Happiness often starts with a holiday. They are a time for celebration and spending wonderful moments with loved ones. But the holidays can also bring a lot of stress and anxiety that quickly take a toll on our mental health.
If you feel like you need a vacation before the holidays even start? You’re not alone. It’s all too easy to feel anxious, frustrated, and overwhelmed during the holiday season. It’s important to understand how to manage stress so that you remain happy and healthy this festive season!
The Benefits of Managing Stress
Stress is a challenge for many people, especially those who are constantly trying to balance work and family life. Decreasing stress can have physical, mental, emotional, social, and financial benefits. It can also help you sleep better at night.
One of the main benefits of managing stress is that it helps you be more productive, it also gives you protection against serious diseases like diabetes and heart disease. It’s also important for your immune system, which is incredibly important for all of us considering the time in which we live.
To help you through the process of managing stress over the festive season, we’ve put together 10 insightful tips on what you can do over the holidays.
Here are a few things to consider.
Soak in a Hot Tub
To help manage the high levels of stress the holidays bring, there are many different techniques you can try. One simple method is soaking in a hot tub. Research suggests that hydrotherapy has the power to reduce fatigue, stress, and discomfort.
The hot water relaxes muscles and helps relieve tension that builds up. If you don’t have one, there are plenty of hot tub options to consider for your home.
To maximize your hot tub experience, try implementing these hot tub stretches!
Gentle Exercise
We all know it’s important to take care of our mental and physical health, which is why it’s recommended to regularly engage in gentle exercise. It’s a great way to reduce stress and anxiety, which can often build up during the holiday season.
It’s also a great way to take time for yourself, giving you more energy and focus. You can try going for a walk, doing yoga, or even gardening. Even if you think you don’t have time, these activities can be done in just a few minutes a day and will help you focus on the important things in life. Remember, learning how to take care of yourself will result in taking care of others better.
Aromatherapy
There are many natural ways to help combat stress this time of year. One of the easiest is to use aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is a therapeutic technique that combines the use of plant extracts, which are inhaled or diffused, with our sense of smell.
When you inhale certain aromas they can stimulate your central nervous system and make you feel better. You can use aromatherapy in many different ways to relieve stress. Lavender essential oil, for example, can be used in a diffuser or added to your bathwater or even in your hot tub if you have one.
It has been shown to help relax the entire body and mind, easing tension and fatigue.
Reading a Book or Listening to an Audiobook
It’s important to be mindful of the amount of time you spend looking at screens. Reading a book can be one of the best ways to ease, manage and navigate stress. It’s an excellent way to escape from your daily routines and experience new worlds and characters.
You can also listen to audiobooks, which are often less expensive than their paperback counterparts and are designed for on-the-go listening. If you’re in need of suggestions, consider “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert, “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin, or “When Things Fall Apart” by Pema Chodron. If you want to be more mindful and enjoy the present moment, read or listen to a mindfulness book.
Remember the importance of unplugging. It’s not always that easy, but we need to teach ourselves to spend less time in front of a screen. With all the social media and technology, we can easily get stuck in a hectic lifestyle that leaves us feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
Don’t Abandon Healthy Habits
As is the case each year, there’s a good chance that it’s going to be hard to stick to your healthy habits during the holiday season. The temptation of cookies, pies and other treats will be too much for you to resist.
However, it is important that you don’t abandon your healthy habits. You can make substitutions or swap out certain foods for something that’s a little more healthy-minded.
Try to get enough sleep, schedule some exercise each day, be conscious of what you are eating and make sure you drink plenty of water.
Schedule a Hot Tub Service
Looking at our first tip, a hot tub is a great way to unwind and take the edge off. To give yourself one less thing to worry about, make sure you schedule your hot tub service before you take the festive season break.
The last thing you would want while you are about to soak it up is to realize that the hot tub is faulty because its service is overdue. Aim to schedule a service late in November or early December so that you don’t have to worry about it later on in the month.
Also, consider that many servicing agents may shut down over the festive season. Let the experts make sure that your hot tub remains in the best condition possible. It’ll certainly be worth it in the long term.
Talk with Family & Friends About Your Stress
If you’re feeling isolated, it’s time to reach out. Talk with family and friends about your stress and how they can help. Cultivate relationships with people who are supportive – they can be a source of comfort during stressful times.
It’s easy for people to get overwhelmed by stress and feel like they can’t speak up and tell anyone about what’s bothering them. This will only make the problem worse and make it more difficult for you to manage your stress throughout the holiday season. Be open and honest.
Prioritize Self-Care
As the holidays approach, it can be difficult to take care of yourself. It seems like every day there are more things to do and more people asking for your time. These requests may come from your family, friends, co-workers, or even just the voice in your head.
Regardless of where all these requests are coming from, you have to ask yourself what is most important to you. What are the activities that would make you feel good instead of drained? You can’t take care of anyone else if you’re not well enough to take care of yourself, so make sure that you give yourself the time that you need.
Get Some Fresh Air
It’s not always possible to put everything on hold and take time to recharge. If you can, even just for ten minutes, consider taking a walk or finding some other way to get outside the house, office, or car.
It will help clear your head and reduce your stress levels. Take some time to go outside, get some fresh air, and plan your next steps.
You can combine this with your favorite sport or other outdoor activity. Read more about this in our next tip.
Do Something Fun That You Enjoy
Even though the festive season is a time away from work, it brings with it other kinds of stress. It’s important to not only exercise but do something that you really love.
Make a schedule of ‘me-time’ where it’s dedicated to doing whatever you want to do, something that makes you happy. For some, it’s sledding or skating, while for others it may be shopping or just sitting on a bench with a warm cup of coffee watching the world go by.
Whatever it is for you, make an effort to put it into your weekly schedule. Talk to your family about it, so they understand how much it means to you and why you need to do it.
Shop Hot Tubs at Paradise Valley Spas in San Francisco Bay Area
There you have it, 10 ways to help you relax and unwind over the festive season.
If you have a hot tub in your home, you’ll know how soothing it can be to sit back and enjoy the warm water while listening to your favorite music and sipping on your favorite drink.
If you don’t have a hot tub, then you’ll be pleased to hear that we have many quality options available. Our broad range offers something for everyone, whether you have a large or a small budget. You can even design your own hot tub.
Our experienced team will also tend to all your servicing requirements, and we have plenty of hot tub accessories to choose from.
We’re proud to carry the following brands and products at our San Francisco Bay Area showrooms:
Contact or visit our showrooms today for more information!
