Tagged: Martha Stewart

Don’t Stress During the Holidays!

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Alright, the days are getting ever closer to Christmas, but don’t let it stress you out! Here’s my best advice for enjoying the holiday –

1- Schedule time for yourself. Find a sitter service that will help you care for your kids, so you can have a well-deserved break. Or, if you have friends and family members that you trust that would LOVE to take care of your kids, take them up on it. You can return the favor when they need you to.

2- DELEGATE– don’t do everything yourself. You’d love to be Martha Stewart, but even she has helpers. If people offer to help, don’t refuse the resource. If people haven’t asked, ask them; maybe they don’t know how to help you the way you need them to.

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Take time to take care of yourself; your body will appreciate it.

3- Use the internet to your advantage. Don’t know how to spruce up your home for the holidays? Use Pinterest to spark an idea. You don’t have to go overboard. Many crafts are easy to make with stuff you already have on hand. 

4- Everyone has a skill. You may have a friend who bakes but your cookies might look more akin to hockey pucks. Ask them for advice. They’ll love to share the knowledge.

5- Get together with your friends, and do a craft together, or just hang out! I’ve been invited to do massages at an event where the ladies are going to get together and enjoy each other’s company, and just relax. 

What advice would you share about taking care of yourself during the holidays?

Relax, Chill, Take a Breath…

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OK, it’s almost halfway to the middle of November, and I am trying to avoid that space…you know what I am talking about- Not having nearly ANYthing on your “To Do” list done, but feeling like I just want to chuck it all, and stay home for the rest of the year. Now, that is an extreme idea, even for me, but one wonders…20131113-115129.jpg

What usually works for me, not always mind you, is to sit and take a breath. A nice DEEP breath. When we are stressed, our hormone response tells the body to take quick, shallow breaths. When this happens, our mental and physical decision-making skills are overloaded with too much information, and sometimes renders us into a huddled mass, down in the trenches, waiting to strike out at the right moment.

With the holidays looming, one way to enjoy the upcoming hustle and bustle is to take care of YOURSELF first. Have a get together with your friends (who are also probably as stressed out as you are) and share ideas – find out who has the best babysitting resources, coupons, recipes, etc. and do a Swap of sorts. Have a Massage Therapist on hand (hint, hint) to give those ever so needed stress relieving Chair or Foot massages, to get everyone in the spirit!

Understanding your reality (all of us are NOT Martha Stewart), prioritizing your lists, collaboration, delegating tasks on the list(s) and asking for HELP will also help lower those stress levels, as well. If you are trying out a new dish or project, try it out ahead of time, so you can make the mistakes without the ‘pressure to be perfect’ at any holiday event. Ask others for help – I use Pinterest as a resource for all kinds of ideas, so I can enjoy and not just endure the holidays. We still have about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, so we can send the DEF-CON Level back to 4.

Before you go ahead and run off the cliff, stop, take a breath. A nice, deep breath.