According to the American Psychological Association “38% of people say their stress level increases during the holidays”.

Common stressors include: financial pressure, the feeling of “too much to do”, too many parties, family conflict, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and loneliness. Which is even more pronounced this year for many people due to Covid concerns.

When under stress, the body releases stress hormones activating the fight or flight response of the sympathetic nervous system. While this is helpful in an emergency situation such as getting you out of a burning building or a circumstance that could be harmful to you, having this stress response turned on for a prolonged period of time is actually detrimental to your health.

This puts a significant amount of stress on the nervous system which can lead to illness and disease.
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Here are 4 strategies to help you better manage holiday stress.

1) Change the way you shop for Christmas. Set a budget and stick with it rather than overspending. Consider doing a family yankee swap with extended family instead of buying individual gifts, even the kids can partake in this and it’s a lot of fun!

2) Be realistic. The holidays don’t have to be perfect or exactly like they were last year. Create new traditions. Zoom or Skype with family members that aren’t able to be there.

3) Acknowledge your feelings. You can’t force yourself to be happy. Allowing yourself to process and feel any sadness, grief, anger, or disappointment you’re experiencing will help you move through the emotions. Bottling it all up will only cause more stress.

4) Get regular chiropractic adjustments. This is one of the best things that you can be doing for your health, especially during the holidays when stress levels are at an all time high.

Chiropractic adjustments reduce  stress on the nervous system so that it can function optimally and help keep you healthy and well.