While the holiday season can be an enjoyable time, it can also be chaotic and stressful. With all the celebrations and added activities, it’s common for many of us to become overwhelmed and exhausted, causing a negative impact on our health and well-being.
Luckily, there are a variety of things you can do to combat festive stress and support your wellness from the inside-out. To keep yourself feeling relaxed from now until New Year’s, follow these tips and tricks!
Don’t Skip Your Skincare Regimen
Stress is detrimental to your skin in numerous ways. According to research, when you feel overwhelmed and frantic, your body naturally responds with a surge of adrenaline. In turn, this increases the production of cortisol, the body’s “stress hormone.” Abnormal elevations of cortisol can wreak havoc on your skin, causing acne, dullness, and wrinkles to occur.
Because of this, you mustn’t skimp out on your skincare regimen, especially during the holiday season. With crazy jam-packed schedules and endless to-do’s, many of us tend to forget about our typical health habits; our skin regimen being one of them. Losing sight of small things like skincare may seem insignificant, but when it comes to your physical and mental well-being, it's extremely important. When you’re constantly running from one thing to the next, your skin becomes exposed to bacteria, dirt, and other impurities. The longer you wait to cleanse, treat, and moisturise your skin, the more likely you are to experience negative changes in your complexion.
So, throughout this busy holiday season, make it a point to take time for yourself and create a skincare regimen that encompasses unique skincare products to treat your specific needs as well as a practical everyday routine.
To do this, you’ll first need to consider your skin type and gender as these factors can help you determine which products you’ll need to adequately care for your skin. For example, men with an oily skin type will likely benefit from using anti-acne products as they work to control excess shine and alleviate any unwanted blemishes.
Decompress the Stress
Restricted blood flow, muscle tension, and an increased heart rate are a few of the ways your body reacts to stress. Fortunately, by listening to your body and practising mindfulness, you can easily moderate these responses and better control your stress levels.
To do this, you’ll want to perform decompressing techniques, such as yoga or meditation, as they have been reported to be an effective approach to stress management and healthy living. Decompressing techniques not only work to reduce anxiety but, in some cases, can also serve to alleviate muscle tension and improve blood flow.
Take self-massaging, for example. Regardless if you use a basic tennis ball or a vibrating foam roller, giving yourself a self-massage is a simple, yet powerful relaxation technique. This is because it allows you to adequately treat trigger points in your body that are causing you pain and/or tightness.
Try the Pulseroll vibrating foam roller or new massage gun for the most effective massage in your own home. It doesn’t matter which approach you choose to practice, but keep in mind that certain activities treat certain areas of health and stress differently.
To learn more about other recovery strategies and their benefits, check out this link.
Create a Financial Plan & Actually Stick to it
Between travelling, gifts, food, parties, donations, and decorations, it’s no wonder why issues related to money are one of the leading causes of stress throughout the holiday season.
A recent study conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that roughly 69% of the American population are impacted by financial stress during the holidays. For this reason, it’s crucial to take steps to feel comfortable with your spending and avoid future debt.
To limit your expenditures, you’ll want to start by creating a budget using a spreadsheet or a budgeting app. This will help guide you on your financial journey by allowing you to track your expenses, set savings and debt pay-off goals, and ultimately reach your financial objectives.
To pave your way to a debt-free life, you must take into account all of your monthly income and expenses. From there, you’ll want to try and plan for other upcoming holiday costs so that you can save some money early on, stay organised, and not overspend.
Say Yes to Less
Finally, to ensure you don’t become overly stressed is by saying yes to less. Even though this is the season of giving, it’s unrealistic to think that you can do everything for everyone all of the time. Sure, it may be difficult to say no, but remember that as meaningful as it is to give back to others, it’s equally as meaningful to give back to yourself too.
There’s no sense in sacrificing your well-being to over-extend yourself for the sake of your loved ones. More than likely, your friends and family will completely understand if you say no to something once in a while because you’re uninterested or simply just too busy. At the end of the day, your mental health is and will always be far more important than any holiday task could ever be.
In addition to saying yes to less, it’s also a good idea to block out time for yourself to unwind and support your health. Although you can use this time to perform your skincare regimen or your relaxation techniques, you can also dedicate it to other self-care practices too! This may include things like de-cluttering your room, catching up with an old friend, or perhaps journaling. Whatever it may be, just make you’re dedicating this time to you and you only.
