Table of Contents
Common ideas
Think about what Christmas really means to you personally. Ask your family how they see it and define “your” celebration together. Then you can start with the planning that you have worked out together. But you should always keep your priorities in mind.
Create new traditions
Allow yourself to break out of tradition. Christmas Eve is there always a Christmas goose? And the Christmas tree has always been four meters high and fitted with real candles? Ask your loved ones what is really important to them and dare to question traditions that have existed for generations and to start your very own, uncomplicated traditions.
task sharing
Distribute tasks and create new rituals that relieve you. Making the party together is more fun anyway. Jobs like decorating or buying fresh food for the feast are great to delegate. So everyone has the chance to integrate into the preparations and everyone’s anticipation increases.
postpone family troubles
Conflicts are inevitable during the stressful Christmas season. Resolving such issues is all the more difficult because of the high expectations on all sides. But because tensions are a burden, you should protect yourself from them. For example, invite relatives who don’t get along with each other to various dates on the public holidays. A generous schedule in which everyone involved has enough time can also have a “de-stressing” effect. If a conflict arises, try to address it and deliberately postpone the clarification to a neutral date.
Everything doesn’t have to be perfect!
Get out of the perfectionism trap – enjoy the pre-Christmas period Perhaps the most difficult exercise of all: freeing yourself from the superfluous in the weeks leading up to Christmas and getting in the mood for the festivities. In the weeks before Christmas, we behave contrary to the needs of our biological clock, which demands more breaks from us in the dark season. Instead, we shift up a gear and, after Christmas, we realize how great our expectations were and how little we got out of this celebration. Postpone house cleaning and non-urgent repairs and instead create “enjoyment points” – preferably daily, which put you in the mood for Christmas.
Handicrafts, baking and reading stories not only get families with children in the mood for Christmas. A short tea break in the glow of an Advent candle, a walk through a street lit up for Christmas, smelling the scent of cinnamon, aniseed, allspice and orange, small pleasures that take us away from everyday life and bring us closer to Christmas.
These tips for a stress-free (before) Christmas period come from Bernhard Juchniewicz, Management & Health Teaching Coach and President of the ECA of the ECA (European Coaching Association).
Vitamins
An apple a day keeps the doctor away – every child knows this saying. Vitamins are not only important for general health. They are also excellent against stress. In stressful situations, vitamin C is broken down particularly quickly, so that the body is weakened much faster than normal. The vitamins B1, B2, B6 and B12, which are important for our nervous system and thus prevent stress, are also particularly good against stress.
Yoga
sports relaxed. Physical exertion releases endorphins and leaves you feeling happy and relaxed. Yoga in particular is a good stress reliever. In addition to the physical exertion, there is also the hurdle that you have to calm down. You have to switch off all the hectic that sets in in stressful situations and just take a deep breath.
Fake sunrise
A stressed day begins with waking up. Just deep asleep, you are suddenly woken up by a penetrating beeping. You are immediately annoyed, stressed and start the day in a bad mood. The Wake-Up Light alarm clock from Philips can help. Half an hour before the desired wake-up time, this starts to gradually get brighter and fills the room with natural light. At the desired wake-up time, there are also natural sounds or your favorite music from the iPod. A day starts so stress-free and cheerful.
