1. Whatever holiday you celebrate, maintain a realistic notion about what that holiday should be; don’t get so caught up in the planning that you forget to enjoy the season. Remember, less than perfect is perfectly okay.
2. Shop early for presents, party supplies, and decorations. Buy multiples of gift tags, tape and wrappings; you can always use the leftovers next year. Keep a stash of “one-size-fits-all” gifts like wine and candy on hand in case you need a last-minute present.
3. Avoid crowds by shopping local and supporting your local businesses. If you must go to the mall go at off times (dinner hour, weekdays) and leave the kids at home. Or shop from mail-order catalogs and the Internet or give gift certificates.
4. Choose only two wrapping paper designs, one for adults and one for kids. Or just use gift bags or decorative boxes.
5. Take advantage if a store offers free gift-wrapping or seek out charity gift-wrapping services; you’ll be contributing to a worthy cause.
6. Make a budget and stick to it! Catalog/online shopping can help; you won’t be seduced at the local mall by a million choices staring you in the face.
7. If you really want to guarantee you will stay within your budget, use CASH!
8. Skip holiday cards to anyone you haven’t seen or heard from in over a year, or just send New Year’s cards in January. You can spend more time on personal messages and recipients will have more time to read them.
9. Know when to politely say no to invitations. Decide which gatherings you must attend and which can be skipped without guilt. Only say yes to meaningful events.
10. Decorate only as much as your time and energy allows then be happy with the results!  Only decorate rooms you use most often.
11. Keep a special notebook of holiday recipes you would like to make year after year. This will save a lot of time searching through cookbooks.
12. Do not forget about you!! Set aside special “you time”. Unwind with a friend, get a manicure, go to a matinee, or spend an afternoon alone.
13. Finally, give to the less fortunate as part of your holiday tradition. Volunteer for a homeless shelter, visit a retirement center or participate in a food, toy or clothing drive.  Encourage kids to give away toys they no longer use.

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by Hope Staton, CMT

Co-Owner of Integrative Health Therapies

No matter who you are, what you do, or even how old you are, stress is something that we all have to deal with. We hear about it on TV, read about it in magazines and experience it on an almost daily basis. So what is stress? How does it affect us? And what can we do about it?

Physiologically, stress is the body’s reaction to external forces to return a sense of balance. The reason we have the capacity for stress is very simple…it’s there to keep us alive. At one time or another we have all had that “adrenaline rush” feeling. That is the start of the stress response pattern.  The Stress Response Pattern consists of three phases: (1) Alarm, (2) Resistance and (3) Exhaustion. You may have heard the Alarm phase termed “fight or flight”.

Throughout human history, the Stress Response pattern has been vital to human survival. The Alarm phase would allow immediate response to a sudden life or death situation. However, in modern society we have a problem. Our stressors today can be brought on by sudden events, but are far more likely to be ongoing situations such as our work, schedules, money, disorder and even our families. While our Alarms tend to be less frequent, we seem to be stuck in the Resistance phase.

The Resistance phase is what keeps you going during a stressful event and past the initial Alarm phase. If we stay stuck in this phase bad things happen. We get grouchy, short tempered and have lapses in memory and judgment. This is because our bodies are paying an even higher price by releasing chemicals to help combat stress and not absorbing the chemicals we need to maintain a healthy body. The Exhaustion phase follows that and probably need’s no explanation.

Scientific study is beginning to show what we have known for a while that our stress response effects more than just the mind. Some people have even gone so far as to claim that stress causes disease. This is not correct. Stress does not cause disease outright. However, chronic stress does exacerbate per-existing conditions, making them worse; and stress lowers the body’s immune system making it harder to fight things off and much more likely that a person will get sick in the first place. So, while stress does not cause disease or illness outright, it does create the perfect conditions for them to happen and thrive in.

One of the greatest difficulties in finding a specific answer to stress relief is that our perspective influences the magnitude of the stress response. In other words, because people see the world differently and respond to situations differently, what triggers a stress response in them will be different as well. When one person is faced with a room full of people they have never met before they might respond with excitement over the possibility of meeting new and interesting people, while another person is intimidated and nervous by the exact same scenario.

As if our natural differences didn’t make stress complicated enough, there is also the fact that our individual perception varies as well. On a week when things are going pretty well, having a computer printer go down temporarily in the middle of a project is mildly annoying, but on a week that has been difficult and already full of stressors it can be the last straw that breaks us down. The way we perceive a stressor at any given moment can greatly impact how strong our stress response is to any situation.

The good news is that we know the two major factors that can influence and reduce stress. The bad news is that it will take some work because they have to be personalized to your life. There will always be stressors that surprise us, but more often than not, you are already aware of the events, situations or scenarios you personally find stressful. The first step in reducing stress in your daily life is acknowledging what your individual stressors are then applying the two factors that most influence stress:

1) Successful Prediction

2) Perception of Control

The challenge is that just like trying to build any good habit, reducing the impact of stress in your life can only happen through a lifestyle change. It means we have to make a conscious effort to apply the principles of Successful Prediction & Perception of Control as often as possible in our daily lives. When we are able to predict stress, when we know a stressful event is going to happen in our lives, we are better able to prepare for it and therefore it will cause a much smaller stress response. When you are faced with a busy week full of activities and obligations, you can have a stress response before it even gets there by just dwelling on it. But by Predicting what your week will be like- if you plan your meals for the week, decide which day you need to do laundry, and what day you need to clean what room, you give yourself the Perception of Control that allows you to focus on the other events in the week that really do need attention. Successful Prediction, or planning ahead, will give you the Perception of Control that you need to navigate through any week with less stress.

Learning time-management and organizational skills are great ways to reduce unnecessary stress, because repetition of using Prediction and Perception of Control techniques actually shortens our stress response pattern over time. When practiced over and over the very skills and methods we use to prevent stress also help us cope better with unexpected stressful situations in general.

Developing the tools to reduce your daily stress will not come quickly or easily but will pay off in your life, not just giving you more emotional and mental peace, but also helping your overall physical health as well.

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Prepare a list: who you are buying for, what are you getting them and how much money do you plan to spend on them.  This will help you purchase items that are usable and wanted for someone and keep you within your budget.  Gift buying should be completed 2 weeks before the Christmas and wrapped one week before.

Decorations

Avoid stashing everyday household items in closets and cabinets, by storing them in the containers that your holiday decorations were stored in.  Think safety when decorating!  Do not set items in areas that people can trip over or knock off and break.

Entertaining

If you entertain during this time, make sure your walkway and entrance is well lighted.  Turn the heat down two hours before guests arrive.

Meal Preparation

Prepare your menu for Thanksgiving and Christmas now.  Make a list of items you need to prepare both meals and compare to what you already have.  Double batch anything you can and freeze if you are going to serve it for both meals.  Ask yourself what you can do before such as setting the table or cooking items the weekend before your meal.

Following these few tips can help you enjoy your family and friends more during the holiday season while decreasing stress and saving money.

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Here are some tips if you switch out clothes for the season.  When storing away your summer clothes only pack up the ones you actually wore and donate the rest to Goodwill, Salvation Army or other charity, sell them in a yard sale or put them in a consignment shop and make yourself a little cash.  Storing clothes that you have not worn for the season takes up valuable storage space.

Use colored containers for storage and place an index card on three sides of the container and on the top listing its contents.  Be cautious storing them in attics or basements due to humidity, dampness, bugs or rodents.  Place wooden cedar pieces inside each container which are available at most home stores.  If you do not have a lot of storage space but you do have a garage, you can purchase overhead ceiling hanging shelves for your garage.  They are very durable and can hold up to 300lbs.

Use the “hanger trick” to decide if you should pack up an item this spring.  When you pull out your winter clothes and hang them in the closet, place the hangers on the rod with the opening of the hanger facing out towards you.  Once you wear the article of clothing and go to hang it back in the closet, place the hanger on the rod the normal way.  At the end of this winter season any clothes that are still on the hanger with the opening facing you, it is safe to assume you did not wear the item through the season and you should be able to donate it.

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*Packing – use collapsible storage containers to put items into while moving and then they can either be used for storage in the dorm or folded down and stored away.

*Time management is key to success!  Use a calendar/planner to map out a routine.  College is supposed to be fun but it does need some structure to it if you are going to succeed without having a major melt-down at some point.  College can be stressful enough without adding the pressure of being late for class or not allowing enough time to write a term paper.

*Color code your things, label them, bring some pictures and a few loved items from home to make the room more comfortable and relaxing.

*The Container store has a couple of great articles to help you get through the college transfer.

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