
For many Easter is an exciting time, spent with lots of family, food, and fun times. Despite this many of us find Easter to be very stressful, hosting a large event with people can be a challenge to manage and our emotions can get the best of us. During event and stressful times it is critical to take the time to reconnect with yourself and build an “emotional parachute”.
At Path Positive we highly recommend following theses easy steps to help you survive the stress of this Easter weekend!
1. Prioritize your sleep
Sleep is the foundation to our “emotional parachute”. Getting adequate sleep duration and quality can be challenging, especially when under stress. It is vital that sleep is considered a priority, not just during daily life but during any holiday or stressful event. Adequate sleep helps us to better regulate our emotions and our actions.
Setting ourselves up well for stressful events requires us to set boundaries and to say no. When trying to keep our emotions in check we need to maximize sleep effectiveness, by setting a schedule to go to bed ensuring we get at least 8 hours of sleep. Additionally making sure to avoid caffeine after 12pm and to stop drinking alcohol about 2 hours before bed. There are many ways to maximize your sleep but plan a way to get to bed on time and set yourself up for success the next morning.
2. Eat (somewhat) healthy
Easter and other holidays are often full of large meals, dessert and overeating. We recognize that during these times we all stray from our usual eating habits, but we need to make sure we are still being somewhat “healthy”. During meals we want to avoid overeating by taking the time to pause between bites, so our body has more time to let us know when we are full. It is also key to make sure your are getting enough nutrients found in fruits and veggies, try to maintain a mixed diet and avoid “carb loading” as this can cause blood sugar spikes and tiredness that makes it more challenging to manage our actions.
3. Get some movement
Just as sleep and the right food are critical to surviving the holidays, getting movement helps to recharge our minds. Try to move for at least 30 minutes per day this easter weekend. Make it fun, take the whole family for a short 30-minute walk, or take some time just with yourself and go out for a walk to destress from the emotional holidays. Make sure to schedule time for this and remember taking time for your health is not selfish, it allows you to be your best for your family.
4. Take some time to yourself
Having time spent away from your family allows you to maintain a positive attitude and be you r best self with your family. Taking time away to decompress allows you to recharge and prepare for more time with your family. It is never selfish to take the time to recharge and come back, and it may help you to avoid a family fight.
5. Set boundaries
Setting boundaries for yourself are ways to preserve your mental health through self-advocacy. These are a set of rules around yourself for actions you would not do, for example you do not have to talk to the family about political issues if you would prefer to avoid this topic. You do not have to hug any family member and you do not have to have family in your personal space. However, there is a clear line between boundaries and policing, you may not feel comfortable talking about politics, but you cannot stop others from doing so, you can only choose actions where you can change. If you are in these situations, it can be best to remove yourself and spend time away, go for a walk, take a breath in a quiet place, whatever works best for you so you can be the best for yourself and your family.
6. Set goals for yourself
Today spend some time and decide what are the goals you would like to see for tomorrow. What is it that you want to accomplish during that day, are there ways you want to act? Behaviours you want to avoid? There is no better way to set yourself up for success than to plan goals and work towards them. Set these goals in a priority order, aiming to meet the most important ones first. Remember it is okay not to meet all your goals, it’s okay to slip up to feel stressed or unhappy. Despite these feelings it is important to not allow ourselves to take our emotions out on others. Finally go ahead and have some fun
7. Relax and Have Fun this Easter!
Setting goals and trying to put on our best behaviour for our family is great, but family events are complicated, it is important not to focus too hard on these steps and still remember to have fun. This is a time to try and relax and enjoy the time with family, ideally your emotional parachute has been set-up to support you, if the day does become hard, but remember time spent with family is precious, have fun and relax!
Happy easter from everyone at Path Positive! If you are looking for more tailored support we welcome you to contact us and book an initial consult to answer any questions you may have.
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