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Christmas and Positive Psychology Tips

Christmas holidays can become one of the stressful times of the year. It's definitely a time of extra responsibilities - financial, family, etc. - disturbed routines, but also overloading people with excessive food and alcohol.

The key to solving these problems is certainly not continuous work. To keep stress levels low, it is especially effective to be able to recognize when negative thoughts and emotions arise, meaning anger, jealousy or sadness.

When we manage to become aware of these unnecessary thoughts and feelings, and do not let go of them, then we can take steps to maintain our stress and act in a more positive way.

In fact, by reviewing our Christmas experiences with as open-minded a view as possible, we will surely detect mistakes, misconduct and neglect that we can avoid in our self-criticism. This will first of all protect us ourselves from unpleasant emotions, fill us with positive energy and a peaceful mood to celebrate the essence of these days with our loved ones.

There are some strategies or tips in other positive psychology that you can try and see what suits your temperament.

 

Breaths for 3 '

If you run into a crowded mall to buy last-minute gifts or supplies or your family member has run out of patience and you're almost exhausted and anxious, any peace or goodwill goes away!

So take 3 minutes of your time to breathe. Here is a brief meditation technique that can be used:

- to dispel the annoying thoughts of the moment and prevent them from gaining control of you, and

- as an emergency meditation to control thoughts generally in difficult situations where control is lost.

Focus on you and your breath. And not just in emergencies, but once every day, so you can pay close attention to your movement and body and gain better control.

Inhale and exhale through your nose, chest or abdomen. Use - for better concentration - a timer so you don't have to look at your watch. And focus me on you and your breathing. During this brief meditation exercise you will realize that your mind is probably turning to the day's obligations or generally to many different thoughts. Is normal. This is what the minds do. Don't leave it at that, gather your thoughts around your breath alone.

Anxious Waiting Meditation 

One of the most difficult and demanding issues of this period is queues. In the supermarket, the shops, the streets ... there are dozens of people everywhere waiting to be served and patience is becoming increasingly difficult. These periods of forced waiting can also be a time of intense anxiety and frustration.

But the next time you find yourself in such a situation and want to scream in the face of those who just got everything, try practicing Meditation Anxious Waiting. Try to realize the thoughts and feelings of that moment. Ask yourself:

- What's going on in my mind?

- What are the senses in my body?

- What emotions and impulses do I know?

Self-consciousness involves the practice of accepting all forms of experience, even the unpleasant ones. See if you can perceive tension and stress, but not be affected by its negativity.

 

Create a concentration bell

Select some activities you would do during the holidays and turn them into a special bell. These activities are instances where you stop to pay attention to details, for example:

1. Preparing food

Sometimes it is impossible to waste our energy in preparing a great meal. However, now is the right time to focus on concentration. When preparing food during Christmas, pay attention to the range of rich flavors, smells and textures and movements associated with food preparation.

2. Gift wrap

Maybe your gift wrap looks almost like a job you need to finish. But try to turn it into an interesting process by paying attention to every little detail. Examine the color, texture of the paper, focus on the sound and the feel of the paper as it is cut. Try to perfect the result and admire the effort you have made for it.

And the list of course may not stop there ... go deeper into what you might consider routine and absorb the positive that this can give you.

 

The Ten Fingers Thanksgiving Exercise

It may sound weird as a title, but the reasoning is very simple. Within the rhythms of everyday life we ​​often forget to value ourselves and the things we have in our lives.

Ten-finger Thanksgiving Exercise simply asks you to spend some time in the day specifically for your own well-being, counting ten things you are grateful for. We usually find it difficult to find more than 3-4. But the goal of ten allows us to focus on the small and unnoticed at first glance the positives that are happening today. This way we make our antennas aware and simply enhance our perception of our positive appreciation for life and the world around us.

 

Bibliography:

Elisabeth M. Dykens, (2010), Toward a Positive Psychology of Mental Retardation, Wiley Online Library, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1037/0002-9432.76.2.185

Dario Paez, M. Angeles Bilbao et al, (2010), Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The impact of Christmas rituals on subjective well-being and family's emotional climate, Taylor & Francis Online, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1174/021347411797361347.

Thawatchai Krisanaprakornkit, Wimonrat Sriraj et al, (2006), Meditation therapy for anxiety disorders, Cochrane Library, https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004998.pub2/abstract

 

By Dr Angel,

Αggeliki Koskerdiou

Holistic Doctor – Counseling Psychotherapist

Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

MSc Health Psychology

www.AggelikiKoskeridou.com

insta: dr_aggelikikoskeridou_official 

 

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