Keep Christmas stress at bay
What better Christmas gift could there be than a serene and stress free festive period? Allaboutyou have come up with a number of seasonal tips to help us keep those frown lines at bay. Here are ten of the best:
1 Hypnotise yourself
Invent your own mantra to help build up your confidence, such as ‘I am confident’. Repeating this to yourself throughout the day will help the message to sink in. In a study 83% of participants found this practice helpful.
2 More Tea
Tea contains a special little ingredient called L-theanine, which increases relaxing alpha-wave activity in the brain to soothe you without making you drowsy.
3 Sniff an orange
Sounds bizarre but according to research the scent calms the nerves!
4. Name that feeling
Actually identifying an emotion out loud means you will be able to regulate it. This way you can challenge the emotion and change the way you feel about it.
5. Add sage to the stuffing
This herb has been found to increase alertness and calm anxiety.
6. Relax with music
Raise your cortisol levels by listening to some calming tunes. Whale music or choir music will help to soothe the soul and the mind.
7. Have porridge for breakfast
Unlike many other sugar laden breakfast foods porridge will give you a slow release of energy throughout the day.
9 Meet up with a close friend
A happy friend less than half a mile away increases your own chance of happiness by 42%. This figure goes down to 22% for friends up to two miles away and then the effect disappears.
10. Say hello
When you say Hello make sure you mean it. This could be an opportunity to build a friendship by focussing on the person you are talking too. Make sure you remeber to smile.