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Don’t Let Pressure Become Stress

Don’t Let Pressure Become Stress

Do you ever feel pressure building up at work or at home? Pressure is great for growth; you need it to keep moving in the right direction toward your goals.

It helps you to expand and create in the way that only you can. You want to use pressure to benefit you, and don’t let pressure become stress.

The Pressure Cooker at Work

The thing about pressure, if it goes unchecked and just keeps building and building without any release (think of a pressure cooker), that’s when it can turn into the unhealthiest kind of stress called chronic stress. The stress that causes health and other issues.

You don’t want to let pressure become this type of stress. Learn about the 3 types of stress and what to do to if you’ve got chronic stress here.

As I look back at my previous career and work habits, I could sense the pressure building, feel it, and yet felt powerless against it. Over time without actively addressing it, the stress became chronic, taking its toll on my mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

It’s common to feel this type of pressure regularly when in a high demand job or fast-paced work environment. The important part is to address the pressure before it turns to stress.

Pressure is a Sign of Growth and Change

Lately that familiar feeling of pressure has returned in my work life. I’ve begun some new coaching work. I typically work one on one with coaching clients, however, I started some coaching work for an external company where I must learn their systems and processes.

It’ll take some time to acclimate to all this newness, and I continue to remind myself that it’s part of the growth process and only temporary. This reminder helps in times when the pressure rises.

When you take on new assignments or when you’ve switched jobs to a new company, how was it for you? Those first 30-60-90 days can be rough.

You’re attempting to do the work you were hired to do, but getting up to speed with who’s who, how things are done, new systems and processes – it all takes extra time and extra effort.

When Pressure Becomes Stress

You may experience increased pressure due to other external forces too. Maybe someone was laid-off and now you have to take on the work they performed. Or maybe you’re experiencing more pressure from leadership, or a higher than normal work demand, or a lack of job security.

Even a lack of flexibility and autonomy in your work and your work schedule can leave you feeling stressed and as if you have no control. Over time or with too much pressure all at once, it can become overwhelming and stressful.

The effects of work-related pressure turning into stress is evident in your physical, mental and emotional health. Common ailments can include musculoskeletal problems like chronic back pain, joint pain and carpel tunnel syndrome. Gastrointestinal disorders, like acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcers typically have a stress component.

Mentally and emotionally, issues like anxiety, burnout and inability to get good quality sleep (sleep disorders) are a result.

Pressure becoming stress also has adverse effects on a company’s performance and bottom line too. Increased healthcare costs and absenteeism are a result of chronic stress in the workplace.

Business leaders and owners should have an interest in managing the pressure and stress in their environments. But many times they get caught up in it as well.

Act with Intention: Don’t Let Pressure Become Stress

Here are some strategies to implement so you don’t let pressure become stress.

First off, stay present and conscious in the moment. In other words, realize that something is causing pressure. Pay attention to situations that you know will likely impact you.

Also, be realistic about what you can and can’t control. If the pressure is getting to you, take a few minutes to list out what the causes might be and circle the ones you can control.

Next, take action. For those items you can control, try a new strategy or approach to change the outcome. For instance, if you feel stuck in an unproductive weekly meeting and can feel the pressure beginning to rise as you think about the other work you need to be doing, have a direct conversation with the meeting leader. Give some suggestions for improvement like having a clear agenda with time allotments for each item. Or maybe suggest less frequent meetings with email updates weekly.

And for the things you can’t control, let them go. If you have a tendency to take on things that aren’t yours or that you have no way of influencing, it’s best to recognize that early on and let it go.

For instance, being late to a meeting due to a traffic accident causing traffic backup on the road, or technical problems on a webmeeting due to bandwidth overuse – let it go. Getting frustrated or upset doesn’t help. These things are beyond your control, and you when you recognize that and let it go, it takes the pressure off and allows you to move forward in a calm healthy way.  

 

Photo by Kinga Cichewicz on Unsplash

Focus on Growth in Uncertain Times

Focus on Growth in Uncertain Times

A helpful strategy for uncertain and uncomfortable times is to focus on growth. Just like how it’s best to focus on the solution to a problem rather than the problem itself, I’m suggesting you focus on how you’re growing and developing instead of how uncertain things are. Growth brings a sense of confidence, stability and security.

The next time you’re beginning to stress over a particular situation or challenge, ask yourself these questions, “How is this challenging time or situation causing me to grow?” and “What am I learning from this?”

Uncertainty is all around us

It’s a fact of life. Uncertainty always exists. We’re always dealing with the unknown, in positive or negative ways.

For instance, you’re about to start a new assignment at work. You have certain expectations but it’s with colleagues you’ve never worked directly with before. It could be the best work experience ever, or the most challenging that tests your ability and forces you to learn and grow.

Or even something as simple as a trip to the grocery store could be full of uncertainty. There could be traffic, road closures, or a traffic accident that prolongs the whole trip, or the store could be out of stock of the staples you need.

Finding and losing balance is necessary for growth

When we’re in the middle of uncertainty, we feel out of balance. Something feels off.

Some people feel excited, like the uncertainty of a vacation to a place you’ve never been. Other people may feel anxious or stressed in that same scenario.

Our journey here in life is about finding and losing balance, and that is necessary for you to grow and develop. This fact alone helps put things into perspective and provides a more productive way of dealing with life’s challenges.

Think about when you were a child unable to walk yet. You had no balance or coordination.

One day, you gained enough balance to stand. Next, you threw yourself off balance to take that first step. You got balance again, then with your next step, threw yourself off balance again. Eventually you mastered walking and moved on to the next thing you could learn.

Growth nurtures confidence, and propels us toward the next opportunity for continued development.

How the Covid-19 pandemic is causing growth

I tend to look for the positivity in things. I’m not making light of the illness, deaths, physical and financial loss, and breakdown of systems (healthcare, political, social, financial) that we’ve been experiencing for most of 2020. I acknowledge this Covid-19 global pandemic has been one of the most trying times in recent history.

In a recent conversation I could hear my friend’s jaw drop when I stated how this Covid-19 pandemic has brought about a lot of positive things.

In disbelief, she said, “Oh really? Like what?”

I see families spending more time together going on hikes and bike rides; non tech-savvy people “going” to church or other meetings via webmeeting and some even holding their own Zoom meetings who never even heard of Zoom 6 months earlier; people are reevaluating their careers and current roles and organizations given the response to this pandemic and what their own core values are.

I see a slower pace that allows for more reflection and meditation/prayer; more enjoyment of reflective hobbies like gardening, reading, walks, music, dance, yoga; less traffic and stress over hectic schedules and routines (like commuting business professionals who now have 1 to 3 extra hours in their day as they work from home). There’s also less pollution, less driving, less air traffic, less noise and less unnecessary shopping.

There’s an intentional slowing down to enjoy sunsets, full moons, comets, beautiful clouds, beautiful trees and gardens.

Most importantly is this sense of global community – we’re all in this together no matter where on this earth you reside.

This pandemic is certainly allowing us all to expand and grow. And an intentional focus on growth is helpful during this time.

The loss, death, illness, and breakdown of systems is putting you off balance. And the focus on growth can be that step toward creating balance again.

Act with Intention: focus on growth

If you struggle in tough times, when things seem to not go your way, here are some things to do.

1. Determine what you’re focused on. Take a few deep breaths and ask yourself “what has my attention right now?” This helps you become more present with what it is so you can begin to address it.

2. Pay attention to your thoughts and language. I’ve heard people say things like “Things never work out for me” or “Why do I have so many problems”. These are limiting and unhelpful thoughts and language that once you’re aware of, you can change them in the moment. Read more about harnessing the power of your thoughts here.

3. Change limiting and unhelpful thoughts and language to statements of intention. Some people call them affirmations or incantations, but they are basically statements of intention to get your egoic and monkey mind to focus and learn a new way. It’s a way to set a new intention of how you want things to be.

You can state them aloud when one of your limiting unhelpful thoughts or statements come up. And you can build them into a daily practice where you review them each morning or 3 times a day. Keep a list in your phone for easy reference.

Some examples are: “I release everything that’s not serving my highest good”, “I know that this struggle is a normal part of life’s ups and downs, and it’s only temporary” and “This challenge is allowing me to grow and expand.” One of my favorites is “All I need is within me now.”

4. Lastly, ask helpful questions to focus on growth. The next time you’re beginning to stress over a particular situation or challenge, ask yourself these questions, “How is this challenging time or situation causing me to grow?” or “What am I learning from this?”

 

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

How to Take Back Control –  First, Get Organized

How to Take Back Control – First, Get Organized

Feeling a bit out of control these days, like most working professionals? Whether it’s work or personal stuff, the fast pace and demanding times we live in now can make life seem overwhelming.

Taking back control with simple, consistent steps can get you feeling better quickly: calmer, less stressed and more empowered.

The key is doing something each day for lasting results. Keep reading to learn how to use these strategies for your highest benefit.

The strategies are about getting organized using a two pronged approach: organized from the inside out, and organized from the outside in. Address the issue from both directions and you’ll get to where you want to be going (your goals) even faster.

Getting organized from the inside out

Getting organized from the inside out is about organizing your thoughts, beliefs, and ideas in your mind.

Experts estimate that the mind thinks between 50,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day. That’s an average of 2,100 – 3,300 thoughts per hour. That’s a remarkable number of thoughts.

Many of these are subconscious and repetitive thoughts: they’ve become efficient over time and run automatically. These are the thoughts that benefit us and lead to actions like walking, breathing, typing, driving a car, opening a door, etc. We don’t need to concern ourselves with these thoughts; they serve us well.

The thoughts we want to organize are the ones that don’t serve us. If you’ve ever meditated or even tried to study or focus on a work task, that’s when you become aware of the many irrelevant thoughts trying to get your attention.

They may be habitual and seem harmless, but a little deeper digging can bring these thoughts to the surface, to your conscious mind where you are now aware of them.

Once you’re aware of them, then you can ask some questions and determine if they are leading to poor results or sabotaging you from achieving your goals.

These thoughts may be creating feelings and beliefs, like fear, that are not supporting the dreams you have for your life.

Then we have new thoughts that we are aware of in the moment, like opinions or judgements about what’s happening now, or in the past or future.

These may be helpful, like thoughts about how to prepare for an upcoming staff meeting you’re leading, what you still need to do to prepare, when to schedule those tasks, and what the agenda will be.

Or you may have new thoughts that don’t serve you. It could be a negative thought that’s detrimental to your continued growth and development in life.

How to organize the mental noise and constant chatter

There are so many tools to help organize your mind and thoughts. What’s most important is to find a tool that works for you and stick with it.

Try one of my suggestions here, daily for at least 21 days straight. If you’re beginning to notice some positive shifts, keep it going.

A daily Thought Release each morning can really put things into perspective. Take about 5 minutes or more to write down your thoughts. Every single thought that crosses your mind: just observe the thought and write it down and move on to the next one. Its stream of consciousness writing, you’ll be writing the whole time. Some people call it a brain download, brain dump, thought download or even Morning Pages as described by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way.

I like to call it a Thought Release process because I picture the thought being released from my mind as I write them in my journal. Most are unnecessary and don’t serve me, and are just clogging up the mind.

Another thing to try is reviewing these daily Thought Release thoughts and replace any repetitive negative thought with a better, more positive one.

Awareness of these thoughts is the first step, and then asking questions about it is step two. Is this thought even true (especially if a judgement)? Is it serving you? Is it helping you in some way? Do you really need or want it? Is it time to let it go and release it? Can you replace it with a better, more positive thought?

Lastly, meditation is a practice I encourage all of my clients to adopt. Meditation teaches you how to be still, to become more focused, and to lessen the stream of thoughts running through your mind.

It brings calmness, a sense of inner peace and more happiness to all aspects of your life, when practiced consistently. Read more about meditation and morning routines here.

Getting organized from the outside in

Getting organized from the outside in is organizing your external surroundings – your space. It involves organizing your home, your office or desk, and even your car.

This helps you live intentionally and have a physical space where every single thing in that space serves you. It has a purpose.

I’m an organized person. I don’t leave things laying around, and I don’t have closets or a garage full of things I’ve never used. I know many people who never use their garage to park their car because it is stuffed full of things they’ve never used or maybe used once, years ago. There’s so much stuff the car won’t fit.

Despite how organized I felt I was, last year I made an intentional commitment to organize myself even more. I went through the process I’m about to share here, and came up with 15 bags of things to donate – 15!  And that’s not including items that were either thrown out or sold.

By going through this exercise, I knew I’d get benefits from it, but didn’t realize just how great I would feel.

You see, it’s not simply the removal of the physical items. It is the energy of those items, of that clutter and disorganization, and what it represents. Removing it impacts on your emotional and mental wellbeing too.

People say they feel lighter, obviously more organized and less stressed. They know what they have in their house or office or car, and can easily find it.

It’s easier to get ready in the morning when the closet it organized and you can see all the potential outfits you’d like to wear that day. The clutter is gone too, taking up space. All the duplicate pens, pencils, paperclips and rubber bands from desk drawers that are unnecessary – how many does a person need? I knew someone who had 8 pairs of scissors and 4 boxes of tacks – in one desk.

The kitchen is another area that could have a lot of items you never use. Tupperware and other plastic containers that are looking a little over used or that may have been used once 3 years ago, extra utensils that can be donated, and even pots, pans, serving bowls and platters that you don’t currently and never will use.

When people declutter and get organized, they feel more at peace when in these rooms, seeing everything in its place and even empty space in drawers and closets.

Benefits of getting organized

The empty space in shelves, drawers and closets is symbolic of making room for new opportunities to present themselves. That idea alone can provide the motivation you might need as you sift through all the shoes in your closet and hesitate giving up that new-ish pair of boots you paid so much money for, that hurt your feet every time you wore them (not serving you).

Another benefit of organizing your space is the sense of contribution you get. Knowing that you’ve only kept what is still useful to you, and that other people can now enjoy the items you donated.

That sense of contribution and sharing is very uplifting and makes donating these items an easier task, especially for things you may have an emotional connection to or that remind you of a cherished memory. For example, I had a whole boxful of stuffed animals that my mother collected that I received after my Mom passed away years ago. They were sitting in that box, unused, in great shape for years until last year. I decided to keep a couple of them and the rest were donated. Hopefully some children can enjoy and play with them now.

Now it’s your turn to take action

Now it’s your turn. I challenge you to take back some control in your life by getting organized. From the inside out, commit to the following:

  • Daily thought release every morning as described above. Set a timer for 5 minutes or more and get those thoughts out. And if your mind races at night, thinking about work or worrying about everything, try the thought release exercise before bed too.
  • If you notice you’re having a lot of negative thoughts during this daily thought release that don’t serve you, take some time to replace them with positive ones. For example, if you have a lot of thoughts about all the things at work that stress you out, write about how your work is serving and helping other people. Or if you keep thinking about a coworker’s negative comments to you, write one positive thing about that person.
  • If you don’t already have a morning routine that addresses organizing your mind and thoughts, learn more in my blog called Connect to Success Every Day for Best Results where you can also get access to my Connect to Success Morning Routine Tool to use every day.

From the outside in, commit to the following:

  • Block out one hour on your calendar for this weekend and select one part of your house, or car, or office/desk to organize. It’s best to take everything out of the closet or drawer or area, then look at each item and ask yourself some questions: when is the last time I used this, or wore this? If not within the past year, let it go. Does it make me happy? Does it serve me? Would someone else enjoy this more? Is it outdated (clothing, etc.)?
  • Set a goal to organize one area every week. And then pay attention to the changes that follow.

Look for larger shifts that can occur after getting more organized.

For me, I felt like being more social. It included getting out more, meeting new people, taking day trips, and networking more with other business owners. It opened up space and energy for these new things.

Organizing the mind also opens up space and energy for you to be more aware of your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions too. You can discern which ones are or aren’t helpful, and then organize them and release the unhelpful ones.

Getting organized is a very powerful tool that increases your emotional intelligence and supports personal growth, and provides a sense of fulfillment and peace in the long term.

I’d love to hear about the progress you’ve made and the positive shifts you’re experiencing as a result of getting organized. Let me know in the comments.  

 

Photo by Douglas Sheppard on Unsplash

Don’t Take It Personally

Don’t Take It Personally

When I was younger, and in my previous career in Human Resources, I thought the way someone treated me was all about me. I would take things personally and even think I was at fault. As if I had any control in the way others behaved or what they said.

My work back then involved partnering with and providing guidance to people managers. Managers came to me frustrated about a situation with one of their employees or with a particular business objective like the need to reduce labor costs.

I was typically the first to hear their frustration. And in some cases, these managers would take that frustration out on me, in a way that felt like I was being attacked – just for bringing up the subject or holding them responsible for actions they needed to take.

By taking it personally and making it about me, the self-doubt and negativity would begin to spin.

Did I handle the situation correctly?

Should I have waited for a better time to discuss it?

How could I have reacted better?

I must have caused their reaction.

It must have been something I did or said.

It must be my fault.

See how easily it spirals? I think we all may have experienced this at some point.

This is critical self-talk, brought on by trying to take responsibility for someone else’s behavior.

It’s not productive, and it doesn’t make you feel very good either.

Here’s a more recent example from one of my coaching clients. One of her colleagues at work saw her as the bottleneck to a problem he was trying to solve in his department. She pushed back at the salary he wanted to offer to a potential new hire, it was above the maximum for the scope of the role and not in budget.

She was following best practices, and suggested other options like additional vacation time and a sign on bonus as a compromise, but the hiring manager exploded at her when he didn’t get his way.

He was rude, dismissive, talked over her and wouldn’t listen to her reasoning. Not what you’d expect from a professional at any level in the organization. Not what she expected from him.

His overreaction made it clear that this was a bigger ordeal for him and much larger in his mind. Stress and pressure can express itself in very inflated ways. His explosion over not getting approval to offer the high salary was not in line or what you’d expect for this situation. 

My client said it felt like a personal attack at the time, raised voices and attacking language makes most people upset and feeling knocked off balance.

He even accused her of not being supportive; a low blow because she was known for and very proud of how she supported and collaborated with her colleagues.

She didn’t know how to respond to his unexpected outburst, except to stay composed, tell him they would discuss it later after he had some time to think about her proposal, and then she promptly left the room.

Upon reflection she realized it wasn’t personal. Her colleague had big plans for his new team and department, and this was the latest rejection of the plans that he had. It didn’t excuse his outburst and poor behavior, but she now understood more fully what it meant to him.  

With practice it gets easier to not take things personally. When someone decides to lose their temper and treat you in an unprofessional or rude way, very rarely is it ever about you.

Simply becoming aware is half the solution. The other half is deciding how you are going to think and act about it, before it ever gets to the point of affecting your emotions.

So when you feel someone intentionally hurt you with their words or actions, you may feel thrown off balance, but try the following:  

As you start to feel some emotions coming up, sit with them for a minute and put some understanding around the situation too. Excuse yourself if needed, especially if it’s a very tense situation.

Step back and put context around what was occurring to really see what was going on. Is there more to this situation? What else could be causing such a surprising reaction? The context could lead to you realizing it really had nothing to do with you.

You never know what someone else is going through. Maybe the person unleashing on you is having a very bad day, week or month…maybe she has a loved one that’s dying, or maybe he is dealing with an illness that’s causing a lot of stress.

It doesn’t excuse their bad behavior, but it allows you to think about the situation differently and act in a healthier way, for you and for them.

Don’t take it personally. If you do, that’s when it can spiral into feeding insecurities and self-doubt. Or worse, letting it repeat in your mind, negatively affecting your productivity and mood for the rest of the day.

So remember: you can’t control others, you can only control how you think, feel and act about a situation.

And if someone has treated you poorly, don’t take it personally.

You’ll be amazed at how this simple shift in perspective increases the productivity and happiness in your life.

– Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

8 Tips for a Stress Free Holiday Season

8 Tips for a Stress Free Holiday Season

It’s that time of year again – the holidays! If you’re like most people, it can be one of the most stressful times of the year.

Are you missing a loved one this year? The holidays seem to amplify that feeling of loss and sadness.

We may think of the quirky things they did, like my Mom always burning the Thanksgiving dinner rolls – every year! We even joked about that at her funeral.

After my grandparents died, we’d always remember them in a prayer before our holiday meal, and I witnessed how upset all the adults at the table would get, many crying for a few minutes. It’s a very emotional part of the year.

And for our loved ones that we’ll be spending time with, family dynamics and challenges in certain family relationships could cause some stress.

And then we have the gift giving of the holiday season. It’s a main stressor that can bring up a lot of issues for people, like a perceived lack of money to buy gifts, not getting the right gift or worrying if someone gives you something and you have no gift in return, and don’t forget about shopping for gifts with crowded stores and long lines. Ah, the holidays.  

Here are my 8 tips for a stress free holiday season:

1. Minimize your to-do list. Make your list and then go through each item and ask, “Is this really necessary? If I don’t do this, what will happen?”

Remove, simplify or delegate at least half of the items from your original list to avoid overstretching yourself. Set yourself up for success this season.

2. Shop early, and wrap gifts as you go. As a young adult for some reason I’d wait to go shopping on Christmas Eve, and remember feeling my blood pressure rising from trying to find gifts when most of the inventory was gone, and then staying up to all hours that night wrapping those gifts – so stressful, and so unnecessary.

If only I took this advice back then, to shop early and wrap as you go.

Bonus tip: put sticky notes on the wrapped gifts to remind you what’s inside, just be sure to take the notes off before you deliver the gift!

3. Buy food, don’t cook or bake. Shopping for ingredients, preparing the food, cooking every night for weeks after working all day – this is a recipe for exhaustion (pun intended).  

Grocery stores, bakeries and the freezer department at the big discount retailers have delicious, pre-baked holiday appetizers, meals and desserts.

Or, you can even buy your whole meal already prepared at the grocery store to heat and serve, or make reservations at a restaurant and not have any cleanup involved.

The time and effort saved allows you to spend the holidays on more important and satisfying things, like visiting with family and friends and having meaningful conversations with those you love, instead of working in the kitchen and missing all the fun.

4. Or, if it’s not the holidays for you without home-made food, then plan to have finger food and appetizers, not a huge feast

For me, there’s one dish we always had growing up and it’s just not Christmas without them: Polish pierogi. I found a European deli nearby that sells pierogi similar to the ones my grandmother made from scratch, and they’re so easy to prepare.

It’s easier on the cook and your guests will thank you when they don’t feel like they’ve overindulged.

You can even share the work by making it a pot-luck holiday event – I did that one Thanksgiving and it really took the pressure off me as the host.

5. Remember what the holidays are really about: a celebration of gratitude and love. 

Gratitude for all the blessings we have and taking time to spend with your loved ones. Everything else comes in a distant third.

Consciously take time to appreciate all the abundance in your life: all the love, your health, your family, and your friends. Meditating, praying or journaling about this leading up to the holidays and during them is a daily practice.

Be an example to others throughout the season: hold the door for someone, smile at strangers, laugh and enjoy!

6. Ask for help. For many of us, including me, asking for help doesn’t come easy.

But don’t ignore the power in asking for help – there is no reason why you have to do everything on your own.

My mother never asked for help, until the night before and by that time she was in full-on panic mode, stressed out, lashing out, yelling, rushing around, and generally miserable.

Plan ahead, delegate as much as possible and don’t feel guilty about receiving help from others; instead remember that people want to help and don’t want to come over empty handed, so just ask them to bring a salad, or a dessert, or a particular side dish of theirs that you love, so you don’t have to shop for and make it all yourself.

The same goes for cleaning up. I hosted Thanksgiving a few years ago, and all my guests insisted I sit and relax while they cleared the table, put all the leftovers away, and washed and dried all the dishes! When everyone helps out, it’s easier and gets done much more quickly.

7. Take action to stay healthy. Listen to your body and keep a careful watch for any of these signs, and make immediate changes before they worsen:

  • Not sleeping well, unable to fall asleep easily or not feeling rested when you wake up.
  • Feeling irritable, moody and unhappy – snapping at people when they don’t deserve it.
  • Exhaustion and fatigue – not just tired, but extremely tired to the point where you feel you can’t function or you need a nap in the middle of the day.
  • Physical issues like headaches, stomachaches, joint pain, overall body achiness, and catching frequent colds and illnesses (a sign your immune system is low).

If you’re experiencing any of these, it’s a sign to slow down, figure out what could be the cause, and take steps to alleviate these symptoms. Some ideas are in #8….  

8. Plan time to take care of yourself.

Don’t worry about having your house, your decorations, your food, everything – be perfect for everyone else’s benefit, at the expense of your physical and mental health.

Plan some time for yourself: it could be a walk outside, a yoga or exercise class, quiet time alone to meditate, a warm Epsom salt bath, or book an Energy healing or massage session.

It’s all about balance and this self-care is important for your wellbeing.

Sometimes, you must put yourself first so that you can be your best you for your family and friends this holiday season.

Use one or more of these tips and make it a wonderful holiday season to remember for years to come.

Photo by Freestocks on Unsplash