Kiddipedia
For many, the festive season does not feel very festive. The months leading up to Christmas can be hectic and down right exhausting and Christmas itself can be very stressful especially for parents. With the growing pressures on families, many parents can feel flat, down, or anxious before, during and after the Christmas season. According to the National Poll on Children’s Health, eighteen percent of parents reported having high stress levels during Christmas. Mothers reported higher stress levels than fathers.
The complexity of families today can be a contributor to this pressure as well as the added stress levels. The Victorian Government’s Better Health Channel states that some of the factors that may dampen the Christmas spirit include:
- Financial and time pressure
- Family conflict or tension
- Separation and divorce
- The added challenges of blended families
- Reflecting on the year that has just passed.
With all of these added pressures on parents and families, how do we bring that festive feeling back? How can parents feel a greater sense of calmness with positive mental health?
Maintaining positive mental health is a priority and it starts now. Although Christmas is months away, the habits that are formed now will lead to tremendous benefits in the months to come.
The good news is when it comes to maintaining positive mental health, it is often the simple steps that will lead to a better mindset and positive emotions in the long run and especially during stressful times. Prioritising these simple steps daily will also impact on the whole family as well as the entire Christmas experience and thereafter.
Here are some simple things to remember to do daily (that won’t take up a lot of time):
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Plan ahead.
A good plan can lead to lower stress and anxiety because it gives the mind order. Our minds need order and clarity. Order and clarity help us feel organised, prepared and more in control and therefore more resilient during times of high pressure and challenges.
Writing out your plan and then creating daily and weekly actions will add the feeling of having control. Keep daily activities simple and straight forward. Rather than having twenty things on the daily to do list, make it simpler. Have five to ten things to do daily. If you are consistent with a smaller list daily than the longer list will take care of itself.
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Practice stillness and silence.
In a world full of noise bombarded with messages, information, and our own concerns, it is more important than ever to practice stillness. Stillness can include meditation or it could simply be closing your eyes whilst sitting still and slowing the mental chatter down for a couple of minutes.
Practicing stillness consistently for a few minutes several times a day is a vital practice in today’s demanding, complex and noisy world. According to research by Sarah Garone from Healthline, practicing silence and stillness has many benefits including lowering blood pressure, calming racing thoughts, improving mindset and decreasing cortisol.
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Write a genuine gratitude list every day and really feel it.
Say “Thank you” more often. We hear the importance of gratitude everywhere these days but why is feeling gratitude so important to our mental health?
According to Courtney E Ackerman, MA the benefits of practicing gratitude are multiple. These benefits include – greater feelings of happiness, increased psychological wellbeing, enhanced positive emotions, lower stress, and increased self-esteem to name a few. So, the habit of daily gratitude as a way of life can get one through the toughest times and bring back the “festive” in the festive season.
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Move your body.
The importance of daily exercise is well known. Taking time for that thirty minute brisk walk or that yoga class will release endorphins and help get through stressful times.
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Break down the bigger challenges.
As the saying goes “You eat an elephant one bite at a time.” In today’s society, it appears that the challenges and problems can become overwhelming. During times like Christmas the overwhelm and focus on the problem can intensify. Rather than focus on the problem or the worst outcome of a problem, a much more constructive approach is to break the problem down into small, manageable parts. This allows one to only focus on what they can control. By breaking challenges and problems down in this way, the solutions come with more ease and stress levels are minimised.
Suzana Mihajlovic
Founder & Lead Success Coach
Your2Minds Pty Ltd
