10 wellbeing tips for this Christmas

10 wellbeing tips for this Christmas

Christmas. ‘Tis the season for some of us to be stressed and exhausted!  Shopping for presents, perhaps planning child-care for school holidays, financial stresses and family tensions in the lead-up to Christmas can be overwhelming and stressful.  We have put together 10 tips to help you look after your wellbeing this Christmas.

10 tips to feel better this Christmas

1. Be careful drinking too much alcohol in combination with known triggers like certain family members / topics. Set realistic expectations and try to focus on children if they are around on the day.
2. Set boundaries on how much you spend on gifts and the number of social events you attend. You can give vouchers of your time as presents – making a special dinner, going to the Zoo with a child, doing someone’s garden or babysitting.
3. Don’t accept any perfect representation of Christmas that the media or other people try to make you believe. Lower your expectations and any attachment to what it should look like.
4. Become involved in giving in a non-monetary way through charities and worthwhile causes that help less fortunate people.
5. Try to feel gratitude for what you have in your life, rather than focusing on what you don’t have.
6. Avoid excessive negative rumination about your life, instead take action and plan to do interesting and fun things. Take a positive inventory of your achievements, relationships, attributes and resources.
7. If you are suffering loneliness, connect with friends and family. Even if you’re separated by distance, you can stay in touch with loved ones online or by phone. Think about attending community events. Find out what’s on locally and get involved. Whether it’s Christmas carols or local markets, getting out and about can help relieve loneliness.
8. Focus your thoughts on all the good things about Christmas – the opportunity to engage in loving kindness, generosity of spirit, and gratitude for others in your life.
9. Take some control back rather than doing things the way you think you should or always have. For instance, you may find the family obligations of the holidays overwhelming. You have to make the rum balls according to your grandmother’s recipe, even though you personally find them inedible. You have to go over to your Aunt’s for Christmas dinner, even though she always drinks too much, makes a scene, and freaks out your kids. You don’t exactly want to do any of these things. You just have to. Ask yourself, why am I doing these things? Is it possible to do them differently?
10. Look after yourself – try to get enough sleep, keep exercising and curb over-indulgence temptations.

Please remember that if you are experiencing severe depression symptoms, seek out the help of a qualified mental health professional. Go to your GP, call LifeLine (13 11 44), access Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636), talk to a friend or see a Psychologist.