The Balanced Life: 5 Ways to Manage Holiday Stress

There is no feeling worse than being completely run down during the holidays.

With 2012 rapidly approaching, we tend to get swept away in the undertow of a succession of holidays from Thanksgiving to Hanukkah to New Year's, and we can begin to feel as though we are drowning in dukkha: expectation, disappointment and anxiety.

We run around from event to event, house to house, and lose the present moment in the whirlwind of it all. We think we are missing out amid the pressure of personal and professional obligations. This rush and hustle can lead to stress, illness or even disease if we don’t try to end unnecessary suffering.

We can find ease, or sukha, in the present moment by enjoying each second we get to spend with family and friends. Let’s not think ahead to what’s next and rouse expectations we might not be able to meet. By simply enjoying the moment, we can replace our feelings of disappointment with cheer.

These five suggestions will help you recharge, renew, rekindle and find the true joy of the season: time with those you love. 

1. Take time to nap. Einstein believed in the power of the nap. He took one every day! Set an alarm for 20 minutes, and make sure not to snooze; sleeping longer than the Einstein 20 can make you feel even more sleepy afterward.

2. Take  or . These two postures require you to only find ease. Rest, not nap, in a mindful way. Use your internal gaze (antara dristhi) to calm yourself and use your breathing (pranayama) to help maintain your focus, comfort and ultimately find your meditation. Your resistant mind will want to keep the holiday list going, but this is the time for you to release and dissolve that excess chatter.

3. Treat yourself to a massage. Let it be restful, nothing too deep. Every therapist I have ever been to, the great ones, will ask you what type of touch you are looking for that particular day. Here are some massage therapists in Seminole Heights.

4. Take a candlelit bath. This is my go-to relaxation technique. Close the door, light a few tea lights, or buy yourself some electric candles and tune out. Give yourself a haven that is the bath. Throw herbal tea, whole chamomile flowers or bath salts into the water to ease the body. Epsom salts will draw out impurities, and chamomile teas will relax the body.

5. Try a gentle and restorative practice instead of a stronger/power class. Lunar practices use less intensity but feed and renew our many layers. These practices tend to have slower movements and use lots of meditation and/or breath work (pranayama). By adding a slower class, we bring the changing wind (vata) cycle of autumn into balance. Give yourself the gift of slowing down the pace of your life a bit.  in Seminole Heights offers gentle flow yoga classes, as well as yoga for stress relief.

Once you honor yourself with the gift of ease, you can then share that grace with others around you through the season.

Namaste!