Christmas Traditions & Mental Health

Can holiday traditions really calm your nerves and boost your mental well-being? Join me, Emily, as we explore the magical impact of Christmas rituals on our emotional health. Discover how the simple acts of setting up a Christmas tree, baking cookies, and singing holiday songs can transform stress into joy by grounding us in the present moment. Alongside these comforting traditions, I offer practical tips to manage holiday stress, like crafting to-do lists and setting reminders, to ensure you can savor every moment with family and friends. Get ready to create lasting memories and embrace the warmth of the season.

The power of a good story is truly magical, especially during Christmas. I share my passion for storytelling and underscore the importance of taking time to savor these narratives that bring joy and warmth during the festive season. With a focus on positivity and mindfulness, I suggest simple yet impactful actions like taking deep breaths and spreading kindness through good deeds. To further support your journey toward relaxation and well-being, subscribe for more engaging content and access a free Vagus Nerve Reset video in the show notes. Together, let's celebrate the holiday season by nurturing both our minds and hearts.

Chapters

• 0:00 The Power of Christmas Traditions
• 13:38 The Magic of Christmas Stories

Transcript

Emily : 0:00

Welcome to. It Starts at Ve, the podcast where holistic health meets modern living. I'm Emily, your guide to unlocking the power of the vagus nerve, which is your body's ultimate key to calm, connection and overall well-being. Together, we'll explore simple ways to nourish your mind and body with natural remedies, actionable tips and empowering stories. Whether you're here to reduce stress, restore balance or take charge of your health, you're in the right place, because wellness doesn't just happen. It starts at Vegas. Let's dive in. We've got making cookies and Christmas lights and setting up the tree.

Emily : 0:40

All of these are amazing traditions for our mental health. How does traditions help us mentally? You think, oh, there's so many things I have to do, though, like I have to set up the tree and I have to wrap the presents, and you know it can be taxating, but also, at the same time, it's very freeing for your brain. It helps actually calm down that anxiety by giving us something that is repetitive and similar. Those things are what what our brain loves, and Christmas time, though it is hectic, it can also be a place of calm. So how do we do that? Again, singing is one of the most. Well, in my opinion. I love to sing, so let's just say that I do like to sing. I like to sing while I bake, and singing does help calm that vagus nerve. So it automatically is going to put your mood in a better social engagement. And remember, when we're able to socialize with people and we feel like we can socialize, that is telling our brain hey, everything is calm around us, we're okay. You no longer have to worry about being in survival mode. You can now just enjoy life and that's what it's all about. We want to be able to embrace those moments. We want to enjoy the laughter and our friends and our family, and that's what tradition really allows us. It grounds us in a time that can be overwhelming. So, like I said, singing really does help calm that vagus nerve and Christmas time is a great time because you've got the classics, you've got the spiritual, you've got the funny, you have so many genres of music around Christmas time and because it's just seasonal, it can create again, just like remembering fun childhood memories and remembering the times that you just felt like yourself. So it really is a freeing time.

Emily : 3:10

Let's talk about setting the mood. Our anxiety likes to know what to expect, and when you already have in your head traditions of how you decorate the house, or let's just say, even decorate the tree. Let's just do simply, smaller, project wise, the tree you can. You know you're going to put like the Christmas lights on. You know you have your special ornaments and some of those ornaments create memories again that just create the warm fuzzies inside, like I know my sisters and I we had like this scroll on our tree with a Christmas song and I never told anybody that that was one of my favorites and I don't think they did. But I remember being a little kid and like remembering singing the song because it was just fun, it was a cute little ornament. And later, as an adult, I found out that some of my sisters also thought that that particular item was one of their favorites.

Emily : 4:27

Some things just gravitate and then later can create a story. Even after childhood it's still in there and then you can, you know, again, have that social engagement with a family member, a positive one, and it's just very uplifting and that in turn calms down that anxiety, it gives us that mental break of always being on and that it's just beautiful. Because Christmas, I feel like it's just a beautiful time. It creates a lot of warm feelings. I think of campfires or indoor fires, if you have a fireplace, and blankets and hoodies and tea and all those things are just so very warming, both physically and mentally. Again, it's got that body-mind connection and it supports that in a healthy loop, instead of being torn down by the to-do list, the ingredients, the wrapping paper and all those things we need to do.

Emily : 5:24

And making a list can help, or to-do lists. I personally, if I don't write it down, it doesn't happen and sometimes even then I need to set an alarm clock. So if you look at my phone, I have all kinds of alarm clocks for all kinds of things and that's okay, because then it lifts it out of my mind and I don't have to pay attention. I just know that something else is going to remind me. And that's why lists, to-do lists, are so helpful, because they give us that mental lift off of our mental load, and mental load is very taxating. So taking that off and then so lifting us up that way mentally and then supporting it with traditions like singing or baking and those Christmas lights.

Emily : 6:17

Again, the Christmas lights are very calming in a way. You can have the colorful ones If you need to remember that I need a little cheer in my life, or the soft colors, if you're like I just need that warmth of the light. And when you turn off all the lights in the house and you just have the glow of the Christmas tree, you can just it's like. It's like a new baby, baby. You can just stare at it for hours and just enjoy the moment, slow down life and just soak it all up. And that I mean that's where memories are made, that's where there's more feelings are, that's where it says, hey, everything's good in life and you don't have to stress out about what's going to happen next. You can just live in that moment. And if you need to take it a step further, grab, you know, a coloring book or a journal or other traditions that you just might like. Like at night, when we're by the fire, we do have that hot chocolate.

Emily : 7:28

I was trying to say hot cocoa and chocolate at the same time didn't come out, but that's what I meant. But it creates that warm feeling and also it's just a time to bring the complex to simple. If you look at all the things around our world right now, they can be very complex and traditions keep it simple. It's somewhat repetitive, it's something new, it kind of energizes us and gives us something to do, sometimes that repetitive day-to-day motion. We need something to kind of like spice it up and adding that can help rejuvenate you. You know, it's kind of like a shower, how it just like cleanses you up and then it warms you up.

Emily : 8:19

Another one that we can talk about is scents. Christmas time has great, great scents. The warmth of cinnamon, it's just so calming. It feels like home, like if there was a scent that's like home. The warm cinnamon scents and a little bit of clove. It's kind of like chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies remind you of happy memories, and that Christmas scent you can have like apple cider. There's just very selective scents that are all about that time to just gather around with your friends and family, and it's just so much fun. So we can do it by activities. If you're like, hey, every Christmas you know we have this little Christmas party with the ugly sweater and then we kind of beef it up again with singing and the smells and all those things. It's just a good time to help you not feel bogged down. And when you feel bogged down that's when you get more sick. But when you're feeling uplifted, your body goes okay, we're doing great, let's do all the good things, and it keeps you healthier. That's why like happy soul is a healthier soul and you just get to enjoy it. It doesn't take as much effort and life seems simple. Take as much effort and life seems simple and easy and smooth, and that is just a wonderful life.

Emily : 9:55

To live Traditions the fun thing is being an adult. You can create your own traditions too and you can say this year, from here on out, I want to I don't know buy fuzzy slippers and I'm going to get new fuzzy slippers every single year because I like them. I like the softness, it keeps my feet warm and it's something that I enjoy and that I can look forward to. And every year from then on out, get new fuzzy slippers. If it makes you happy. It's just a time to reflect and say what is a way that I can support myself more, to enjoy this season. Where it's not so, I don't have to get overwhelmed with the craziness and those small little moments. They add up and they're just wonderful. They're hard to let go once you realize that you enjoy them.

Emily : 10:55

So just, you know, take today, think about what is something that I really do enjoy. Think about. So the sights, if you have something that you want to decorate with, if you want to do any activities, if you want to smell something. I have one of my kiddos likes sounds. They like the sound of that deep, hollow sound. So if you got like wind chimes that are really hollow and deep, that's where, like the Christmas bells come in. See, there's like the sounds are so beautiful, they're so pretty, so just think beautiful. They're so pretty, so just think, reflect.

Emily : 11:45

If you need to journal or draw it or talk it out, I'm a talker, I like to talk things out, and that's not always possible. There's not always somebody there to listen and I just walk around. If I need it recorded so I can just ramble and not think about anything, I like the app called Otter. There is a free version, I believe. I haven't used it in a while, but it records everything that you say. So if you need to verbalize it and then come back to it, that's one way.

Emily : 12:16

But learning about yourself and what makes you feel good will support you and you'll figure out how you want to create the life that you enjoy. And again, that's what we want to do. We want to enjoy the moments and the people around us. It's very freeing, it's very calming and it's a feeling that I don't ever want to let go, because it just it warms me internally so much.

Emily : 12:52

And so I hope you embrace your traditions and I hope that maybe you can find a new tradition that you always like to do and put some thought into it. If you want to make a new one, think about what you would really resonate with you. And if you want to make it a family thing, think about what you would like to do with your family that everybody can enjoy, get together and have a great time with it. Embrace those traditions and I look forward to hearing if you have anyone. Shoot me a text and say this is what I like to do. Or if you're in my Facebook group, hop into there and say this is my family tradition. It's so much fun.

Emily : 13:38

I love stories, I love hearing them, and this is the time to do that. Christmas time is a great time for stories. So I hope you have a great day, do all the good things and keep on breathing. Thanks for listening to It Starts at Vagus. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next and if you're ready to take the next step toward calm. Grab my free Vagus Nerve Reset video in the show notes. It's quick and easy way to start feeling better today and until next time, remember wellness starts at Vagus.