“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” we often say, but Christmas also represents a time when stress levels go through the roof. To help you better cope with this happy but stressful time of year, we’ve put together some important tips to help you forget about stress and make these days more enjoyable.
For many of us, Christmas can be a major source of stress, pressure, and conflict. Some people can be overwhelmed by excesses and expectations and end up depressed during the holidays.
Lack of time and money and the pressure of giving gifts everywhere can often contribute to stress during the holiday season.
Most of us are aware of the adverse effects that stress can have on our bodies. We already know that it can affect our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and it can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, if left unchecked.
In fact, many studies have shown that there is an increased incidence of heart attacks and heart-related deaths during the holiday season , which can be due to stress, excessive alcohol consumption, a high-fat diet, or a combination of all three factors. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we remedy the stress of the Christmas holidays as soon as possible.
We are aware that with everything related to the kitchen (the preparation of multiple Christmas dinners with more or fewer guests, business dinners, appointments with friends and family), home decoration, visits (expected and unexpected ) and gift-giving, the holidays can make us feel like we have to try to meet a job deadline with an exacerbated pressure level (hey, it’s Christmas) instead of trying to enjoy the holidays, That is what it is. So, try these Christmas strategies to de-stress and relieve tension and help make stress go away.