Avoiding Holiday Stress and Enjoying the Holidays

Martin's Point Health Care offers seven tips to handle stress during the holiday season

The holiday season has arrived and for many it brings joy as well as stress.

“Holiday stress can make it difficult to enjoy this special time with family and friends,” says Leigh Kirchner, MHP, CHES at Martin’s Point Health Care. “However, there are many ways you can make the holidays easier for you and your family.”

Martin’s Point has compiled a list of seven simple tips for families to help them reduce holiday stress:

• Healthy Nutrition: Try to plan at least one healthy or homemade meal every day. And be mindful of the amount of snacks you eat. Candy and sweets are appealing, but they can actually turn moods sour in a hurry. Nutritious snacks, on the other hand, can help you and your children function better through a long afternoon of shopping and give you the energy boost you may need. (Also, see info below re: “Weighty Matters” class Dec. 16)
  
• Play Outside, or Take a Walk: Children and adults who are experiencing stress usually need more physical activity. Encourage your kids to bundle up and play outside, or take time for a walk by yourself or with family members. The fresh air can work wonders.
  
• Make the Most of Your Time. Limit non-essential activities to make sure you have time for all that’s involved with the holidays. If possible, have one parent do the shopping or run the errands while the other stays home to keep the house running as usual to keep things status quo.
  
• Time-Honored Traditions. Family traditions can provide great security and comfort at a time when things are a bit crazy. Establish traditions by looking for meaningful activities to do as a family or remembering special aspects of previous holidays and repeating them this year.
  
• Take an Attitude Assessment. Pledge to make the holiday season a time of love and peace, not a time focused on material goods and gifts. Remind everyone that a healthy attitude can create happiness for all.
  
• A Little Rest & Relaxation. “Time Outs” are not just for kids any more. Time spent alone reading, soaking in the bathtub, or on a walk will work wonders in quieting the mind. Rest assured, setting aside some quiet time is well worth it.
  
• Make ‘em Laugh. Hands down, laughter is still the number one way to relieve stress at any age. Laughing with your kids will shift their mood from good to bad in no time.

And, if the stress of the holidays causes you to overeat, Martin's Point also offers a session that may provide some help. The Health Education Center holds a monthly support group called “Weighty Matters.” This month, the group will focus on “Emotions and the Holidays” at the session on Thursday, December 16, from 6 to 7 p.m. Please call 207-828-2497 or 1-800-260-6681 for more information or to register.

Martin's Point Health Care, a not-for-profit health care provider with facilities in Portland, Brunswick and Windham, Maine, and in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, serves patients in the areas of family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, radiology, cardiology, and mammography, as well as other fields.

The Martin's Point Health Education Center has a variety of related resource materials that includes publications and videos. The center also offers information and classes that focus on a host of other topics, ranging from weight loss to disease management. For additional information, visit online at www.martinspoint.org.

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RESOURCES: REDUCING STRESS

An array of information about reducing children’s stress is available on the Internet and from books and magazines. Here’s a sampling:

On the Internet
www.familyeducation.com
www.ivillage.com/topics/parenting/
www.helping.apa.org/

The Martin’s Point Health Education Center at 331 Veranda St. in Portland has a resource library featuring a collection of books, videos, and audiocassettes available for check-out to the general public. Information about reducing stress includes:

Books
• “Stress, Diet, and Your Heart”
• “Stress for Success”
• “The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook”

Videos
• “Stress and Anxiety”
• “The Joy of Stress”
• “Saving for Stress”

Audio
• “Stress Less”