Take a Holiday from Stress

The holidays are often a joyful time people spend with family and friends, but they can also add additional stress to your life. We get wrapped up in all the last minute shopping, entertaining guests, enjoying the first snow, cooking our favorite holiday foods. With so much going on, it is hard to relax and focus on keeping ourselves healthy.

There is a true connection between stress and illness, which is why it is important to ease up this holiday season. Make a goal to focus on one or two things that trigger stress for you, and try to find ways that could reduce those stresses.

Here are some tips to help you reduce stress:

· Don’t get caught up in finding the perfect gift or planning the perfect party. Enjoy the moment instead of driving yourself crazy.

· Pace yourself, and don’t take on more responsibility than you can handle.

· Make lists to help you prioritize the most important tasks.

· Set realistic goals and make realistic expectations for yourself.

· Know your spending limit. Overspending is one of the biggest holiday stressors.

· Share the traditional holiday tasks, such as gift wrapping and preparing holiday meals, with friends and family. This will make things easier on you and allow you to spend time with those you love.

· Get enough sleep, and keep a regular meal and exercise schedule.

· Get support if you need it. Holidays can sometimes trigger depression, and most people will need some treatment to get better.

· Learn to say “no” to unimportant holiday events in order to make time for the important events you wouldn’t want to miss.

· Plan ahead for shopping trips, time to visit friends and time for cooking. This will help prevent scheduling conflicts and will reduce the stress of trying to do everything at once.

§ Make time for yourself. Spending even 15 minutes alone can recharge and relax you enough to enable you to handle everything you need to do.

Visit PacificSource.com for free online tools and resources

As a PacificSource member, you can access CaféWell, an online health engagement portal. To get started, go to PacificSource.com, log into InTouch, and then click on the CaféWell button.

Visit CaféWell to:

· Complete the health assessment to identify your potential health risks.

· Get your health and wellness questions answered by an expert health coach.

· Connect with family, friends, and others with similar health goals.

· Access helpful tips and articles on health and wellness.

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