Tips to combat end-of-year stress

Due to the Pandemic, we have been subjected to extra stress, which makes us feel this last month of the year especially hard and tiring. There are several symptoms of our fatigue... the good news is that there are ways to manage it and here we give you some tips!

Covid protocols, semi-presential work or even from home, assessments, meetings, final exams, the end of the school year, planning of all kinds, Christmas shopping madness, endless queues, endless traffic jams and clothes stuck by the heat, are situations that alter our end of the year and affect our mood.

Although we all need, in some way, to feel stressed or a little anxious to face challenges, goals or objectives, the problem arises when stress becomes chronic or unmanageable.

Is any of this happening to you?

• Trouble falling asleep and/or waking up several times during the night.
• Tense and painful back and neck.
• Eating disorder or stopping eating.
• Constant feeling of tiredness.
• Irritability and a state of alertness that causes lack of concentration and easy distraction.
• Startles and hypervigilance
• Sweating and muscle tremors

Some tips to manage end-of-year stress:

• Prioritise and measure our goals (both personal and professional). Do not demand more from ourselves than we can give.
• Delegate and rely on others.
• Perform breathing exercises, meditation and effective work breaks.
• Perform relaxing and/or Ayurvedic massages.
• Wear loose, comfortable clothing in colors that give us energy and vitality.
• Avoid alcohol, tobacco and drug use.
• Take advantage of this season to maintain a balanced diet based on vegetables and fruits.
• Doing physical activity: it has been proven that exercise releases hormones such as serotonin (improves mood), dopamine (feeling of pleasure), oxytocin (happiness and love) and endorphin (relaxation).
• Sleep hygiene: put aside all types of screens (TV, cell phone, computer or tablet) at least 2 hours before going to sleep.

My closet "lifts my spirits"

The clothes we wear also speak of our mood, and we project this without realizing it! That is why it is advisable to wear comfortable clothes (not too tight), with strong colors that lift our spirits and ego. Loose dresses and t-shirts are ideal, those wild cards that we don't need to change into if we have to go out at night, and that just by changing our shoes or our purse, we are ready and pretty!

Healing massages

As for massages, there are some that are particularly effective and which also come from an ancient health technique from India, Ayurveda. This is the art of living in harmony with the laws of nature and which acts on the body, mind and emotions. In India, it has been practiced for more than 5,000 years.

In Chile, one of the centers that knows and puts into practice Ayurvedic treatments and therapies is Ayursala . Here we can find different types of massages, such as Chakrabasthi (ideal for improving digestion and preventing colon irritation), Shirodhara (to combat insomnia, stress and various tensions) or Abhyanga (relaxing and removing toxins), among others.

Do you have any techniques or self-massages to relax? We are happy to read your comments and help each other!

A big hug and have a good weekend!

Marcia & Inspired Team