Ten Ways to De-Stress and Worry Less During the Holidays

Family gatherings, party feasts, gifts galore. Holiday season in America is enchanting — yet often overwhelming for the adults who are responsible for the planning, baking, and buying. If just thinking about the coming holiday season makes your pulse rate skyrocket, why not try a new plan this year? Here are ten ways to feel less frazzled and enjoy the holidays more.

1. Plan ahead. Sticking to a timeline can make the holidays a lot more sane, so you don't find yourself having to pack up and mail the family gifts on the same day you're baking cookies for your kid's holiday party at school. For others, shifting some tasks to another time of the year does the trick. For instance, why not take a weekend early in the fall to prepare holiday cards and yearly update letters instead of waiting until the last minute? It also helps to enlist the whole family to choose the photo on the card or letter, prepare the address labels on the computer, or contribute to the group letter or notes on the cards. It's more fun and the work will go faster.
2. Get more rest. Stress builds when you're tired. Try making a pact with a friend to go to bed early on the nights when you don't have holiday parties to attend, and you'll find half the holiday stress has disappeared.
   
   Another way to maximize rest is to make sure you're getting the best quality of sleep when you're in bed. Hitting the hay before 10:00 p.m. is the ayurvedic recommendation for deeper, more restful sleep. And if you find yourself lying awake with holiday gift lists running through your head, try Blissful Sleep, a powerful herbal formula that helps promote deeper sleep and helps make falling asleep easier. Unlike medical sleep aids, this holistic formula helps strengthen mind-body coordination and contributes to a fresher feeling and sharper mental abilities the next day.

Or maybe you fall asleep fine but wake up too early in the morning, tossing and turning all night. Deep Rest is the formula for you — it helps relieve heat in the body, which contributes to night wakefulness.

3. Banish worries. Daily meditation, such as the Transcendental Meditation^® technique, plus calming exercise such as yoga, can help banish worries all through the year. The trick is to not skimp on these daily de-stressors when time runs short. Worry Free herbal formula is another tool in your holiday de-stress arsenal. Ayurvedic herbs Brahmi and Shankapushpi are renowned for improving mental functioning and focus when you're under pressure.
4. Take time for a cup of tea. Supplement your efforts to stay stress-free with a cup or two of Worry Free Tea. Ingredients such as Ashwagandha combat physical and mental fatigue, while research shows that Arjuna supports the physical and emotional heart.

Or make your own De-Stress Tea. Boil two quarts of water for 5 minutes. Take it off the heat and add 3 leaves mint, ½ t. fennel seed, and ¼ t. marshmallow root. Place the water in a thermos. Sip it warm throughout the day to provide mental calm.

5. Create a relaxed holiday environment at work. Holiday smells of cookies baking or fresh evergreen boughs create a cozy atmosphere and evoke happy feelings. When you're at work or while sleeping, keep the holiday spirit going with Worry Free Aroma Oil to help calm the mind and body.
6. Balance the emotions to avoid holiday blues. For some people, the holidays bring emotional trauma, due to painful memories or family conflict. Emotional trauma and depression can stimulate a person to eat more, resulting in weight gain and skin breakouts after the holidays.

Try something different this season. Start taking Stress Free Emotions a few weeks before the holidays start, and continue throughout the season. This powerful herbal formula helps strengthen the heart and emotions, helping create resilience to emotional stress.

Take the case of Katie, mother of three. One year at an overseas family gathering, she felt jet-lagged, stressed and overwhelmed. The next year she took Stress Free Emotions, and even though the pressures were the same, she felt completely different. "I felt rested and settled and really enjoyed myself," she says. "Everyone commented on how calm and relaxed I was."

For greater emotional balance, Maharishi Ayurveda recommends eating more astringent, bitter, and sweet foods (this doesn't mean the heavy, concentrated holiday sweets, but whole grain rice, wheat and whole milk products) to cool the body and soothe the heart. Flavor your food with cooling spices, such as cinnamon, fennel, and coriander. Drink rose petal tea or hot milk to soothe emotions when they are stirred up. Resist skipping meals and try to get to bed early to create more balance and perspective. Soothe your heart while you sleep with Blissful Heart Aroma Oil, which contains heart-supporting rose oil.

7. Keep your mind steady while under pressure. Even with the best-laid plans, there comes a time in everyone's holiday season when choosing the right gift, attending multiple parties and organizing family gatherings overwhelms the mind. Give yourself a break and take Stress Free Mind to keep your mind calm, steady and clear even on those days when nothing seems to be going right.
8. Remember, 'tis the season to be jolly. Blissful Joy herbal formula can give you that "extra edge" by helping uplift the mood and steady the emotions even when you're feeling stretched. Sometimes that's all you need to enjoy the good times with friends and family rather than feel bogged down in the myriad responsibilities of the holiday season.
9. Look your best. When you look good, you'll feel good too. Make a list of positive, nurturing things you can do for yourself during holiday season (other than eating). An ayurvedic self-massage with Youthful Skin Massage Oil in the morning before your shower, for instance, can melt away seasonal blues and leave you with a genuine holiday glow.
10. Think outside the box. The holidays don't have to be materialistic. Take your grandchild to an ice-skating rink for a festive outing that doesn't focus on eating or buying. It helps to remember that the real meaning of "holiday" is "holy day" — and with a little effort we can emerge from the season feeling more whole.

Keep on topic

© 1999, 2021 Maharishi AyurVeda Products International, Inc. (MAPI). All Rights Reserved. MAPI does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. See additional information.