More Joy, Less Stress For The Holidays by
Robyn Bentley
The holidays are a lot of fun but they also bring a lot of stress.
Everything we have to do for the holidays is piled on top of everything
normally have to do. Here are some suggestions for the home to lift your
spirits and things to do to reduce your stress level during the most wonderful
and stressful time of the year.
Tap into your happy childhood. Go through your old photos
when you were a carefree kid excited about the holidays. Use a color
copier to enlarge them to 8x10, 11x14 or 16x20 mini posters for decorations.
You can put them in inexpensive plastic box or clip frames. If you have
old holiday pictures of friends and family who will be coming to visit
you, make some fun mini posters of them too. Think of how good that
will make them feel to see themselves in your home.
Watch the clutter. Too much clutter makes the natural energy
flow in your home slow down and get stuck, which makes us feel stuck or
depressed. A good cleaning and clutter clearing before you add decorations
is a good idea. Obstacles in the home can create obstacles in your
life, so don’t create obstacles with your decorations. If you have
to step over it, duck under it, or squeeze by, its going to add more stress
to your holiday too.
Chuck the negative stuff. Everything inside your home has
a memory, association or meaning attached to it. When you look at an item
it will either give you a positive emotional response, a neutral response
or negative response. The more negatives you have around the house, the
more negative the energy in the house. Getting rid of all the negatives
and surrounding yourself with positives raises the energy in the house and
helps keep your energy positive and upbeat. Keep that in mind while
you are decorating and don’t put up any decorations that make you have any
negative feelings.
Angry?
The more stressed we are, the easier it is to become angry. However, it
is physiologically impossible to be angry when your muscles are relaxed.
Anger cannot exist without muscle tension. If the holidays start
getting to you, take an adult “time out” and go limp like a rag doll.
Relax your body without tensing one single muscle. Not a clenched jaw,
or baby toe. And breath for a few minutes to get yourself back to
normal.
Keep
your mood more positive during the holidays by getting a good night’s
dark. Melatonin is the hormone that controls our mood and our sleep.
It is produced by the pineal gland at night in the dark. Light makes the
body think its daytime. To keep your body making the right amount
of melatonin to keep your mood more positive and help you get enough sleep,
make sure you are sleeping in the dark. Don’t sleep with the light
on, or TV or with a streetlight coming through your bedroom window.
Or your neighbors holiday light display.
Removing
negatives and adding positives around the home to lift your spirits will
help create more joy and less stress this holiday season. And while
you’re at it, you’ll find many free feng shui tips for your office, home,
and children’s rooms at fengshuidiva.com!
