𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧

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The holiday season should be a happy, relaxed time to spend with family and friends.

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The expectation is high and you feel bad because you don't feel excited about the holidays.

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You feel stressed. You feel bad because you too are supposed to be happy for Christmas.

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Until you let go of the fantasy of how you should feel, you won't find your peace. And you won't enjoy this time of the year, because you are too busy focusing on how the present moment is different from how you wanted it to be.

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Here 7 instant ways to stay grounded and don't pick up extra stress

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𝟏 - 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 - check-in with yourself on how you feel during the day. If you need some rest, allow yourself to take it. If you want to leave a party early, do so. If you miss a friend, reach out to them.

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𝟐 - 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - Being well-hydrated improves sleep quality, cognition, and overall mood. Add an extra glass of water in between drinks to make sure to take care of your body from the inside out

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𝟑 - 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - If you don't have a meditation practice already, you can start with a 1 minutes timer on your phone. Simply close your eyes and take deep breaths. You will feel refreshed, energized and more present

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𝟒 - 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 - you can enjoy some sessions of exercise or simpler walks in nature, maybe with a warm cup of tea in your hands. nature is always an alley for relaxation, and moving your body you get to release the excess of energy. making you less reactive to triggers!

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𝟓 - 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬- most likely you will be triggered by something, and that is okay. Shift your focus noticing how many times you don't get triggered, or how you react differently to something.

M𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 15 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 21 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡.

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𝟔 - 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 - get proper sleep and if you can fit them in, have some naps here and there.

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𝟕 - 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 - even if you end up full-on stressed, don't worry. Family and holiday time will give you plenty of others opportunities to test your resilience to triggers. 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑤𝑎𝑦

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Even Ram Dass said: ‘If you think you’re enlightened, spend a week with your family.’

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Take care of yourself and have fun exploring the holiday season with more lightness!