- updated: Feb. 14, 2025
According to the American Psychological Association, >38% of people report increased stress levels during the holidays.
Common stressors include, financial pressure, feeling “overwhelmed”, family conflict, Seasonal Affective Disorder & loneliness made worse by Covid19.
In response to stress, our body releases stress hormones activating the fight or flight response. While this may be helpful in an emergency, having the stress response turned on for long periods of time is harmful. It tends to overload the nervous system, leading to illness & disease.
So what do we do? Here’s four strategies to help you manage holiday stress:
- You may have already changed how you shop for Christmas. Set a budget & stick with it rather than overspending. Believe it or not, most people appreciate small, thoughtful gifts!
- Acknowledge your feelings. You can’t force yourself to be happy. Allow yourself to process the feelings you’re experiencing. This will help you move through the emotions. Bottling it all up will only cause more stress.
- Be realistic. The holidays don’t have to be perfect or exactly like they were last year. Create new traditions. Zoom or FaceTime with family members who aren’t able to be there.
- Get regular chiropractic adjustments & stay active. When we feel stressed, muscles tense up. Muscle tension is almost a reflex reaction to stress. And the brain interprets tension as stress, so a vicious cycle is created. Chiropractic adjustments, along with Interferential therapy, dry needling and intersegmental traction decreases muscle tension. This helps break this cycle.
Call Swank Chiropractic Sports Medicine and Wellness in Cary, NC at 919-460-6098 to get ahead of the inevitable holiday stress!
- updated: Feb. 14, 2025
According to the American Psychological Association, >38% of people report increased stress levels during the holidays.
Common stressors include, financial pressure, feeling “overwhelmed”, family conflict, Seasonal Affective Disorder & loneliness made worse by Covid19.
In response to stress, our body releases stress hormones activating the fight or flight response. While this may be helpful in an emergency, having the stress response turned on for long periods of time is harmful. It tends to overload the nervous system, leading to illness & disease.
So what do we do? Here’s four strategies to help you manage holiday stress:
- You may have already changed how you shop for Christmas. Set a budget & stick with it rather than overspending. Believe it or not, most people appreciate small, thoughtful gifts!
- Acknowledge your feelings. You can’t force yourself to be happy. Allow yourself to process the feelings you’re experiencing. This will help you move through the emotions. Bottling it all up will only cause more stress.
- Be realistic. The holidays don’t have to be perfect or exactly like they were last year. Create new traditions. Zoom or FaceTime with family members who aren’t able to be there.
- Get regular chiropractic adjustments & stay active. When we feel stressed, muscles tense up. Muscle tension is almost a reflex reaction to stress. And the brain interprets tension as stress, so a vicious cycle is created. Chiropractic adjustments, along with Interferential therapy, dry needling and intersegmental traction decreases muscle tension. This helps break this cycle.
Call Swank Chiropractic Sports Medicine and Wellness in Cary, NC at 919-460-6098 to get ahead of the inevitable holiday stress!
