The holidays are just around the corner and along with them, the stresses and strains of frenzied holiday parties, shopping, and gift wrapping. Stress has become a fact of life, and for some, the daily norm. Although occasional stress can help improve our focus and performance, living with chronic stress can backfire by causing anxiety, depression and serious health problems. Research shows that stress and unhealthy behaviors contribute to some of our country’s biggest health problems such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. This stress can also build up inside the body and manifest as back pain, neck pain or headaches… making matters even worse.

The upcoming holiday season is full of reasons for good cheer, but the added demands of the season can also stress the capacities of our bodies. Before holiday stress grabs you in its clutches, or even if it already has, here are 12 Days of Health Tips to boost your health and wellness this holiday season and help you manage the holidays more healthfully and happily.

Understanding who we are, knowing our major struggles, putting them in perspective, and taking action can help us deal with stress. the following strategies can also improve stress tolerance and help lessen the effects of holiday stress on our health.

THINK POSITIIVELY

“Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into positive,” said Hans Selye, author of the ground breaking work around stress theory. When optimism is hard to muster, cognitive-behavioral therapy, which trains people to recognize negative thinking patterns and replace them with more constructive ones, can also help reduce the risk of chronic stress and depression.

Stay tuned…