​How To Make This Christmas Simply Awesome

Does the thought of Christmas make you break out in a sweat? Does the sight of mince pies and Advent calendars in the shops start your mind racing even when Christmas is over two months away? It’s hard trying to juggle work, being a mum, and Christmas preparations and Christmas overwhelm and anxiety is real. But, there are three things that you can do to create an awesome Christmas and reduce your stress:

• Start with deciding the one thing you must include in your Christmas season.
• Secondly, intentionally create and deepen your connection with yourself, others, the world around you, and the transcendental.
• And lastly, but not least(y) maintain your self-care. Don't scoff. Self-care fatigue may be real, but there are simple ways to include self-care as part of your life and practice self-care at Christmas. 

​Christmas is part of the year's rhythm, like Spring, birthdays, and the start of the school year. In Spring you start to swap your winter clothes out for lighter dresses and pack your heavier coats away (although not too far away if you live in Melbourne where our seasons tend to ignore their order on the calendar). At the end of the school year, there is space for reflecting on the achievements of the year, celebrating them with concerts, displays of artwork, and reports that provide a potted summary of the blood, sweat, and tears.

And before Christmas you plan, you shop, you get swept into the rhythm of what always happens at Christmas. You may work hard to recreate the magic of your childhood Christmas, or you may work hard to ensure your family experiences the joy you never did. You want to spend quality time with your loved ones, choose the right gifts, make people happy, and create wonderful memories.

Some years it works. And other years there are tears, exhaustion, disappointment, and arguments. The drive to make this ‘the most magical time of the year’ can take its toll, and in the pressure to do everything for everyone, your needs, and your rights, can get lost.

It doesn’t have to be like this.

  The drive to make this ‘the most magical time of the year’ can take its toll, and in the pressure to do everything for everyone, your needs, and your rights, can get lost."

Why does Christmas stress you out?
If you’re like me you want to enjoy Christmas and help your kids enjoy it. You want to create opportunities to sit with awe, see smiles and laughter, gather people together, and celebrate hope. But it’s easy for the joy to be sucked out of Christmas.

How does this happen?  Why is Christmas bad for your mental health?

• The cost. It’s easy to get carried away with buying gifts, special foods, going out, Christmas pajamas, etc. 
• Crowded shops. Sensory overload anyone? Noise, movement, smells.
• Comparing yourself with others.
• Competing demands. Trying to be at two places at once on Christmas Day.
• Waiting.....
• The clash of values. Celebrating a religious holiday with secular friends and family. To say Grace or not to say Grace.
• The weight of decision-making can be enormous. why, how, what, when, where, who, how much, which one…..
• Gifts. Working out the gifts, and the expectations of giving great gifts the recipient will love. 
• Food. Too much, expensive, time consuming, what to do with leftovers, will you have enough.
• Time demands that seem to squeeze your useful self-care strategies off your to-do list. Especially if your self-care practices are not integrated or routine. 
• Waste and rampant consumerism.
• Arguments over decorations including who is going to put the star at the top of the Christmas Tree
• In Australia, the culmination of the school year is just before Christmas, therefore there are lots of competing demands.
• The build-up of expectations, often unrealistic expectations.

   Some of the highlights of playing Christmas Bingo. Gingerbread house won't stand up. No-one wants a Santa photo.  Someone ate my Advent calendar chocolates. Forgetting where you hid a present. Car Park Rage."

Christmas is particularly difficult if you have mental health difficulties, are struggling with the cost of living, or if you are consistently putting other's people's wishes ahead of your own. If you’re grieving, alone, or experienced a recent family separation, maybe this year is a particularly difficult one.

Maybe it’s time to stop doing what you’ve always done and start exploring new ways of doing things that work for everyone in the family, including you.

Sticking to what you have always done makes sense. Until it doesn’t.
The familiar is predictable and removes some of the burden of decision-making. Following the same pattern as last year can make planning easier and perhaps reduce some anxiety. However, does the pattern you follow include procrastinating, microplanning, or leaving it all to someone else to decide? Does the way you usually celebrate Christmas bring you overwhelm and exhaustion or joy?

The simplest and calmest Christmases are where you don’t stick to tradition mindlessly but combine what is most meaningful from the past with your current needs and wants.
​
There is power in reflecting. I invite you to take a pause now. Step back from trying to keep up with social media and the pressure to present a perfect Christmas image. Look at the expectations you are trying to live up to so that you can reduce your overwhelm and choose how you want this Christmas to be.

  The simplest and calmest Christmases are where you don’t stick to tradition mindlessly but combine what is most meaningful from the past with your current needs and wants.

How to Cope with Christmas Stress

As a mother, you already have enough on your plate.  You tend to carry the majority of the day-to-day mental workload. Christmas can tip you into overwhelm, even if you normally cope OK. If you do have anxiety or another mental health condition you are more prone to feeling the weight of Christmas stress.

To achieve calmness and manage your Christmas stress, let’s first look at some of the signs of Christmas stress, then dive into the three main ways of reducing your stress and making a simply awesome Christmas.

15 signs of  Christmas stress 

• Waves of overwhelm
• Racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, headaches, stomach aches, sore muscles, and eyes that are wide open.
• Unable to get away from all the thoughts and feelings about Christmas.
• Feeling your heart lurch and noticing your mind starting to think about all the things you need to do when you walk into the shop and see the mince pies and Advent calendars
• Waking up in the middle of the night.
• Avoid wanting to think about or prepare for Christmas.
• Leaving it all to someone else.
• Micromanaging with unmanageable lists to check off.

• Becoming stressed if you can’t find the perfect gift, can’t do everything on the list, or people don’t want to do what is on your list.
• Replaying past arguments and disagreements and feeling angry or helpless.
• Continually being in problem-solving mode.
• Imagining being sick at Christmas time so you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything.
• Saying things like “I'll just put it on the credit card and worry about it next year’, “or “I know it is more than what I want to pay, but they’re going to love it’.
• Putting your hand up for too many things – "I’ll host it. Don’t worry you don’t need to bring anything, I'll sort it out.
• Overcommitting to expensive gifts, food and drink to keep people happy or to make a good impression. Agreeing to drive to two different places on Christmas Day with young children so you can keep both sides of the family happy.
• Feeling guilty because you can't do enough or you've let someone down. 

​You may swing from avoidance to control, as your thoughts and feelings take up more of your mental space and lead you to old habits that have not served you well in the past.  Let's get started on what you can do to create a different, calmer, more enjoyable and awesome experience this Christmas.  

"  By reducing demands and expectations, looking after yourself, taking the time to reflect, and mindfully being present, you are well on your way to creating an awesome Christmas that works for you and your family."

​What to do to reduce Christmas Stress
Simplifying as much as possible is a great place to start.  You can simplify gift giving, decorations, celebrations and expectations.  Following are 6 steps to simplify Christmas expectations. 
​
1. Awareness.
Take 10-20 minutes and connect with what you feel and what you think about all these expectations that you have created or bought into. What are the thoughts and feelings that come up when you think about Christmas? Find something to write in and listen to what you are saying to yourself. It may look something like this

• “I’m feeling guilty because I don’t want to make my pudding this year, but I know everyone loves it and I should”.
• I’m feeling sad. I keep thinking how much I miss my mum and wish she was here’
• I’m feeling overwhelmed. There’s so much to do and I don’t know where I’m going to fit it in.
• I’m feeling angry. I don’t want to go to x/s house on Christmas Day. We always do and it’s not fair. I want to stay at y own home all day and let the kids play.
• "I'm feeling confused. I don't know how to keep everyone from not fighting on Christmas Day and I just wish it was all over.
• "I don't know where to start”.

Note:: If getting in touch with your feelings is difficult there can be a few reasons why that is happening.   You can come back to exploring your feelings in the future either with your GP, or mental health therapist, or if this is something you would like help with you are welcome to contact me for an appointment.

2. Reflection.
Once you’ve named and acknowledged your thoughts and feelings it’s time to reflect on what they might be trying to tell you about what is important to you at Christmas. 

Here are some simple guiding reflection questions.

• What are your best memories of Christmas's past?
• What would you have liked to have done last year that you didn’t get to do? What got in the way of that happening?
• Is there something different/special coming up this year that you are looking forward to?
• What was stressful?
• What would you like to change?
• What  is the most important thing about the Christmas season for you? Include everything in the  lead up to Christmas Day and the days after?

​3. Communication.
After you have listed what you want and your ideal Christmas, ask everyone else in your house, and/or those you know you want to celebrate Christmas with how they would answer the same questions. It's important to listen with curiosity and openness.  

4. Analysis
Compare the lists. Circle what there is in common, and those that are doable. Can you identify what matters most to everyone? Any surprises? How do you feel about what they said? It can be enlightening to realise that you don't always know what other people are thinking and that what you perceive isn't always true. Is it time to manage expectations – we’re not going to Disneyland. Sometimes it’s helpful to prompt, why do you want to go to Disneyland – oh, you’d like to get as far away as possible from all the drama that happened last year….

Don't forget - you're after an enjoyable, awesome Christmas, not one you've got through with gritted teeth, and can't wait until Boxing Day when it's all over.

​ When you strip back your expectations and focus on what really matters it invites calm into your life.

5. Simplify. 
It's decision time. After the brainstorming, now it’s time to make some selections that you think will work best for the people who matter most – you and your family. Depending on the age of your children and who else is involved in your Christmas planning this will look a little different. You could have a family meeting or a family group chat, or perhaps the main parts of the day are decided by one or two people. The important part is that everyone's needs (including yours) are respected. The aim is for everyone to have one non-negotiable thing they will do/have/experience at Christmas.  Everything else is a bonus. 

6. Do.
The next step in the plan is to put it in place and monitor it as you go. Mark the things that matter on your Calendar and in your diary. Be prepared to be flexible whilst keeping in mind the things that have the greatest priority. Hold your sights firmly on your North Star and hold this plan lightly in your heart. Remember what matters most.

In the past our non-negotiable items in my family have been: Christmas light looking, celebrating Christmas with all the extended family, spending Christmas Day with partner, Midnight Mass, sausage rolls at Christmas lunch, It can be amazing when you strip it right back what the thing is people most remember and care about. Celebrating with others is usually comes up as a priority, although some years having space and time to oneself on the day takes priority, particularly for members who become easily overwhelmed.

When you strip back your expectations and focus on what really matters it invites calm into your life.  If you like to listen to podcasts, here is an episode where I talk about creating Christmas calm through managing expectations. ​

​How to create awesome connections at Christmas

Mental health and well-being are strongly linked to how connected you feel to those around you. The centre of this is yourself. Following are suggestions for strengthening connections in each of the four layers of connection: connection with yourself, connecting with your family and friends, connecting with the natural world, and connecting with the transcendental.

1. Connecting with yourself.
The work you’ve just done on identifying what makes Christmas awesome for YOU, and being honest with yourself about your thoughts and feelings around Christmas was a great way of connecting with yourself.

Three other ways to connect with yourself are:

• Checking in with yourself everyday and respecting your needs. You can do this through activities such as journalling or body scans. 
• Creating space for calmness through practicing mindful awareness of the small things
• Stop judging yourself.  Too often we speak to ourselves with the voice of the harshest critic.  It's time to bring the cheer leaders out. Sure life is messy, Christmas can be chaotic.  All thoughts and feelings are valid and welcome.  You are doing the best you can with your resources, your circumstances and your strengths.
• Maintaining your self-care routine (more on this later in this article).  

(Note: You may have found this an easy thing to do, but there may have been unexpected things that have popped up. If these reflections increased your stress or anxiety please check in with your GP, or counsellor or contact me for an appointment to help you work through it.)

2. Connecting with friends and family.
Some of the ways to connect with friends and family include:

• Checking in with your family's expectations, so that the times you do have together have the greatest potential to be enjoyable,
• Choosing the right gift  
• Working out a plan for managing people you don't want to see but can't avoid. For many people, social interaction and family challenges are the most stressful part of Christmas. 
• Here are seven easy ways you can connect with other people at Christmas.

How being with others will vary each Christmas as needs change due to factors such as new relationships, divorce and separation, illnesses, work commitments, and capacity.

Beyond your immediate circle of friends and family, there are several ways to connect with the broader community. These can include:

• Participating in Christmas Carols.
• Attending church services.
• Contributing to food drives.
• Attending Christmas festival.s
• Buying from local markets.
• Participating in neighbourhood get-togethers.

Or on a smaller scale:

• Making and/or writing Christmas Cards (one of my favourites).
• Giving homemade Christmas gifts to neighbours (I also really like doing this).
• Simply saying Merry Christmas.

Instead of the stress of juggling too many commitments at Christmas, other's find themselves feeling alone. If you’re by yourself at Christmas, there are other options to achieve this sense of connection and reduce loneliness.

​3. Connection with the natural world.
Ways to connect with the natural world include:

• Embracing sustainability through simplification. For what you eat, buy, and decorate on the day. Including minimising waste when you do a pre-Christmas cull.
• Deliberately planning a visit to the natural world. For one Christmas my family stopped on the way home at the beach for a quick walk and it was delightful. This has encouraged me to plan on including some time at a natural place during the day.
• Take a walk together after a Christmas meal
• Sit in the garden to eat
• Decorate a living tree.

4. Connection with transcendence.
Ways to connect with the space beyond which you can see include:

• Attending Christmas services
• Prayer
• Practicing gratitude
• Reflection
• Being Mindful
• Meditation
• Noticing the beauty in the ordinary

Maybe for you, your awesome moment comes in the lull of Christmas Eve when your children are asleep (finally) presents are wrapped, and you take yourself outside and stare up at the sky. Nowadays I’m asleep early Christmas Eve and the children are up. It's in the quiet of Christmas morning where I stand outside or sit with a coffee and take time just to be.

   Maybe your awesome moment comes in the lull of Christmas Eve when your children are asleep (finally) presents are wrapped, and you take yourself outside and stare up at the sky.

​How to Keep Up Your Self-Care at Christmas

Taking care of yourself is not selfish. It's an act of self-love.

Christmas demands can challenge your existing self-care routines, whilst also providing some unique opportunities for enhancement. All the stressors outlined earlier can undermine existing self-care routines, especially if they are newly established. And Christmas also effects the routine and habits of others around you.  You may find you're down a walking buddy, that Christmas treats are suddenly in your eyeline everytime you go shopping, that your loved ones are feeling broke or isolated. It's a shifting milieu.

This is where fierce self-care becomes important, especially if you are prone to Christmas stress and anxiety. Self-care is so much more than bubble baths and treating yourself. Taking care of yourself is not selfish. It's an act of self-love.  It encompasses everything you do to maintain and enhance your ability to function well in your day-to-day life and these actions are often talked about as healthy habits. Here's a quick overview of the five foundations of self-care.

The five foundations of self-care:

• Physical self-care: taking care of your body.  This includes exercise/movement, nutrition/diet, sleep, and regular medical check ups.  
• Psychological self-care: taking care of your mind. This includes setting boundaries, cultivating healthy thinking, managing stress, challenging yourself, learning new things.  
• Emotional self-care: managing your feelings.  This includes awareness and acceptance of emotions, resilience, finding joy, respecting and accepting self, 
• Connection: developing relationships with family, friends, others and community that minimise loneliness.  Connecting with nature and the transcendent world.   
• Meaning: finding the meaning in your life and reflecting your values in your actions.​

Mindfulness practices heighten your senses, and intensity your experiences, and are a gateway to awe.

​Three questions to ask yourself repeatedly over Christmas
1. Is this what I need most? To avoid Christmas burnout, check in with your needs before saying yes. Does that social engagement provide connection opportunities that you are needing?  Or do you have enough and need a break? 
2. Will this help fill my self-care bucket or poke another hole in it? Running it past the five foundations list is a good rule of thumb.  Even better if it's an activity that ticks more than one of the five foundations.  Walking is great for this.   
3. Is this something I know helps me? Remind yourself of the benefits of your normal routine, of your why.  Prioritise the things you know work: keep walking, eating your veggies, journalling, meditating, talking with friends, doing your yoga, etc.

Opportunities to cultivate awe through mindfulness
Lean into mindfulness, which just happens to be one of the most powerful forms of self-care and takes very little time, because it is about the how of what you do, not the what. Mindfulness practices heighten your senses, and intensity your experiences, and are a gateway to awe. At Christmas mindful opportunities abound, including:

• Thinking about the stories behind the Christmas decorations as you dress the tree or your house
• Using cloth to wrap your gift and noticing the textures
• Thinking about the recipient as you wrap your gift
• Listening to carols and focusing on just one instrument
• Listening to your loved ones needs
• Putting your phone away and being fully present at the Christmas Performance
• Including everyone on creating a family Spotified Christmas list
• and many more...

A quick reminder in any situation is to use your senses to bring you back to the moment of what is actually happening.  

How simplifying, reducing expectations and prioritising activities; practicing connection and engaging in fierce self-care work together to help you make a simply awesome Christmas.

• Deliberately and intentionally reflecting on your needs.  This reinforces understanding and respect of self.
• Choosing your Christmas priority.  This taps into the self-care foundation of living your life's meaning, protects your energy and reduce decision making.
• Saying no and setting boundaries reduces the cognitive stress of incongruence and overwhelm and is a form of cognitive self-care.. 
• Christmas is a time when reaching out to others, even those you don't know that well, is encouraged. Saying Merry Christmas, smiling, waving, and engaging in microconnections of strangers is accepted and welcomed. What a wonderful way to boost your sense of belonging. 
• Practicing gratitude, forgiveness, and self-compassion. These are all facets of emotional self-care.
• Organising to catch up with others at a park, the beach or going for a walk.  (Walking ticks off all the self-care boxes!) can reduce costs, whilst helping you sleep, provide connection with nature and make it easy to practice mindfulness.

By reducing demands and expectations, looking after yourself, taking the time to reflect, and mindfully being present, you are well on your way to creating an awesome Christmas that works for you and your family. Along the way you may face some difficult challenges in letting things go, saying no, setting boundaries, maintaining self-care, and getting through the season.

​If you would like support with any of this I am happy to help. Positive Young Minds is open up until the 22nd of December and then closed for Christmas Week.

   By reducing demands and expectations, looking after yourself, taking the time to reflect, and mindfully being present, you are well on your way to creating an awesome Christmas that works for you and your family."

​For over 17 years, I have combined research and the experience of working with 1000s of children, adolescents and parents to help them understand and manage big emotions and create calmer homes.  Homes where big feelings are understood, needs are met so that Christmas can be celebrated, not dreaded.

You are welcome to book an appointment to discuss your concerns and your goals and work with me to make the change you are looking for.

Chat soon

​Kim 

PS. If you enjoyed this blog, then come over and join the Sprinkles of Wisdom for Wonderful Women Newsletter Club. You'll receive regular letters from me where I share insights, inspiration, reflections, support and do-able strategies on how you can create and integrate more calm, connection and confidence into your life without running away to Bali.

A reminder this blog is for general information and advice only. It is not designed to replace therapy in any way. For some people Christmas is not just stressful, it is also traumatic. The above advice is not meant to address Christmas trauma. If you are experiencing trauma, overwhelming Christmas anxiety, depression, or any other mental health concern please see your GP, or your mental health therapist, or see if you think I may be a good fit for you .