Ahh The holidays. That wonderful time of year where we get together as families and celebrate and cherish our traditions. The season is a swarm of  parties, get togethers and more evnets. And then there is the holiday shopping and the flood of holiday shoppers and traffic. Along with the cherished traditions also comes more stress. More demands on our time.   And more demands on our resources. More expenses for parties, traveling to see family, and gift giving.

Small Business classes for marketing, sales and motivation, focus and confidenceAlthough the holidays are about fun and celebration, they also bring more stress. Stress is a silent creeper. It can creep up on you. Many people take for granted the real cost of stress. It can affect your thinking, keeping you feeling anxious and fuzzy headed. It can also affect your decisions. It can also affect your relationships. When we are stressed, we tend to be more snappy and argumentative.

But that’s not all, stress has physical costs on our body. Stress contributes to all major diseases, it aggravates illness, saps your health, your energy, your focus, causes sleep problems and causes you to gain weight. Here’s my top quick tips to address stress this holiday season:

 

 

  1. 5 –10 Minutes in the Morning –Take 5 minutes just to be still in the morning before the chaos starts. Journaling even 5-10 minutes can help you set priorities, listen to your own thoughts and get focused for your day.

 

  1. Take Breaks – Take a break in your day to walk around the block, get a breath of fresh air and physically move your body. When you move opposite sides of your body at the same time, it synchronizes the hemispheres of your brain, increasing circulation and improving focus and reasoning.

 

  1. Use Your Commute – Get some relaxing CDs or pick a good soothing radio station. Music is one of the few activities that activates your whole brain which increases creativity and focus and well being. I often blast the radio when I’m driving and belt it out! Getting caught up in your favorite songs is a great stress reliever!

 

  1. Take B Complex vitamins—when you are stressed, your body burns up more B vitamins. B vitamins are essential to the body’s metabolic processes and combats stress, anxiety, depression and supports mental health. Sources of B vitamins in foods are meat, eggs, poultry, beans and vegetables.

 

  1. Kava Kava – I prefer taking Kava Kava in a tincture form and adding a dropper full to a glass of water. I feel it takes the edge off of stress and calms the mind. Find it at your local herb shop or health food store and ask about precautions.

There are many stress relief activities that will help calm your mind and your body, but these only take care of stress after it happens.   When you are stressed, your body physically responds to what you are thinking about. With brain training and hypnosis, we can train the brain out of mental patterns causing the stress, anxiety and unhappiness in the first place, curtailing the stress response before it starts.

Some common mental patterns that cause or heighten stress are: I need to be perfect, I need to get it right, I have to get it all done, worrying and the list goes on and on. The underlying mental patterns can be very different and unique to each person as we all have unique experience and history. What are some ways that you reduce holiday stress?

Holly Stokes, The Brain Trainer

You can train your brain out of fears, anxiety, negative thinking, self criticism, cravings, and unhappiness!

Find your life purpose, motivation and confidence with your brain!    

P.S. You can also check out my CD, mp3: Train Your Brain for Stress Relief