfits, gifts and invitations, how about having a conversation with your perfectionistic thoughts? So when a thought like, 'I need to find him/her the perfect gift that they are going to love more than anything,’ how about reminding yourself that a gift is an act of love and anything you give with love will be appreciated? How about looking for something you hope this person you love and care about will enjoy, instead of pressuring yourself to search endlessly for the absolutely perfect gift? You can tell your perfectionist inner-voice that you will do your best and will be happy no matter the outcome. Because your best is perfect even if your self-critic doesn’t agree! 

3. Manage your expectations- focus on what you can control, like who you invite, what you will cook and maybe what you’d like to wear or do for yourself before the holidays begin. When we expect the perfect holiday, and everyone to have the time of their lives the entire time, we end up stressing ourselves out because we put ourselves in an unrealistic position with unrealistic expectations. The holidays are what you make of it, not what films or other people’s experiences portray the holiday as. We don’t need to make it stressful, or film-like, we just need to be grateful for where we are and the people that surround us - all the rest is the cherry on-top. 

4. Take Care of Yourself- preparing for the holidays doesn’t just mean running around to make everyone happy. It also involves setting aside time for yourself, and filling yourself up with self-love and self-patience so that you can approach the holiday in a calm and relaxed way. 

What are some activities that relax you and make you feel good? Meditating, or yoga? A massage? A walk or run? Going for a swim, or taking a really long bath or shower with your favorite essential oils? 

Take care of yourself, so that you feel your best, and so that maybe, you can even influence others to feel their best too. Afterall, joy and laughter is absolutely contagious!    

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Breaking Free from Approval Addiction with Kimberly Valerie

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