It’s not uncommon for there to be arguments under the Christmas tree and a bad mood at the holidays. This is often due to the pressure that many people are under in the run-up to the festival.
Presents have to be bought, food has to be prepared, cookies have to be baked, the house or apartment has to be cleaned, and Christmas decorations have to be put up.
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Christmas Eve comes with the highest expectations and the pressure that everything has to be perfect increases.
Seven tips for a relaxed Christmas
We therefore have tips on how you can deal with the typical Christmas stress factors.
1. Plan gift purchases carefully
Some people start buying weeks and months before Christmas Gifts.
For others, however, long-term planning can have exactly the opposite effect: the time in which you are under tension becomes longer and longer. This leads to exhaustion that hardly anyone can survive unscathed over such a long period of time.
If you belong to this category, you should try to block off a morning or afternoon and get or order all of the gifts during this period.
If the shopping campaign is too tight or the shops are already closed, take your time to think about nice vouchers: joint activities are sure to be really well received.
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2. Good organization
Clarify in advance of the celebration how your relatives imagine Christmas. Distribute the tasks so that everything doesn’t fall on one person.
Who gets the Christmas tree and who is responsible for the decorations? Who prepares the food and who helps? Who buys the ingredients?
The organization can also lead to discussions – but it is better for everyone involved if these are clarified beforehand instead of right at Christmas.
Picture gallery: This is how much exercise is necessary to train off cinnamon stars and the like
3. Traditions are not constraints
The world won’t end if you don’t follow every single family tradition. If no one is willing to help you, then the Christmas roast won’t work this year – if it threatens to get to you.
4. Avoid discussions
Postpone the fundamental discussions – for example about raising children or politics – until another time. There are certainly better topics to talk about while sitting comfortably together under the Christmas tree.
If you do clash, take a deep breath and practice tolerance.
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5. Leave space
If you don’t want to come to Christmas, you don’t have to show up. That would only spoil the mood for the others if one of them sat grumpy at the dinner table.
If one of the guests needs a break, let them take a walk – even alone. Activities like walking and playing games are generally a good idea. Sitting around all day just eating promotes dissatisfaction.
Get rid of the illusion that the family always has to do everything together at Christmas. In addition to the shared activities, it makes sense if everyone allows for small amounts of freedom.
6. Take a deep breath
If nothing helps, pull back briefly and take a deep breath: press the acupressure point between your eyes with your middle finger for about ten seconds. Repeat five times.
This little anti-nerve exercise is guaranteed to be unnoticed by anyone at the family table.
7. Create quiet moments
Build yourself little islands of deceleration in the stressful pre-Christmas period and also during the holidays. These are spaces and times in which you just concentrate on yourself and treat yourself to something good.
This could be a bath, for example: run the bathtub, lock the door behind you and just submerge yourself for a few minutes.
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