Essential Coping Strategies for Holiday Stress

Stress is everywhere. It’s a widespread, growing health crisis across much of the world. The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t help. It seriously affected the mental and physical health of many people. It’s disrupted work, healthcare services, classroom learning for students (of all ages), the economy and relationships.

Now you throw in additional activities around the holidays and stress has become an unfortunate byproduct of the season. Family get-togethers, shopping, decorating, gift buying and wrapping, cooking and baking, and attending special activities can place extra demands on all of us.

So what can you do?

Consider these coping strategies from Len Kravitz, PhD, professor and program coordinator of exercise science at the University of New Mexico and Fitness Educator of the Year by the American Council on Exercise, and Thea M. Benally, who recently completed her Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science with a minor in population health at the University of New Mexico.

Coping Strategies for the Holidays

There are things we can do to help with stress relief, starting with these holiday stress coping strategies from the Mayo Clinic:

1. Reach out. If you feel lonely or isolated, seek out religious or other social communities.

2. Be realistic. Even though your holiday plans may look different because of the pandemic or other issues, you can find ways to celebrate.

3. Acknowledge your feelings. It’s normal to feel a range of feelings—including sadness, grief and happiness—during the holidays.

4. Take a break for yourself. Find an activity that clears your mind.

5. Keep up your health habits. Eat healthy meals, get plenty of sleep, maintain your regular exercise routine and take a breather from technology.

6. Be budget savvy. Decide how much money you can afford to spend on gifts and food, and stick to it.

7. Plan ahead. Good planning helps to combat last-minute scrambling.

8. Learn to say no. Friends and colleagues will understand if you can’t participate in every activity.

9. Take control. Recognize your holiday triggers, such as financial pressures, so you can prevent them.

10. Get help if you need it. If you feel persistently irritable, hopeless or sad and unable to face your daily routine, talk to a mental health professional.

Year-Round Strategies

You can also use these stress management techniques during the holidays and other times.

1.  Mindfulness Meditation. Sit comfortably for several minutes (20 to 40 minutes) and focus on internal breathing. Laser focus on the present moment, not dwelling on the past or trying to imagine what’s in the future. Don’t overanalyze, judge or overthink the stressful situation.

2. Diaphragmatic Breathing. When you become stressed, you may lift your shoulders to inhale and exhale and your breath becomes short and shallow, which if sustained, may actually intensify the stressor. In diaphragmatic breathing, perform slow, even, deep breathing through the nose, for 5 to 10 minutes (progressing to 15 to 20 minutes), while engaging the diaphragm (on the inhalation). When the diaphragm is engaged, the belly will protrude on the inhalation, and there is minimal shoulder and chest movement.

3. Progressive Muscle Relaxation. In a sequential pattern (such as from feet to face), close your eyes, and purposely contact a muscle group (near maximally while breathing in) for 10 seconds and then relax the contraction for 20 seconds (while slowly exhaling). Then go to the next muscle group and repeat the contraction/relaxation cycle.

See also: Stress Physiology