Competing agendas, multiple responsibilities, and the pressure for everything to be just right at Christmas can be stressful.
But we can flip the script and use Christmas as an opportunity to focus on strengthening our psychological wellbeing.
One step towards this is to be honest about what's happening for you emotionally. Research shows that simply acknowledging and labelling our emotions helps us move through them. So, when you feel that stress bubbling up, fight the temptation to push it down with distraction, over-indulging or ignoring the feeling.
Instead, name the stress.
Another way to enhance your mental wellbeing is gratitude. Research shows that practicing gratitude can strengthen resilience. In times of high stress, we tend to focus on everything that goes wrong, and Christmas Day is no exception. Gratitude can help pull us out of this spiral by bringing attention to the present and on what we truly value. In this way, we shift our focus from expectation to appreciation. The key is to create time for gratitude, to sit and reflect.
Lastly, consider making small changes to what you've always done. If you normally bake a million biscuits, or strive to have the perfect gift, the resulting stress takes away from the tradition. Consider stepping away from that one thing. Identify which traditions feel like obligations, rather than celebrations, and drop them, or aim for "good enough". Put that energy into sharing experiences and connection.
