Reducing holiday stress during the pandemic may be the greatest gift you can give yourself and your loved ones this season. Here are my 5 strategies for reducing holiday stress. I hope they bless you and help keep you grounded:

1. Resist the urge to complain!  Clearly these are not the holidays we were planning!  And who doesn’t have a justified right to complain?  But (there is always “a but”), let's resist the urge and think of all the things that are going right for us.  Even when it seems there are many good things going on, it is powerful to focus on those things.  Complaining tends to create negative energy and no one want to be surrounded by that!  Yuck!

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2. Here's another way of reducing holiday stress; Eat a balanced diet. No, I should not be eating cut-out-cookies and peppermint mochas every morning for breakfast – waah!  This is causing me to shed some tears just thinking about it!  However, we know meals rich in fruits and vegetables are proven to help reduce stress and set us up for success.   So if we know this . . . let's do it!

Well, let's not stop at two. If you want to know the rest of my 5 strategies for reducing holiday stress during the pandemic please read on: 

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3. Make time to visualize. Every night for 10 minutes or so before falling asleep, I visualize the next day.  In my mind I organize what needs to be done, what I will wear, what the timeline looks like and set up goals for the day.  Also, I keep a notebook next to my bed in case I need to write anything important down – God knows my aging brain will forget the important things the minute I close my eyes.

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We're more than half way through the 5 strategies for reducing holiday stress! Here are the last two:

4. Remember to Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS). Firstly, I think none of us are stupid but it’s a good acronym to remind me that when I complicate things, I become stupid.  Like duh! You know – don’t take on more than you should.  Everyone should be quarantining so let’s not feel the need load up on the holiday traditions.  No, I don’t need to bake a gazillion cookies or decorate every corner of my home.  Take this year to scale it back a little.  Try to relax, watch a few good holiday movies, camp out next to the tree for a night, spend as much time as we wish in our pj's and don’t feel guilty doing any of it!

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5. Go outside! Even if it’s just to walk around the yard.  Fresh air is so cleansing.  So take a deep breath of the crisp air, hold it in and slowly release it.  Do this a few times before heading back in and guzzling some hot cocoa! You're already reducing that holiday stress. Way to go!

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Well there they are; 5 strategies for reducing holiday stress that I plan on using to keep smiling through the pandemic!  I hope you will use them too. Feel free to share some of your own ideas below and Happy Holidays!

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