Ten Tips on How to Stay Calm at Christmas.

It can be fun and enjoyable or up there with your worst nightmares!

Everything revs up for the Christmas Season, whether you celebrate it or not. Shops get busier, traffic gets crazy and people get more stressed. Sadly, domestic violence, crime and road accidents increase as well.

So why do we, as people who know and understand that we have a choice, get caught up in societal pressures just because its ‘the done thing’. The modern day Christmas is far from what the original celebrations were about and rampant consumerism, greed, gluttony and quite a bit of chaos now seems to rule.

So how do we manage to celebrate the season while remaining calm and happy so we’re not wiped out with exhaustion and stress on the big day, or later. Here’s a few reminders.

1. Shop early morning when it’s not so busy. Or if it’s supermarket goods you’re after, shop after dinner, later in the evening. You’ll find the car parks aren’t so full at these times either.

2. Make Daily ‘to do’ lists then prioritise them. A – urgent, must do today. B – important but not urgent. C – not that important but will be necessary soon.

3. Put off what can be left until after Christmas. Do you really need to spend an hour (or more) doing jobs that can wait until you have more free time? It can be hard to put things off, especially if you’re a bit of a perfectionist, but when you’re under pressure you need to prioritise carefully. Just remember, nothing bad will happen if your windows (or other areas) aren’t spotlessly clean when your guests arrive! They most likely wouldn’t even notice.

4. Ask yourself do you really need to go back to the shops to buy that extra present, extra food, decorations etc? Or are you just getting caught up in the ‘I should do more/it’s not good enough’ syndrome? After all, isn’t Christmas about being with family and friends – not about being and having everything perfect. Who are you trying to impress?

5. Let go of trying to be the best, have the best and give the best. That’s just about trying to impress people so (you hope) they approve of you. It’s a fact of life that you can’t please all the people, all the time. Some will love what you do, some won’t and some won’t care one way or the other, no matter what your best efforts are. Providing warmth, joy and kindness so people feel welcome, loved and appreciated is far better than anything physical you can try to do.

6. Stop regularly during your day to breathe. Really, consciously breathe. Sit down, keep your back straight but relaxed and take ten slow, calm breaths through your nose. Close your eyes (if you’re somewhere where you can safely, if not just look straight ahead) and focus on the air coming in saying to yourself ‘I breathe in’ and on the out breath, ‘I breathe out’. You can always find somewhere to do this practice, whether it be in your home, office, car (while stopped, not in traffic or while driving of course) under a tree, at the bus stop, on the train, waiting at the Doc, Dentist etc. Do it often. Practicing this regularly will help you to respond to people and situations, not react.

7. Walk a bit slower. Make a conscious effort not to rush. Most rushing we do isn’t only not necessary, but it makes us more flustered and stressed. Unless you’re in danger and you need to run fast for help, (hopefully not!) most other times you can slow down. Rushing is often just a habit we’re unaware of. You miss so much of life when you rush everywhere. And of course, it goes without saying, drive slower!

8. Eat slower and a bit less. Food and drink tossed down the hatch while rushing is not only bad for health reasons, but it’s usually not even enjoyable when consumed this way. Take a few slow deep breaths before you order that take away meal and aim to make a healthier choice. Try to find somewhere quiet (or quiet-ish)  to sit calmly and eat. If you think you can’t stop for 15 mins to eat calmly, you need 30!

9. Be kind to others. Everyone feels the stress of the season in some way. Some people are missing loved ones, some are experiencing physical and/or mental health challenges and although they may appear to be coping just fine, they may be suffering in silence.  Ask yourself regularly ‘is it kind/am I being thoughtful and kind?’ If you come up with ‘no’, best to calm down, slow down and if you can’t say or do something kind, say nothing.

10. Get a good night’s sleep. There are soooo many informative studies done on the detrimental effects of not enough sleep. You don’t have to go to every Christmas party – it’s ok to say no. Choose the ones you’re pretty sure you’ll enjoy, with people you actually like and say no to the others. Doing things constantly, purely out of a sense of obligation is rarely a good idea and causes stress and often resentment, which can turn into misplaced anger.

So there you go. Pick a couple of these tips to focus on starting right now and practice having a calm, peaceful and joyous Christmas and New Year.

Wishing you Loving Kindness as Every Day Gets Better.