Stress and Holiday Health – Maintaining Good Health and Low Stress During the Holidays

By Debbie Davis –

The holidays can be beautiful, exciting, memorable, and all too often stressful! This year, try following the 5 tips below for a holiday season that is filled with more joy, good health, and less stress.

Give Gifts that Mean More and Cost Less.  Take the pressure off with gift giving this year as you remember that it really is the thought that counts. Giving something hand-made if you’re the crafty type, or a bound book of photographs from shared experiences during the year, a calendar with pictures of happy times for each month of the new year, or home-made goodies from your kitchen (giving you an opportunity to share the gift giving process with others in the family) are all ideas that will save you money and time searching for gifts, and probably will mean more to the recipient than something off the shelf in a store.

Set Reasonable Goals.  Be careful to obligate yourself to only those activities that you really enjoy, and that you can do without overextending your time and energy. This year rather than committing to volunteering for 10 activities over a 3 week period choose several that are most important to you, do them well, and you’ll be able to relax and enjoy the difference that you’re making by volunteering.

Do something nice for you each day.   Make an appointment for yourself on your calendar and keep it. It can be as simple as reading a book with a cup of tea for 30 minutes, or taking a walk with your dog, or chatting with a friend on the phone, or scrap booking. This keeps gives you permission to take time to rejuvenate and energize daily which will keep your stress levels low and your enthusiasm high.

Stay Healthy.  Stress weakens the immune system. And a weakened immune system means that your body is less able to fight off germs and viruses that can develop into colds, flu, and respiratory congestion that exacerbate other chronic conditions such as allergy and asthma. Eat balanced meals, drink plenty of water, exercise, and get a good night’s sleep every night to stay in tip top shape for the holidays.

Maintain Healthy Indoor Air Quality    Most of us are probably indoors more during the holidays than at any other time during the year.  And with the holidays come dusty decorations that have been stored since last year, mold from live trees and garland,  guests wearing various fragrances, smoke from the fireplace or wood burning stoves, scented candles and the air can get pretty thick pretty fast during the holidays.  Constantly filtering you air with a high efficiency particle arresting (HEPA) air purifier will remove airborne pollutants and keep you feeling your best during the holidays.

An excellent resource for a HEPA air purifier to remove airborne pollutants from your air during the holidays and all year round is offered by PurerAir.com– the   HealthMate Air Purifier at  http://purerair.com/healthmate_hm400.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_Davis

Irene Conlan has a master's degree in nursing, with a major in nursing administration and a minor in psychiatric nursing. She taught nursing at Arizona State University, served as Director of Nursing Administration at St. Luke's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix and served as Assistant Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services for the Division of Health Care Facilities and Emergency Medical Services. She is also a certified hypnotherapist with a practice in Scottsdale, AZ. She is an avid blogger and manages http://www.theselfimprovementblog.com http://www.theselfesteemblog.com http://www.thepositivepsychologyblog Irene lives in Scottsdale AZ and has two sons and three grandsons.

Irene has blogged 827 posts here.