“Tis the season to be jolly.”
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
“A beautiful sight, We’re happy tonight, Walking in a winter wonderland.”
These lyrics from popular holiday songs make the season sound carefree, merry, and even downright joyful.
And no matter which of the season’s holidays you partake in, the late fall and winter months can be all of these things and more.
But the reality is that when the holidays arrive, they come with a lot of baggage: 100-lb. garment bags weighing down our wellbeing. In fact, 9 in 10 U.S. adults experience holiday stress — with 41% of respondents in a 2023 American Psychological Association (APA) study responding that their stress is greater between November and January than during the rest of the year.[1]
But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of cheer to spread. That’s because, unlike that life-size chainsaw carving of a Kodiak bear that your brother-in-law proudly gifted you, you can return holiday stress — or even regift it as something much more positive.
Let’s take a moment to explore holiday stress, and then unwrap some proven techniques for managing stress this season (or any, really).
What Causes Stress?
Before we jump to grab our snow shovel and dig into holiday stress, let’s take a closer look at everyday, garden-variety stress that can hit at any time of the year.
Stress has many potential triggers that can prompt hormones to bring about a host of physiological responses throughout the body.[2] Maybe the crunch of tax season is keeping you up with the night sweats. Or a last-minute meeting invite from your boss titled “Changes” has your heart racing and breathing on overdrive. It could be as benign as being momentarily adrift in deep thought when a random thud jolts you back to reality, tensing your muscles as your fight or flight response takes control. (Did you know that your vagus nerve — the body’s longest cranial nerve — plays a vital role in ensuring your body effectively switches off this fight or flight response? It’s science. And if you’re getting stuck in this state of non-stop stress, consider taking a closer look at how Truvaga helps restore your vagus nerve’s function.)
Stress can certainly take a short-term toll on our physical and mental well-being, but experiencing chronic stress can also greatly increase the risk for everything from hypertension to anxiety and depression. And yes, whether we’re talking weeks or months, the length of the holiday season counts as “chronic.”
Top Reasons for Holiday Stress
Like Tupperware with mystery leftovers, greeting cards from cousins we never knew we had, and white flakes dropping from the sky, stress also tends to accumulate thicker and deeper over the holidays.
But why?
Let’s go back to our trusted APA study [3] as a starting point for some of the most cited stressors:
- Spending too much or not having enough money (cited by 58% of respondents)
- Finding the right gifts (40%)
- Missing family or loved ones (38%)
Confronting Complicated Relationships
Holiday Eating and its Impact on Stress
To summarize, meeting budgets, meeting expectations, and meeting certain people in our extended orbit can all stir up a strange and potent brew of holiday stress. And we haven’t even covered digestive distress.[5] Think about it: 3 weeks of open-face turkey sandwiches piled high with gravy, workplace potlucks, one holiday happy hour too many, and an assembly line of sweets aimed directly at your mouth.
Are you feeling bloated just reading that?
From dehydration and indigestion to digestive viruses and worsening of existing chronic conditions, what you are is what you eat. Add travel, social functions, and other diversions from your healthy routine, and it’s plain to see that diet is yet another seasonal stress to be mindful of.
So, what do we do about it? For starters, this is another spot where Truvaga can come in clutch. That’s because the vagus nerve helps activate our body’s critical rest-and-digest mode that should naturally occur after consuming a small snack or big meal. But you can feel the difference when the nerve isn’t operating optimally and failing to rebalance your nervous system.
Not to worry, as we’re a solutions-oriented bunch. Not only can Truvaga vagus nerve stimulators help, but we have some proven tips and holiday stress management advice for you to rip open early.
Your Plan for Reducing Holiday Stress
We’re not going to pretend you can completely avoid holiday stress. After all, skipping special meals or traditions can even cause more stress down the road. You don’t want Great Aunt Tilly and her pistachio Jell-O mold holding a grudge, especially with all that spare time she has.
But we can help. Don’t worry, we made a list: [6]
Create a list. In a season of lists, why not make one that’s beneficial for your well-being? Make a list for which events you will and won’t attend — communicating ahead of time to all relevant parties. Make grocery lists, whether you’re putting on a holiday feast or simply need a dish to pass at the office holiday shin-dig. And make a list to right-size your budget for holiday shopping. The sooner, the better. Holiday stress mounts as we react in real-time to situations without a plan, whether we make a high-priced purchase on a whim or agree to attend a New Year’s Eve Party that wasn’t even on our radar. Saying “no” here and there is OK — and it might just be the best gift you can give yourself.
Don’t stray from healthy habits when you’re neck-deep in holiday stress. Just because of the sheer level of activity and unpredictability it presents us, the holiday season may not be the best time to completely transform your life with a healthy new routine and inspiring goals. (Everyone knows that fall is Back to Structure time.) [7] But it is a critical time to lean into the healthy structure you’ve already created. Does your regular morning meditation help you power through the a.m. hours? Awesome, prioritize it as your schedule takes incoming fire from work, school, family, and friends. Do you finally have your meal plan going in a healthy, cost-effective groove? Great! Keep it together, even if you know ahead of time you’ll need to make do here and there while navigating holiday spreads.
At the same time, beware of the temptation to fall back on the bad habits you worked so hard to break. Do you really need a second round of Blitzen’s Revenge at the annual neighborhood get-together? And do you need to smoke anything besides a turkey — even though your sister is offering you a cigarette after you quit two years ago? Visualizing scenarios you know might tempt you ahead of time and practicing the artful dodging and denying of peer pressure is a time-tested technique for making the right choice in real life.
Broaden your self-care awareness. Yes, we just warned against starting up a rigorous new health kick against a backdrop of Tryptophan, tacky sweaters, and balloon drops. But some low-hanging fruit solutions can help manage holiday stress, and any stressful stretches, for that matter. Starting a gratitude journal takes 10 minutes a day, for example. Practicing mindfulness by pursuing volunteer opportunities — whether ringing the bell beside a red kettle or even just taking time out for someone you know in need — can provide a needed reality check on seasonal excesses.
Finally, because we get up every day with the goal of reducing stress and promoting calm, we’d be remiss not to include Truvaga on our list of convenient and effective additions to your holiday self-care kit. As already mentioned, it’s designed to free you from the physiological overload of that fight-or-flight feeling and ensure that healthy digestion kicks in sooner rather than later. And those are just a couple of Truvaga’s benefits.
A Final Word on Holiday Stress
You don’t need to be jolly 24/7.
The holidays don’t need to be the most wonderful time of the year.
And winter wonderlands can be overrated — especially with a -21F wind chill.
We wanted to visit those famous holiday lyrics once again, sprinkling in just a bit of sarcasm, to point out that you don’t need to be perfect when managing holiday stress. Start by simply aiming to be better than last season.
Be realistic. Be mindful. Be kind. And maybe, just once or twice, effectively managing your holiday stress will make you genuinely merry.
Happy holidays from your friends at Truvaga.
Sources
[1] American Psychological Association, Even a joyous holiday season can cause stress for most Americans, https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/11/holiday-season-stress
[3] Harvard Health Publishing, Understanding the stress response, https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response
[3] American Psychological Association, Even a joyous holiday season can cause stress for most Americans, https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/11/holiday-season-stress
[4] The Mayo Clinic, 9 tips to fend off holiday stress, https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/fend-off-holiday-stress-with-these-tips
[5] Adventist Health, Beware of These Holiday Health Risks, https://www.adventisthealth.org/blog/2024/november/beware-of-holiday-health-risks/
[6] The Mayo Clinic, 9 tips to fend off holiday stress, https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/fend-off-holiday-stress-with-these-tips
[7] Truvaga.com, https://www.truvaga.com/blog/autumn-reset-embrace-healthy-habits-and-structure-for-a-strong-fall/
