Hi everyone!
Welcome back to Lavendaire.
So good to see you again
and be back in my usual set-up.
Did you notice I decorated this for the holidays?
Yeah, I'm lazy but I think it counts, right?
Alright, it's holiday season.
Thanksgiving is right around the corner,
and Christmas is coming right after that.
So this is one of the busiest,
most stressful times of the year.
Do you agree with me?
Yeah.
So today I thought it'd be nice to drop some tips on how to have a stress-free holiday
season,
because ultimately this time is supposed to be fun.
It's supposed to be about
spending time with the people you love, and just enjoying the winter as best you can.
I personally don't like winter but the holidays make it bearable.
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And also, I don't know if you guys know this, but I have a vlog channel
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me
and more of my personal life and stuff like that.
My first tip on how to have a stress-free holiday season is so simple.
It's just: Stop for a second and breathe, okay?
Breathe.
Take a minute to just stop
and be present.
Be mindful of the moment in front of you.
Usually when we're stressed out
during this time, it's because we're thinking about the holiday party
we have to prepare for or just all these responsibilities, gift-shopping, etc.
Instead of putting your mind on the things you have to do or the things that are coming
up,
just take this moment to ignore the future, stop worrying, and enjoy the present moment
that's right in front of you.
And know that you can always handle whatever's in front of you.
You can always handle the present.
I find that when you're stressed or overwhelmed,
the thing that will benefit you the most is just to take a deep breath, ten deep breaths,
and just sit and notice the moment that's right in front of you.
Also, take the present moment to be thankful for what you have.
Bring gratitude into your moment.
I know it's Thanksgiving soon,
but honestly gratitude is something you should be practicing every single day of the year,
not just around Thanksgiving.
It's important to just remember to stop, breathe,
take time to be present, and be thankful for what you have.
My second tip is: Start early with your holiday shopping.
Ideally you should start now.
Start planning on what gifts you need to get for your loved ones.
And even better, maybe you can work out a thing where you don't have to get as many
gifts.
Less gifts to buy equals less stress.
For example: With my friends and family,
now we only do white elephant gift exchange, which means we each bring one gift
to the party and then we play this game where it's like–I'm sure you guys have heard of
it.
If you don't know about it, I'll post a link on instructions on how to play white elephant.
But it really just reduces the stress from having to find gifts for every single person
VS.
bringing one gift and having this game where you can spend
some more fun bonding time together.
You can also consider
not getting physical gifts at all.
Instead, take your loved ones to a nice dinner
or buy tickets to a certain experience.
Anything goes.
I'll actually be coming out
with a holiday gift guide video soon, so stick around for that.
Number 3: Remember that it's okay to say no.
It's okay to decline invitations to parties.
It's okay to not help someone do something when your plate is already full.
Just know that you don't have to be a people-pleaser during this time.
And because the holidays is a time where everyone is super busy,
if you say no, people will understand why because, you know, everyone's busy.
Generally, we respect each other's busy-ness, and if you don't have time to come to the
party
or you don't have time to help them out with something, it sucks, but at the same time,
most likely, people will understand that you can't do that because ultimately, guys,
our well-being is our number one priority.
If you're gonna go crazy pulling yourself
in all these these directions, it's not worth it.
Just remember, it's okay to say no.
My fourth tip on how to have a stress-free holiday season is to declutter your to-do
list.
You might have a ton of things to do during this time, so it's important to start to declutter
and cross out the things that aren't really necessary.
With each task, ask yourself:
"If I don't do this, what's going to happen?"
If the world's gonna end, if it's really important,
then okay, do that thing.
But you might realize that some things are not super important.
It's just a "nice to have".
So this is your time to kind of cut things out, simplify, and prioritize.
I actually have this exercise that I shared in this previous video.
I'll link it right here.
It's an interactive exercise you could follow to declutter your to-do list.
And this leads me to my next tip which is: Done is better than perfect.
I've mentioned this line before.
It's kind of a motto I have when things get crazy
and the inner perfectionist in you just wants to make everything perfect,
wants to get all the details right.
But in reality, you don't have that much time
and you only have so much sanity left that it's okay if things are just good enough,
and you just leave it at that.
For example: If you're hosting a holiday party
and you want all the food and decorations super Pinterest and aesthetic,
that could be a lot of pressure.
I know we want to strive for perfection, but just learn to be okay
with good enough.
Learn to be okay with "You know, done is better than perfect."
Number 6: Save time for self care.
I always talk about how self care is the most important thing
because you gotta take care of yourself first before you give and take care of others.
During the holiday season–even I am guilty of this–I kind of put my self care on the
back burner.
And you're so busy doing everything else that you kind of give away–
you forge your self care time.
My tip today is to preserve your self care routine.
Continue doing the things that feed your soul, that make you feel good.
For example:
Your morning routine, whether you like to meditate or journal or exercise.
Do those things still during the holiday season, because it's important to stay consistent
with your self care so that you don't get too overwhelmed and crazy.
Even if you're just carving out ten to fifteen minutes of me-time in the mornings,
that will make so much of a difference in the rest of your day.
My next tip is to use aromatherapy to create a calming space for yourself
so you can destress and relax.
Scents are actually really powerful in changing our mood
and our mindset, so having calming scents like lavender or eucalyptus in your environment
will really shape the way that you feel in your day.
I love using this little aroma diffuser.
I put a couple drops of essential oils, and I have an essential oil pack
where I just mix and match different scents depending on what I feel like.
It's fun because you choose what scent you want to put into your space,
and you choose how you want to feel and it really does change your day.
And it adds that little specialness to your space.
I think it just makes you feel more luxurious.
It makes me feel like I'm in a yoga studio or something.
Number 8: Moving your body will always, always help you destress.
Make sure you get enough exercise, do yoga regularly.
Just do things where you can
move your body, stretch, and break out a sweat, because when you're stressed out,
your muscles get so tense and you really need to physically move your body
in order to release that tension and, you know, stretch it out, shake it out, work it
out.
Do whatever you gotta do to get your body in shape so that things are flowing.
I'm sure we all know that exercise has so many benefits, more than I can name in this
video.
But just know that, when you're stressed, you gotta take yourself
out of that stressed zone and move your body, break out a sweat,
release some endorphins because exercise does make you happier.
Tip number 9: Focus on what's important.
Like I mentioned in the beginning,
the holiday season is supposed to be fun.
It's supposed to be about spending time
with your loved ones, making memories, laughing, enjoying the winter and winter activities,
and stuff like that.
So just remember to ask yourself, when you're stressed out
about something: "Is this going to matter in five years?
In ten years?"
Because if it's a small, miniscule detail, it's probably not going to matter.
But if it's something like spending more time with your family during this time,
that's probably gonna matter.
So don't let your mind get carried away
with all these worries and anxieties.
Just ask yourself: "Is this going to matter in five years
or in ten years?"
If it's not going to matter, then don't worry about it.
Just chill.
My last tip is to have fun.
Something I'm trying to do as I get older is learning
to take life less seriously and just have more fun because,
like I mentioned in the previous tip, is this really going to matter in five years or ten
years?
If it's not, then the details won't really matter, so ultimately just enjoy the moment
in front of you.
Enjoy your time with your loved ones.
Enjoy being young.
Enjoy being the age
that you are right now, because you will never be this age in the future again.
We're constantly getting older every day, so just enjoy being the youngest
you will ever be right now, at this very hour, very minute, very second.
I always like to think about life that way because you forget that time is constantly
moving,
time is constantly pulling us forward, that if you're just stressing out about everything
all the time, you're literally losing time to have fun.
So let go a little bit,
go easier on yourself, take everything in life a little less seriously,
and you'll realize that it won't make that big of a deal.
With that mindset,
you could be more light-hearted about things and just have more fun in life.
Thank you so much for watching.
I love you all so, so much.
And I hope you have a beautiful,
wonderful, and fabulous and fun and stress-free–stress-free!–holiday season.
Bye!