Handling Stress and Anxiety During the Holidays and Beyond

"Oh, I am so stressed out." I hear those words every day from my clients. Stress often contributes to a variety of illnesses, including decreased immunity, muscle pains and backache, eczema and psoriasis, irritable bowel, arthritis, headaches, high blood pressure and many many more. During my intake interview I always ask my clients when their chronic disease started and what was happening in their life about half a year before that. In almost all the cases, a beginning of a chronic disease was preceded by a stressful period in life.

The holiday time is especially overwhelming for all of us. Buying presents, sending out cards, planning vacations, inviting guests, cooking, traveling, having guests in the house, dealing with crowds. All those activities take a big toll on our emotional and physical well-being.

If you usually tend to be anxious, at holiday time you may feel completely overwhelmed.

During the holidays my motto is "less is more". Try to lower your expectations, stop trying to do everything to everyone. Figure out the minimum that you should do for this holiday season and stick to that plan. Make your to-do list shorter.

When under stress, you absolutely must take better care of yourself so that your body can handle increased emotional load. Make sure you sleep well. If you do not, read about natural help for insomnia here. Eat well, do not skip meals or fill yourself with junk foods. Cut out caffeinated and carbonated drinks. Caffeine stresses your nervous system that is already suffering at that time. The phosphoric acid in sodas depletes our bodies of essential minerals and ions.

Schedule some time to relax. Breathing, yoga, tai-chi, or meditation should be your daily practices. Do not forget about exercise.

It is hard to squeeze time for all those activities when you are already stressed out. Here are some tips for homeopathic remedies that will help you to relax and give you energy to focus on stress-reducing activities.

Rescue Remedy

Bach flower Rescue Remedy should be your first line of defense against any type of stress. This wonderful remedy should be used in every situation that causes shock, fear, or anxiety. Put a few drops of the tincture in your water bottle and sip it throughout the day during the stressful time.

Kali-Phosphoricum

This remedy is used for nervous exhaustion. You may feel jumpy, sensitive and mildly depressed. Kali Phosphoricum can be used in a cell salt form for any stressful situation. Add to your water bottle with Rescue Remedy 9 pellets of Kali-Phopshoricum 6x cell salt and drink all the water throughout the day.

Gelsemium

This homeopathic remedy works in situations of anticipation and stress that are accompanied by extreme exhaustion. You may experience a desire to lie down and close your eyes. You may be drowsy and even shake from weakness. You may feel "paralyzed with anxiety" before an important event, like a holding or attending an important holiday party. Put 5 pellets of Gelsemium in a cup of water and drink it every half an hour. You should experience a relief in about two hours.

Nux Vomica

This remedy helps those of us who tend to become tense, irritable and impatient during stressful time. You try to do too much, drink stimulants like coffee or alcohol to keep you going, skip meals. You become sensitive to cold and prefer the warmth. You may experience digestive upset with constipation and morning headaches. If your stress symptoms fit Nux Vomica, take it the same way as Gelsemium.

If you have a tendency to anxiety, the holiday time may be extremely stressful for you. Professional homeopathic care may significantly lower your anxiety level and make the holiday time a joyous and happy occasion. I recently have worked with a patient who used to experience panic attacks in closed spaces. After taking an individually selected homeopathic remedy, she became anxiety-free in a couple of weeks.

Using homeopathy and other natural therapies will give you a way to reclaim the holidays as a fulfilling and a happy way to start the New Year. I wish you all happy, joyous, and relaxed holiday season.