The holiday season and all it brings is a joyous and festive time of year. It’s also one of the most anxiety causing and stressful. The holidays typically demand more of your time and finances as you shop, cook, clean, entertain, and attend gatherings.

Managing holiday stress and having a strategy to calm down in the moment can make all the difference. To keep the “happy” in your holidays, experiment with the following research-backed tactics to manage stress and anxiety.

The first step: recognize how your mind and body react when you feel anxious 

Anxious feelings are a reaction designed to protect you from a threat. At times, it can make you more alert and focused. But when you're anxious, decisions are often limited to "fight or flight" reactions, which impact your ability to respond and function.1,2 

The fight or flight response refers to involuntary physiological changes that happen in the body and mind when you feel threatened. This response exists to keep you safe and prepare you to face or escape danger. In a situation that is dangerous, it can save your life.

Although the challenge of picking out the perfect gift for an especially finicky person isn’t life threatening, your body has the same physiological response as if it is. If you experience this reaction too frequently, it can take a toll on your health and happiness.1,2

Many individuals don't recognize the effects of anxious feelings on the body or mind. Common signs and symptoms include:3,4

  1. An increased heart rate
  2. Breathing rapidly
  3. Feeling restless, nervous, or tense
  4. A sense of impending danger, panic, or doom
  5. Sweating
  6. Trembling
  7. Feeling weak or tired
  8. Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
  9. Trouble sleeping
  10. Experiencing gastrointestinal problems
  11. Difficulty controlling worry

The second step: have a plan to calm down in the moment

After you've identified your reactions, then you can take steps to soothe your body and mind to counteract the anxious response. It's not easy to find calm in the middle of chaos and when you're stressed. It takes practice, and finding strategies that work can take time.

When the pressure mounts or you begin to feel anxious, experiment with the following research-backed tactics to manage holiday stress when it hits.

Breathe from your belly. When stressed, it's common to take quick and shallow breaths from the chest instead of the belly. Taking deep, slow breaths using your diaphragm helps calm your body and mind.

Studies on the physiological effects of deep, slow breathing show significant positive effects on the respiratory, cardiovascular, and autonomic nervous systems. This leads to decreases in heart rate and blood pressure, improved digestion, improved sleep cycles, enhanced anti-inflammatory effects, improved mood, and muscle relaxation.5-7 

Here’s a simple deep breathing exercise to try when you’re feeling stressed over the holiday season.

  1. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other on your belly just beneath the rib cage.
  2. To inhale, slowly breathe in through your nose, drawing your breath down toward the stomach. The stomach should fill like a balloon and push your hand upward, while the hand on your chest remains still.
  3. To exhale, tighten your abdominal muscles and let your stomach fall downward while breathing through your mouth. Again, the chest should remain still.
  4. Repeat for a few cycles. To obtain even more benefits, practice deep breathing for several minutes each day.

There are many breathing practices that slow down breathing and utilize the diaphragm. Any application of diaphragmatic breathing helps calm your body's stress response.5-7

Move your body. Exercise can lower anxiety in the moment, and any kind of movement will help. Walking, deep knee bends, jumping jacks, pushups, sit-ups, skipping, or any movement that's comfortable can flush stress-induced chemicals out of your body.8-10 

This holiday season, go for a walk after dinner or join the kids at the sledding hill. Any movement will support your efforts to manage holiday stress.  

Turn on calming music. Research shows that even a short session of focusing on calming music can lower stress and improve your mood. Build yourself a special holiday-calming playlist. Then, when stress rears its head, try five minutes of sitting still or walking while listening.11

Remind yourself this is temporary. Fighting or denying the way you feel when you're anxious can create more anxious feelings. Instead, acknowledge your feelings and try to witness them without judgment. Then remind yourself these feelings won't last forever. Knowing your symptoms when you feel anxious can make them less threatening. Plus, being aware of your reactions will help you remember that you've managed feeling this way in the past – and you can do it again.9,12

Be self-compassionate. One way of dealing with anxieties is being compassionate toward yourself rather than critical. It's common to feel frustrated and resort to negative self-talk if you struggle to manage your anxious feelings. But a negative inner voice will only make you feel worse. The next time your inner critic starts talking, flip the script.

For example, if you go to a holiday party and beat yourself up for not talking to anyone or your inner voice says, "What is wrong with you? No one else at the party had a problem having conversations with other people!" Recognize this voice as the inner critic and counteract it with a more compassionate voice. Try something like, "It was hard to go to the party. I'm proud of you for going. You tried, and that's what counts." Be compassionate and be your own best friend. Tell yourself something that you wish someone would say to you in that moment.9,12

Stress won't disappear from your life and managing anxious feelings that go along with it is ongoing. Paying attention to your stress reactions and practicing ways to calm the body’s response will go a long way when managing holiday stress and beyond.

A word from Thorne

Nutritional supplements can help take the edge off your holiday stress, including Thorne’s Ginseng Plus, a botanical formula to help build resilience to stress. If you’re interested in how your body responds to stress, then you can take Thorne’s at-home Stress Test that measures salivary levels of the adrenal hormones – cortisol and DHEA – and provides diet, lifestyle, and supplement recommendations.

References

    1. Physiology, stress reaction. National Library of Medicine. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541120/. [Accessed Sep. 6, 2024] 
    2. Klaassen FH, Held L, Figner B, et al. Defensive freezing and its relation to approach-avoidance decision-making under threat. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):12030.
    3. Anxiety disorders. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961. [Accessed Sep. 6, 2024]
    4. Generalized anxiety disorder: symptoms. Anxiety & Depression Association of America. https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad/symptoms. [Accessed Sep. 6, 2024]
    5. Herawati I, Mat Ludin AF, Ishak I, et al. Breathing exercise for hypertensive patients: A scoping review. Front Physiol. 2023;14:1048338.
    6. How belly breathing benefits your body, mind. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/belly-breathing-benefits. [Accessed Sep. 7, 2024]
    7. Sakakibara M. Evaluation of heart rate variability and application of heart rate variability biofeedback: toward further research on slow-paced abdominal breathing in Zen meditation. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2022;47(4):345-356. 
    8. Irwin SA, Hirst JM. Overview of anxiety in palliative care. UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/overview-of-anxiety-in-palliative-care. [Accessed Sep. 6, 2024]
    9. Tips to manage anxiety and stress. Anxiety & Depression Association of America. https://adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/managing-anxiety/tips-manage-anxiety-and-stress. [Accessed Sep. 6, 2024]
    10. Physical activity guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/pdf/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf. [Accessed Sep. 6, 2024]
    11. de Witte M, Pinho ADS, Stams GJ, et al. Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychol Rev. 2022;16(1):134-159.
    12. Craske M. Generalized anxiety disorder in adults: cognitive-behavioral therapy and other psychotherapies. UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/generalized-anxiety-disorder-in-adults-management#H88734072 [Accessed Sep. 6, 2024]