Holistic Therapy Tips: Anxiety Treatment For The Busy Holiday Schedule

Every year right around October we all start to realize "Christmas is pretty much here" which, visually shows up by October 1st in most of our public community spaces. Any grocery store or drug store you pop into will most likely start advertising for several holiday's at one time month's well in advance. This can bring on anxiety and panic for most of us as we try to plan for doing all of the holiday things. This year is even more compacted with COVID precautions and most families or friend groups not being able to physically gather. In the paragraphs below I'm going to offer my top 3 Holistic Therapy Tips for Anxiety Treatment to help you have a positive and low-stress holiday schedule.

You Can Design Your Own Traditions

One practice that can really help your mindset stay in a grounded place is to remember, in adulthood you can actively and intentionally design your own holiday traditions. We all grew up being taught our family's way of embracing the holidays. Some families go big with trees, heavy décor, and feasting. Others of us grew up eating a simple meal with moderate to mild acknowledgement of the holiday even being a focal point of the day. Some of our families opted out of celebrating the holiday's completely. There's no right or wrong here. We're all having our own experiences when in comes to how we approach the holidays and that's fine.

Something that can help you now is to remember that you can design your own traditions in adulthood. Even when you aren't necessarily able to gather with your friends or family you can still make the holiday's what you'd like them to be in other ways. Consider still wearing your ugly sweaters, making spiced cider bevy's, and getting your Secret Santa on by mail. I love the idea of throwing virtual Halloween parties and costume contests. You can ring in the New Year at home or virtual Church if you want to. It's your world and you are the designer. Just remember it's your holiday, embrace the day and feel more present in it by adding your own traditions to the mix.

Enjoy + Relive Great Memories Past

When we grow up we don't necessarily get to share every holiday with the same cast of friends and family from our childhood and adolescent years. Sometimes it can be stressful or anxiety provoking to think about how to spend time with everyone you cherish via making the rounds during the holidays by phone, video, or in person. Let's be real, there's only so many hours available in any given holiday honestly.

Please know you can always return to your favorite past memories of shared holidays. It's simpler than you may think but if you just close your eyes, allow time and quiet, and think of your favorite holiday memories, the visualizations should just roll right in. If you need a hand, consider these questions to guide your visualization and holiday memory recall practice:

What are your favorite holiday memories as a child?
What are your favorite holiday memories as a teenager?
What are your favorite holiday memories as a young adult?
What are your favorite holiday sounds and music from your past?
What are your favorite holiday smells, scents and aroma's from your family / friend gatherings?

Yes, with practice and intention you'll be able to see the family and friends, smell the holiday foods, and hear the holiday music playing with the help of a little visualization. You'll also likely notice a warm safe happy sensation of closeness (to loved ones past and present) from combing through some of your favorite past memories.

You Can Opt-In or Out As Needed

In order to keep holiday anxiety in check please remember it's completely okay and reasonable to opt-in or opt-out of plans as needed. If you find yourself being overbooked or over-planning for the holiday spectacular it's okay to sit down with yourself and to remind yourself it's okay to do less. Vote to spend less time doing the holiday schedule when you feel it's veering on being harmful or not useful for your personal wellness needs. We often show up holding onto the pressures and expectations from friends and family for the holidays and sometimes we're driving the action. Aim to find your happy medium to be present, connect with loved ones, and to honor what you need to feel good over the holiday season.

Now that we've covered some great holistic tools to keep your anxiety and stress managed for the upcoming holiday, I'm hoping you feel more prepared with tools to have a happier holiday schedule. With practice of making your own traditions, reliving your favorite holiday memories, and opting in or out as needed; you can feel more "holiday schedule" cheer. Having a holiday schedule that includes some downtime, you'll gain the option to be more present however you choose to approach the holiday season this year. Season's greetings to you!

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I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How to Feel Less Emotionally Sensitive Or Reactive

Feeling emotionally sensitive or reactive is not much fun. One minute your mood is good and then the smallest of unexpected events can change the rest of your entire day. For example you go to Starbucks and the Barista doesn’t greet you or get your name spelled right. You may feel slighted and “in your head” for hours thinking of different reasons why the interaction went the way it did. You might even decide to not go back to Starbucks for a while because the anxiety of having to deal with the Barista makes you feel like you’ll have to bat away potentially more negative energy. Maybe this example reminds you of an interaction with a co-worker, or a partner, or maybe this example reminds you of a friend.

The feeling however is the same. The feeling is one where you feel your emotional resilience being swept from under your feet by an unexpected interaction, conversation, or behavior. The person on the other end could be someone you care about or love, or it could also be an interaction with a complete stranger and it still feels just as painful. When you feel emotionally sensitive or reactive consider the tips I will be sharing below in order to feel more grounded and steady.

Connect More With Your Needs

Did you know you are more likely to have emotional reactivity if you are not taking time and space for your own personal needs consistently? One of the superpowers of self-care and feeling grounded is that when we spend time and attention connected to our own needs we feel emotionally nurtured and cared for. If we aren’t spending time connecting with our personal needs you may begin to feel emotional overwhelm more quickly as your needs begin to pile up and compete which makes it easier to become emotionally reactive and focused on external experiences, behaviors, and conversations.

It’s important that we carve of space and time daily to take care of our personal needs to do basic acts of self-care consistently. Some basic self care practices that help you include eating meals regularly, hydrating, showering daily, getting dressed daily, seeking out daily inspiration, laughing, and practicing affirmation daily all matters in how you will feel emotionally and how you will react to others.

Think About Why You Feel Emotionally Sensitive Or Reactive

What is it about the interaction that causes you to feel reactive? What makes you feel triggered emotionally? In repeat interactions or experiences where you find yourself feeling more and more triggered consider what it is about the interaction that makes you feel upset. Consider using a curious and neutral process where you can look at the interaction that happened without blame or reaction to look deeper at what about the interaction makes you feel your personal expectations were not considered or respected. In the case of the Starbucks Barista, maybe your expectation is that they would be kind and say good morning as a standard pattern. When store clerks don’t greet you it triggers old feelings of being ignored or mistreated from other areas of your personal past.

Once you can pinpoint your link to the emotional reactivity, you can also dismantle the impact by asking yourself an alternative question of:

“What if this has nothing to do with any of those experiences”
“What if I isolate this experience from my past or similar experiences”

These questions are meant to help our logical brain connect with the present and to separate our emotional reactivity into one experience rather than grouping our experience with all of our similar past emotional experiences that causes the emotional overload aka emotional pile up. Ideally separating and isolating your interactions to make them singular vs. collective also helps your emotional mind rest and you step away from being “in your head” for hours and days at a time.

Recover With Independent Creative Learning And Expression

Your emotional recovery can speed up when you make time to recover by taking time where you focus on doing actions that make you feel happy and recharged. Consider your favorite past times or hobbies. Consider learning a new hobby as well. Spending your time learning a new skill takes time and attention where your brain actively engages in the process, which makes it easier to stop thinking about your emotions, interactions, and relationships. Consider activities like painting, coloring, doodling, reading, Listening to upbeat positive music and cleaning, cooking, organizing your home or office, or going for a long walk to change your environment.

Applying the practice of increased self-care daily and doing personal reflection of why you feel emotionally reactive can help you feel more grounded and emotionally strong. Also consider writing down the 2 emotional organization questions listed above and seeking space for independent creative learning or expression. You’ll notice your reactivity decreasing and a feeling of being more in control of your emotions.