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The run up to the year-end can get pretty stressful. Shopping for Christmas, tasks and reporting deadlines have to be completed before the year is out.
Social media gets filled with posts about goals for the coming year instead of focusing on ending the current year on a high note.
Suddenly you are wondering where the days are going.
If you’re struggling to stay on top of your game, then read on for 3 easy ideas to avoid what I call the December melt-down.
Simple Tension Buster Exercise
I use this exercise whenever I feel stress building up. It helps to release muscle tension triggered as a stress response.
• Stand relaxed, arms hanging at sides and feet about one foot apart.
• Tilt head back and hold for five seconds
• Roll head forward and hold for five seconds.
• Curl chest and stomach forward as you bend at the waist; arms dangling for five seconds.
• Inhale slowly through mouth as you straighten up. Raise arms overhead; drop arms slowly to sides as you exhale slowly though your mouth.
Feeling you need support? Drop me a line at https://karmicallycoaching.com/connect. Let’s see how we can work together to get that stress under control.
The Social Law of Community Support
Social support is a well-recognized way for people to deal with stress.
It can take the form of informal groups.
For example, young mothers who meet up to share their problems and get support from other mothers. These group members are either also going through the experience or are a few steps ahead in dealing with newborns.
It can also be a more formal group of small business owners and study circles to name a few.
This is a powerful two-way method for receiving and giving social support.
Here are some ideas to increase social support for yourself and others:
Join a club or group with similar interests to your own.
Make a coffee or lunch date to do meet up with a friend or colleague who can motivate and support you and vice versa.
Speak kind words to family and friends—those we love most are often those we treat the worst.
Practice being a good listener. Strive to be “other centered”
Drop a line to someone you have not been in touch with and reconnect. Let them know they are not forgotten even if you have been out of touch.
Time Tackle Tips
When time is in short supply, stress seems to grow. Lately, I’ve been seeing a spurt of articles in newspapers about stress and stress management.
There are also lots of posts about productivity and time management. Focus seems to be the in word and it is indeed important.
Are you in a situation where you need to multi-task? Make sure you pick up my tips on how to do it effectively.
If time is becoming a stressful issue for you then check out my Time Management posts.
Pick up some additional tips from my book Eight tested Commandments for Time Management.
Now it’s your turn. Knowledge and experience become tenfold when shared.
Do you have any special tips for handling December melt-downs?
PS. Instead of focusing on quick remedies, why not build your resilience to stress the whole year? That’s where Chakra Balancing helps. Watch the video below and decide if it’s something you want to try.
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Photo Credit : Pop-Art by Piotr Siedlecki
Written by Vatsala Shukla
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There’s something about hot chocolate that I always find soothing. Or chocolate, in general, will do. I agree with you about the breathing exercises. They are key to getting more oxygen to the brain and circulating throughout your body for a quick release of stress and tension. Also, by engaging in activities, especially those where you are helping others, is a great mind shift away from focusing on your own problems and feeling of sadness. This should be handed out as a holiday prescription every year.
Breath work is one of my favorite ways to manage stress, Joyce, and it works fast. I realized the true value of social support back in 2003 when I was working for KPMG in Jamaica and found myself facing the prospect of a lonely Christmas Day. The fact that it was my nephew’s 2nd birthday the next day didn’t make it better. I was only 6 months in the country and had not yet made friends who would invite me over.
On Christmas Eve I got a call from a colleague’s boyfriend inviting me to a Christmas lunch with his family. My colleague was travelling and they had wanted to do something nice for me and give me an experience to remember. Then my HR Manager called and invited me for an early drink!
The day went by well and I knew I was being honored because Christmas in Jamaica is a family event. What brought tears to my eyes was learning later that my fellow Managers at work had been concerned about how I would get through the festive season and they had planned it for me without my knowing it!
I always try to pass the kindness forward.
In the Social Support section, you’re talking a lot about one of my go-to ways to settle down when things get stressful. And that’s being generous. Taking time to do something for someone else. Paying it forward in social media.
Game changer, I promise. Try it.
Generosity, combined with a commitment to gratitude, combats to soothe and heal thoughts about beliefs you might be carrying around regarding deprivation and entitlement. I have proved to myself time and again that deprivation and gratitude can’t co-exist, and neither can entitlement and generosity.
Blessed be.
Solstice blessings.
I’m with you on this, Sue. There’s an Arabic saying – I used to cry I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.
Being grateful for all that is good in our life and reaching out to help those who need a supportive shoulder is what being a good human being is all about.