14: 6 Tips To Help You Manage Holiday Stress!

In this episode of Group X Appeal, Kimberly and Terry discuss 6 effective strategies for managing holiday stress. They emphasize the importance of prioritizing tasks, practicing mindfulness, taking care of your physical health, setting boundaries, engaging in self-care, and staying connected with loved ones. 

The conversation is filled with practical tips and personal anecdotes, making it relatable and actionable for anyone looking to navigate the holiday season with ease and joy.

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- @kimberlyspreenglick on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
- email: kimberly@theinspiredlifeuniversity.com
- website: www.theinspiredlifeuniversity.com

Stay Connected with Terry:
- @terryshorter on Instagram & Facebook
- email: terry@rippedplanet.com
- website: www.rippedplanet.com

Transcript

Hey, welcome to Group X Appeal. I am Kimberly and. Terry Shorter here. Hey, we are so excited today to share with you six strategies that are gonna help you manage the inevitable stress that we often face during the holiday season. So tune in here, because we've got six good nuggets for you. And the first one is all about prioritizing your to-do list. Or if you listen to our episode with Skip, Rev Skip, in episode.

12? 12, yep. Episode 12, we talked about creating a God list. So making sure you're doing things that are in alignment with who you are and what you feel spiritually. So that being said, your to-do list, it's important this time of year, right? Yeah, absolutely. don't put so much pressure on yourself to be perfect. The holidays don't have to be perfect. You don't have to be perfect. I think we really make that hard on ourselves, harder than it needs to be. So we're here to say, don't put so much pressure on yourself.

Focus on what truly matters, which really the spirit of the season is togetherness, right? So maybe write down what tasks you have, rank them by importance, so you're creating priorities for yourself. Let go of the less critical ones so that you can avoid any kind of overwhelm. The last thing we want during the holiday season is to feel overwhelmed. You wanna be able to enjoy it. Those are great tips. And where would you write down your God list?

Do you write them down? Do you type them in your phone? How do you, how do you typically operate? There is an ever so slight possibility that I might do both. Ever so slight possibility. Okay. I like to write things down because then I can actually, I put boxes by everything. That way I can go back and get my little dopamine hit when I check the box. Ooh, those feel good chemicals. I'll put it in my phone as well. Yeah. And I email myself. Do you ever email yourself? I do. All the time. absolutely do. All the time. I use my phone. I've got my little checklist and

I love the, the strike through feature. I've not used this. haven't used the strike through feature. Talk about a dopamine hit. Game on. You want to increase that dopamine. gosh. Here's the strike through I'm here for it. There you go. Yeah. It'll change your life. That's awesome. I love it. And help reduce stress at the same time. Well, yeah. Right. That's what we're talking about. That's what we're talking about. So the second tip that we got is practice mindfulness. And what does that mean exactly?

Kimberly/terry (02:22.737)
You know, Kimberly likes to talk about her presence practice, you know, how she starts her day. You know, I I start with the gratitude practice or some, some affirmations during the beginning of the day, but some really simple ones breathing, right? Who would have thunk that breathing could help us, reduce stress, but absolutely for me, just taking a nice deep breath. And I have to literally say it out loud, Terry breathe.

Just breathe. Yeah, out loud. have to verbalize it. I we just discovered what your first tattoo is going to be. It's going to be inhale. Exhale on either side. Hey, I like that idea. Yeah, we need those reminders. nowadays, again, with technology, we talked about our checklist, our God lists on our phones or writing them out. But in our phones also, if you have the Apple Watch, is

an actual breathing funk function that yeah, that'll, it'll basically interrupt you in the middle of the day and remind you to breathe. And not only that, it will vibrate and inhale in this, this visual, like this graphic expands as you inhale. And then it gets smaller as it contracts and it tells you to exhale and it does it for 60 seconds.

So I am feeling more pressure than ever to get an Apple watch finally, because it's going to help me breathe. There's a lot of deals Black Friday is coming up. So, okay. Now I wonder if they play on the fact that, cause one of the things I learned in kind of studying neuroscience and all that crazy stuff, but breathing is a tool that we can use to bring ourselves to a place of ease, place of calm, if you elongate the exhale.

If you make your exhale longer than the inhale, taps into our natural relaxation response. turns on that parasympathetic nervous system, which is super cool. So I wonder if the Apple app does. does. The is longer. kind of check that. was like, wow. And again, with the graph, you can follow your breath can really, you can sync up with that with the graphic on your watch and feel the difference. And it doesn't take a long time, you know, five minutes of deep breathing, mindfulness each day. all you need is a minute just to stop and mindfully.

Kimberly/terry (04:31.986)
You know, just inhale and exhale. That's it. the moment. Absolutely. It'll help improve focus and a bunch of other benefits. But in addition to mindfulness or deep breathing within that mindfulness realm, meditation, that's something that you love doing. I do. Right. Absolutely. And so how long do you like to meditate in order to find that place of calmness and relaxation? You know, if, if I only have five minutes, I'll take it. All right.

But my ideal scenario is 15 to 20 if I tried if I have all the time in the world Yeah, I'll sit in it longer. But generally on days Typical days if I try to go beyond 20 minutes, I start getting all anxious. Yeah, so I get it in. All right. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome And then music of course music lovers And so what would be your favorite genre to listen to?

to find that place of ease? I would say if I'm trying to chill, I'm going like acoustic singer songwriter, like Trevor Hall. Trevor Hall's my favorite. Like seriously, brother, if you could date a voice, I would be dating his voice as we speak. Like I'd be like, well, I gotta go. I gotta meet Trevor Hall's voice for dinner. But yeah, just that kind of just chill. Jack Johnson, you all those great singers. How about you?

I love instrumental music. Yeah. I'd have to say instrumental music, whether it be just like really smooth jazz. we were just talking about lo-fi hip hop. yeah, I found a really fun, lo-fi holiday playlist on Apple that I just fell in love with. And I learned what lo-fi is, which was fun. So yeah, if you like a nice smooth beat, something that, you know, it's got a really good tempo to it and, you know, just kind of helps you again, relax and find that calmness.

lo-fi hip hop. So hop into it. And then, you know, there's different apps out there. calm is, is a, is an app that people love to use. there's another one called headspace as well. Are there any others that you can think of? My favorite, my go-to daily is insight timer. Okay. Yeah. As everything from white noise to the guided meditation. it skip on that too? On insight? Yes. Skip leads meditations for insight timer. Right.

Kimberly/terry (06:45.884)
So make sure you check out insight timer. Our very first guest who was a episode 13 or 12. Yeah. Reverend skip Jennings. he's a special guest and leads meditations on insight timer. Absolutely. So another free app. So check that out. But, those are some ideas just to practice mindfulness, but, what would number three be? my gosh, y'all, you have to take care of yourself. So we're going to jump back yourself or yo self yo self. You gotta take care of

So we're gonna jump back to the wheel of well-being. Number one of the sexy six was physical well-being. What makes up physical well-being? What's that triad of physical health, which would be exercise or movement. So movement, rest, and fueling your body. And so it's so easy, I think, during this time of year when they're just.

not enough hours in the day to get it all done. And we're trying to do shopping on top of our regular daily things. And then there's lots, if you have kids, there's tons of school activities that are asking for your attention and focus and time. And so we tend to fall into sometimes, I'm so guilty of this, I will snack all day instead of eating healthy meals. I will just do like cheese and crackers and just grab whatever's closest and fastest. We'll do fast food. We'll do things that are just more convenient.

Sadly, the things that aren't as healthy are often the things that are more convenient. And so, being able to make smart choices when it comes to you taking care of your physical wellbeing. so make sure you're moving your body. mean, exercise is a natural stress reliever. So when you exercise, you're going to be able to relieve stress, whether it's just a brisk walk, maybe go take a yoga class. I'll work out of any kind.

that physical activity is going to release endorphins and that boosts your mood in a big way. So definitely keep moving your body, even if you think you don't have time to do it. Take again, five, 10, 15 minutes, go for a quick walk. Like just move, even if it means doing some jumping jacks in your living room or a couple sun salutations, you know, just move your body. It will matter. I promise. And then they're resting, getting a good night's sleep. And then of course,

Kimberly/terry (08:56.967)
I have for a long time been a believer of the power nap. And now we have, someone who has now come into the realm of believing that a power nap could be a good thing. It's a great thing. It's a beautiful thing. love a good power nap. just resets you. gives you kind of a, an additional level of bandwidth to get back into your day with the right level of focus. A lot of research around it. Yeah. And then of course, back to that, that nutrition, fueling your body, making.

good healthy choices and have to be more planful each day to know how you're gonna fuel yourself over the course of that day to make sure you don't resort to, I'm a moderation girl, so sometimes I'm gonna resort to my cheese and crackers and I'm not gonna apologize for that. That's not the worst thing to resort to. But I will resort to my Reese's trees. Did you know the trees are out? The trees are out. The pumpkins are still there from Halloween. But yeah, the trees are out. And you gotta do what you gotta do to make your life grand.

Yeah, it's all about moderation, finding the ability to be aligned with what makes you feel best in your body. So move, rest, fuel your body in a way that shows your body you care. And I promise your body will be there for you as you move through these, what could be stressful times. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, this is probably the most difficult times to get, think the last two that you mentioned, to get those in, to get the proper amount of rest and the proper amount of nutrition.

just by virtue of people going shopping and find and, and, know, shopping, whether it's grocery shopping for special dinners with friends and family, or whether it's for gift shopping, people are out there walking, they're getting their, you know, the, their movement portion of the triad in, but when it comes to the rest, that's not happening as much or as, as any other time of year. And the nutrition definitely is suffering, because all the, the, the goodies, all the different snacks and all the different

you know, treats that you wouldn't typically eat during other parts of the year, it's happening right now during this time. And so, and those treats tend to be a lot more fatty, but also high, high, high, high in sugar. yeah. And so when we're consuming high sugar is what happens is we're increasing the acidity level in our bodies and that's going to break down our immune system. And that's what's, that's what the cold season really is.

Kimberly/terry (11:18.869)
It's as a result of our immune systems being down because of the excessive amount of sugars that we're consuming. So watch your sugar intake. Moderation, But you would never resus-shame me though, right? No, wouldn't do that. Because you do that in moderation. That's true. Right? That is true. Right? Right. So that's taking care of yourself. And then number four is setting boundaries.

I it's hard for me to say no. Yeah. First, you know, to some people, but this is the time to do it. Right. there ever was a time, cause you're going to get invitations left and right, or requests perhaps to do certain things that don't necessarily align with your priorities. And so this is the most ideal time to protect your time, to protect your energy, just by setting some limits with certain commitments.

And that kind of goes back to your, your God list, your to-do list, your goals that you have in mind, just making sure that what you are doing aligns with that, with the number one tip that we gave you. And the funny thing about boundaries, some of those people are so afraid to set boundaries to say no. First of all, no is not a bad word. It is, you know, self-care is, is a protective mechanism. Like it's, it's a beautiful thing. It's what allows you to, be able to have more bandwidth to give when it's time to give. But I've also learned that boundaries,

will not keep good people away. That's true. Okay. That's a quote. Is that your quote? I'm really, need to like coin that. you inspired it as you were talking. So yeah, I mean, boundaries will not keep good people out of your life. So often people are afraid. Well, if I set a boundary, if I say no, then that person might get mad at me or not be my friend anymore. Yeah. And this is one that's not mine, but I read it somewhere a long time ago, but the only people

who get upset about you having boundaries are the ones who benefited from the fact you didn't have any to begin with. Ooh, that is so true. that is true. Boundaries are part of taking care of yourself. It's all about your own health and wellbeing as your primary focus so that you can be there and be the nurturer and the uplifter you want to be for everyone else. Right. And that is a great segue into

Kimberly/terry (13:36.356)
tip number five or strategy number five along the same lines. Yeah. mean, it's, kind of like a theme of taking care of yourself because what we understand and know to be true is that when you're in a good place, like when, when mom is happy, like everyone else, I can, I can give to everyone else. Right. And so keep in mind that in addition to taking care of yourself physically with the movement and the rest and the fueling your body and setting boundaries, saying no, when the right thing to do is to say no, take time for yourself.

There's nothing wrong with taking a break. There's nothing wrong with not, not only nothing wrong with, but you should on a regular basis be scheduling time for self care time for, maybe it's just sitting with a close friend, having a cup of tea or watching the sunset, grabbing lunch, maybe taking two bottles of tea. who would do that? He is now making fun of me and I like to refer to them as my buckets, my bucket of tea. You're super, super big gulps.

You super mega gargantuan big gulps. my gosh, you know what's funny? A big gulp is 32 ounces. This is 40. Wow. You and your 40. No, this one's 30. This one's 30. Okay, I was going to say you and your My water bottle's 40. I I do like a good 40. So anywho, I don't know, maybe grab some matcha with a friend. There you go. works. But having time with loved ones, time for yourself.

to maybe just read or listen to music or podcasts or just for heaven's sakes, relax. Gotta give yourself, whether it's five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, give yourself the time to relax and recoup because that again is gonna allow you to fill your cup. We all know you can't give from an empty cup and I prefer to give from a cup that's overflowing so I never even start to feel drained. So I think it's important we take the time to fill our cup and taking time for yourself. I just got my toes did.

last week. Congratulations. And I'm probably going do it again. And before the holidays is done. and I will do the extra massage again. You are, you are practicing what we preach. love it. So what can you do to take care of yourself? Did you just give yourself a break from the to-do list? The priorities, the knees, everyone else has of you when it comes to this holiday season, what can you do to take time for you? Let us know in the comments. I'd be curious for sure.

Kimberly/terry (15:56.365)
Yeah, give us some ideas. We love ideas. I love ideas. I can't just keep getting my toes done over and over. I need new material. I need a repertoire. So yeah, and that's not being selfish at all. Self-care is not being selfish. It's actually being selfless. It allows you to, like Kimberly said, operate from a place where you're overflowing, your cup is overflowing. You're able to give back so much more in such a more powerful and such a

more intentional way. And so be self selfless. Yeah. Yeah. With your self care. So lastly, number six is stay connected. You know, lean on your support system, leaning into your support system, spending time with the people that you care about most. You love most. Don't be afraid to share your feelings with a trusted friend or family member that could just help you feel a lot more supported and less isolated. This is a time of.

joy. It's a time of reflection. It's a time of happiness. But for some, yeah, it is a time of loneliness. It could be a time of isolation. It could be a time of depression. And so often a time when we remember those we've lost. Yeah, that can be. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we just, you know, we're about to and I hate putting a timestamp on our recordings, but, you know,

just about a year ago, we lost our dog. Our puppy of 15 years. you know, so, you know, we just, that's been on my mind, heavy on my mind, cause it was just like three days ago last year. And so, yeah. So looking at his pictures makes me happy though. Looking at the videos we shot together, our walks together and stuff. But yeah, stay connected with the people that you love. How do you, how do you like to do that? What are some of the ways?

You know, I mean, you know this about me. Like there's just nothing more important to me than my friends and my family. And honestly, my closest friends like you are the family that I've chosen along the way. I think that we have two types of family. We have the family that we're given by blood, by birth, and then we have the family that we choose along the way. And I have been so blessed in my life to have so many friends who have become family. And being able to spend time with them.

Kimberly/terry (18:14.413)
is an absolute priority for me because not only to nurture that connection because social wellbeing is such an important thing for all of us and we're hardwired to connect, but leaning into that during stressful times. And honestly, when you do that, I think you're giving a gift to that person, to that friend or family member by leaning into them because we want nothing more than to be there for.

the people that we care about. And that was a lesson for me to learn. That might be another episode someday. It's a hard lesson to learn because we want to be so independent, right? Right. Or not burden people either. we don't want to burden anybody. No way. And I think we're stealing from people when we choose not to lean on them. So yeah, I'm big about making those relationships a priority. Lean on me. Hey.

Any day we can get him to on this podcast, we are going to do it. That's awesome. Well, thank you. So, you know, these six strategies are so easy to implement and can truly make a big difference in managing the holiday stress. And just a real quick recap. Kimberly, you went over. Prioritize your to-do list. Yeah. Be realistic about your expectations for sure. Practice mindfulness. Take care of yourself physically move.

rest, fuel yourself properly. Yeah. Set some boundaries for sure. Take some time for yourself. It's all right to take a break for yourself, for yourself and then stay connected. Lean in on those folks who are around you that are always going to be there for you. now's the time. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, what do you want more than anything? You want to be the best version of yourself for the people that you care about and want to care for. So these are some strategies to help you do just that at a time of year where we tend to kind of lose sight of.

making ourselves a priority. So we hope the, this list of six helped. Absolutely. So that is it for today's episode about reducing that stress during the holidays. I think we all need it. And if there was ever a time to, to share this, to get this out to people that could use these stress relief strategies, we encourage you to, we invite you to, we appreciate that you do that. And what else Kimberly? my gosh, please do like follow.

Kimberly/terry (20:32.444)
Download we are we are still loving every week. We get to see how many people have actually downloaded the podcast So we appreciate that so much. It just helps us get the word out more and more So thank you for doing that and like Terry said sharing this podcast this episode I should say or the podcast in general or both with anyone that you think may benefit We greatly appreciate it. Absolutely. We're here to change one life at a time. Just make one ripple at a time. That's right, right

So fantastic. So we wish you a very happy holiday season wherever you are. We appreciate you. And again, the world, this means the world to us that you hear listening in or watching if you're on YouTube and until next time, we just encourage you to make it a great day. And why Kimberly? Cause it is a great day to have. It is. Take care. Much love.