How To: Avoid Holiday Stress

Hi #TerkTribe!

Christmas is no doubt the best time of the year, but for many this is a season of holiday stress for lots of reasons. The stress of planning, financial stress, and even the stress of just simply keeping up with the fast-pace holidays. This issue has been on my heart for a while now, but I wanted to wait to get this post out to you until it felt like the right time. With Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping behind us, and all the Christmas events coming up in the next month, I really think this is something we all need to hear. I have done my research and tested out products and I’m ready to share ways to handle and combat stress!

First off, let’s talk about what stress is and what it does to your body.

“Stress is is a physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension. It’s effects can be internal or external, but can effect both in very negative ways. Internally stress can cause health issues such as headaches, upset stomach, and anxiety, while externally it can cause social withdraws, overeating or underrating, and even sleep problems.” (google definitions)

All women deal with stress, whether it be in their work, kids, marriage, etc., but mental and physical health are so crucial that we need to work on conquering this battle.

So let’s get down to talking about my top ways to overcoming holiday stress during the most stressful time of the year – Holiday’s.

How to Avoid Holiday Stress

Essential Oils:

Let’s first learn exactly WHAT essential oils are and how they can improve our lives (and stress). One thing that makes essential oils so amazing are that they are so convenient and easy to use. You can diffuse them at home, wear them throughout the day, and, if you’re like me and constantly traveling, these little bottles are airplane-friendly so you can travel with them in your carry-on. Essential oils are organic substances from the volatile liquid of plants. They allow your body to come back into balance without harmful side effects or chemical based products. Many of the oils on the market are only for the aroma, and some even contain harmful chemicals. However, you will only experience positive side-affects from Young Living Essential Oils. Tummy ache? There’s an oil for that. Need energy? There’s an oil for that. Want your house to smell like a wonderful Autumn day? Yup, there’s an oil. As you can tell, there’s an oil that helps with just about every aspect of life, and don’t worry, there’s definitely ones that help with stress! Here are my favorite de-stress oils to defuse:

• Stress Away
• Theives + Peppermint 
• Thieves + Lemon
• Lavender + Frankincense + Orange
• Lavender + Bergamot + Geranium 
• Lavender + Roman Chamomile + Ylang Ylang

My favorite holiday oil to diffuse is Christmas Spirit! Whether I defuse these individually or mix oils to create a wonderful aroma, these 5 oils never fail to brighten my mood and lift my spirits. I can instantly feel their calming powers doing a work in me! What are your favorite oils?

Natural Calm:

Another noteworthy product in the field of relieving stress is Natural Calm. These little drinks are miracle workers on days when I have so much on my plate that I feel like my head is spinning! Natural Calm promotes healthy magnesium levels and balances calcium intake—helping you to feel less stressed and more relaxed. It’s also vegan, gluten-free, and non GMO, so you can assure what you’re putting in your body is super healthy. My favorite flavor is the Raspberry-Lemon. So yummy! It’s so simple to just add some of the Natural Calm powder to my water bottle while on-the-go, and sit back and let it work its magic! This is the perfect pick-me-up for all you ladies that the holiday stress is hitting hard this year.

Exercise:

Exercise is a huge part of my daily routine, and one of the best ways to relieve stress! Some days my workout consists of Pure Barre, while other days it’s simply walking my dog Zola. Just getting my body moving for 30 minutes-1 hour each day improves my stress levels significantly. Moving your body really gets your endorphins pumping, which then gets you in a better mood! I’ve also noticed that when I’m working out I’m less likely to be worrying about my life situations that might be causing the stress because I’m more focused on my body movements. I know it can be hard to find time to workout, especially on days when the stress takes over, but I promise if you make the effort to do some sort of physical activity every day it will do so much for your stress issues!

Sleep:

Lack of sleep can definitely affect your stress levels significantly. Around the holidays we get so caught up in all the things… work, parties, and shopping galore. As great as these things can be, we often times let them put a dent in our sleep patterns, which only results in an even more stressful holiday experience. Studies suggest to get about 8 hours of sleep per night. Adults who sleep fewer than eight hours a night report higher stress levels than those who sleep at least eight hours a night. To some of us this seems impossible (I mean, there really aren’t enough hours in the day.. who’s with me?!), but recently I have been working on sitting down/stopping whatever is holding me back from a good night’s sleep (work, Netflix, online shopping, etc.) and as hard as this may seem, it is SO beneficial. I wake up ready to conquer the day, stress-free. This holiday season I’m going to focus on making sleep a priority, are you?

Plan:

Sometimes I’m convinced I’m the world’s biggest planner and my husband makes fun of me for it all the time because he’s so go-with-the-flow. While sometimes this can be a negative trait of mine, I tend to find it to be SO beneficial during the holidays every year. I like to spend about an hour every Sunday planning out my next week, and with all the plans that the holidays add to my calendar, this helps me keep up with this busy life. This year I wanted to make it easier for YOU. So, how am I able to do that? Well, for starters I have tons of Gift Guides already made and MORE coming out before Christmas so that you are able to shop for all the people in your life directly and easily from each post! [ Gift Guide: For Her, Gift Guide: For Him, Gift Guide: For Mom, Gift Guide: For Dad ] Another way I’ve made sure to make your holiday season burden a little lighter, is through the Christmas Live event my blogging friend Heather and I are putting on Sunday, December 3 at 2 PM CST! On this Facebook Livestream we will be sharing our favorite items to give others this year, so basically like a real-life gift guide! Sign up here to get email updates, be entered for a HUGE giveaway, and be sure to tune in to the most fun and relaxed Christmas market you’ll ever “go to”! I like to put my week’s plans (in detail) into my calendar on my phone so I have access to it whenever I need. When my plans aren’t sorted out I’m always stressed about what’s happening when, and who’s going where, but when I plan I can go into the week not stressing about these things! Whether you’re a planner like me or haven’t used a calendar a day in your life, I highly recommend using both of these resources I’m providing to assure you have a smooth-sailing holiday season!

Spend time with loved ones:

My last, and favorite, way to relive stress is to spend time with those who mean the most to me. I find spending time with my family, husband, and friends, to really comfort and still my heart during the season when it wants to go crazy! I make as much time for those I love as possible. Work, shopping, decorating, and wrapping can wait when it comes to those I love. So, I encourage you, friend, before you let yourself get too stressed over whatever it is this holiday season, make sure you are spending time with the people who love and lift you. I can 1000% promise you this will create a peace in your heart and mind that you didn’t think could happen!

The holidays are the most fun, so don’t let the stressful elements take you over this year. By implementing these tips in your everyday life you are sure to have the best and merriest holidays this year! Don’t let the stressful distractions cause you to forget what this season is really about… the birth of our Savior!

Merry Christmas!

xx

Ashley

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