Stress Reducing Techniques for the Holidays

No matter if it's family members that stress you out or simply the surge and excitement of the new year to try and better yourself, you need to have numerous stress reducing techniques ready to use! 

Technique #1: Mindfulness Meditation. 
Meditation is one of the most powerful things you can do to reduce stress or anxiety. It brings short term and long term stress relief. Basically, you take some time to sit down and focus on breathing. Having your mind focus on a simple task gives it a good break from the choatic and unorganized thoughts that you have during the day. 

Technique #2: Guided Imagery
This is kind of like day dreaming, just enhanced! Focus more on the details such as what your ideal surrounding smells, feels, and sounds like. Get really detailed and let your imagination run. You can even pull up YouTube videos or apps to help get you into that space. 

Technique #3: Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Sounds technical and advanced right? Not quite. It's actually very simple, but it does take practice. You relax all muslces in your body to release any tension. Much like the first technique, you need to focus on your breathing first. There are lots of instructional videos out there to help you!

Technique #4: Planning 
Planning can seriously help organize your thoughts and goals. Consider getting a journal or planner to help you with this. We also have our own performance planner here on the site. 

Technique #5: Socializing
Humans are certainly social. Simply hanging out with one of your friends or family members can release a chemical called oxytocin which basically lowers stress levels instantly. 

No matter which one of these techniques you use, keep in mind that some of them will take practice! Especially if you are effected by instrusive thoughts and have trouble slowing down your mind. Thanks for reading and happy holidays!