5 Ways To Manage Holiday Stress

When we’re stressed we overeat. We have a hard time sleeping.

These reactionary ways of dealing with stress are usually automatic — and they put even more stress on your body in the long run.

But you can take a proactive approach to stress management this holiday. Try one or more of these five steps.

1. Find an exercise program you enjoy doing. If you actually enjoy the workout, part of the stress relief has already taken place. Create, or get help creating, a program based on 2-3 resistance or weight workouts per week and 3-5 cardio workouts.

2. Start doing breathing exercises 2-3 times a day. Breathing is the only voluntary action (that we can control) that helps calm the nervous system physiologically. It helps the body find balance in stressful situations.

3. Meditate a few times a week. It can be a guided meditation, or it can be simply quietly sitting while listening your favorite music or in any quiet place. It doesn’t have to be more mysterious than that.

Read more at Gaiam Life