Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas….. or is it?
As I sit here writing this in my relatively warm apartment (no central heating here!) with a lovely husband and enough food in the fridge I am feeling very fortunate. Today I am a little sad that I wont be spending Christmas in the UK with my children – all five of them and our longstanding friends. But we have been able to make a choice about where we live and how we spend our life. Not everyone is so lucky.
As I walk around my neighbourhood in Valencia, homelessness, alcohol and mental health issues surround us. There are so many people sleeping rough in this beautiful city, as there are in most cities in the world. For me Christmas has always been a fun time with the kids, eating and drinking too much and spending far too much money on presents.
These past 3 years we have not been in the UK for Christmas and it has been so much less stressful. Not the usual stress of present shopping and oh my god food shopping, for one day! The past two years we have made reverse advent calendars and donated to a homeless project in Ibiza and this year I have been knitting scarves for the homeless here. Day to day I always stop and smile and say “hola”, you never know how much that might make someone just feel a bit better.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas but for many people the season of goodwill is a time of heightened stress and anxiety.
Christmas can highlight existing cracks within families or intensify the pressure of a family breakdown. We are bombarded with visions of “happy families” on tv adverts and Christmas films. We feel a pressure to get together and try to get along with each other.
For those without families, loneliness and grief can be heightened.
Ive put together some tips to help you manage your stress and anxiety over the Christmas period.
- The most important thing to remember is you can’t please everyone. You are not responsible for others feelings and enjoyment.
- Limit your alcohol consumption – if you know it has a negative impact on your mood. It may look like it alleviates the stresses but in fact it only aggravates anxiety in the long term.
- Don’t aim for perfection – who really cares if you forgot something , they probably won’t actually notice. Avoid worrying about the small things.
- Practice Mindful eating – By eating mindfully we can really slow down and appreciate what we are eating. After all there is no need to rush your Christmas lunch, it also helps with over indulgence and eating too much sugar which can have an impact on your mood.
- Go out for a mindful walk – make an effort to get out of the house. Wherever you live there is always somewhere to go – this will help clear your mind and blow away the “cobwebs”.
- Start your day with a morning stretch or yoga. I do this every day, and more recently as I have had back pain. It’s really useful over Christmas as you probably spend more time sitting than normal and are definitely out of your normal exercise routine.
- Try to keep to as normal a routine as possible – especially sleep. Sleep deprivation won’t help with your mood.
- Make list and prioritise. Make a list of three things you want to achieve (nice things) this will help you focus on things you’d really like to do. At the end of the day write down three things you enjoyed about the day. This will help build a sense of wellbeing.
- Learn to say NO – its okay not to agree to everything and do everything.
- If you are struggling ask for help. Its okay to talk
Useful phone numbers – Samaritans (uk) 116 123 NHS 111 Childline 0800 1111
Photos by Thought Catalog and rawpixel on Unsplash