If you get overwhelmed at Christmas, try this trick to stay calm

I absolutely love this time of year.

I love the crisp cold weather and long cosy nights in at home.  There are pretty lights up everywhere, all sorts of festive treats to eat and drink, and when you have children there’s a sense of magic in the air that you just can’t beat.

There are times though, especially when you do have children, that it can all get a bit too much.  There are so many things going on, so many things to remember and keep track of and just so much to do.

Between the school Christmas events, present buying, house decorating, card writing and all the other festive events to take part it, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

So here’s something you can try whenever you start to feel stressed over the Christmas period.

It’s called a mindful pause.

Any time you feel the stress of this time of year getting too much, or you start to feel overwhelmed by it all, take a few minutes for a mindful pause.

The beauty of it is that you can pretty much do this anywhere.

You just need to breathe.

Find a quiet spot somewhere if you can, even if it’s just at the side of the car after you’ve finally strapped your wriggly toddler into their car seat and shut their door.

Then breathe.

In and out through your nose.

Focus on slowing down your breathing, and notice how your body feels as you breathe in and out.

Do this and only this for 30 seconds.  A little longer if you can.

What this does is bring your focus back to your body.  It calms your mind down and stops it racing from one thing to the next, when you bring everything back to noticing your breaths in and out.

So when you hop back in the car to drive home, you’re feeling calmer and more in control.

This method of quietly focusing on your breathing for a minute is enough to help with those moments of overwhelm and stress, but if you want to you can add one more thing to it.

In an article on the mindful pause on Psychology Today, Ryan Niemiec talks about taking a few breaths and then asking yourself this question.  Which of my character strengths will I bring forward right now?

It might be that one of your character strengths is kindness. 

So in that moment you’ll focus on bringing that forward.  You can then deal with your loved ones from a place of love, kindness and compassion rather than frustration and overwhelm.  You can choose to let someone in front of you in the queue in the busy supermarket that’s left you feeling stressed out.

Or if you know that humour is one of your biggest strengths, then focus on seeing the humour in your current situation.  Choose to laugh at the crazy list of things your child’s school has asked you to donate to, sign forms for and rearrange work to attend.

Whether you choose to take the mindful pause that step further and find a strength to carry with you for the rest of your day, or if you just decide to take those few minutes for some calming, mindful breaths, this concept of a mindful pause is one that can really help through the stress of the festive period.

And once you get in the habit of doing it, you can start to spot little windows of opportunity to take time for other mini mindfulness moments.

If there are a few dishes to wash up after tea and mince pies, then do them by hand.  Take that 5 minutes to really focus on the sensation of the warm, soapy water.  How solid the plates feel.  The sound of the water moving around and splashing into the sink.

Or maybe you can get to school five minutes before pick up time and practice some mindfulness in the car.  Notice how the seat feels underneath you.  Listen to the sounds you can hear from the outside world and how they’re muffled through the closed windows.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.

Do you find yourself getting overwhelmed at this time of year?  

What do you find has worked for you to help you stay calm?