Holiday survival skills are in demand as we navigate the busy and often stressful season.

Popular strategies being shared this year focus on maintaining physical health, managing emotions, and balancing social dynamics:

There are a lot of stressors whether you feel busy or not.

First, when we look at how to survive over the holidays determine how you will take care of your body.

Everyone knows it is important to take care of your body and that it can become complicated over the holiday season.

Here are some strategies to take care of your body this holiday season.

• Stay active in a way that works for you. Since it is the time of year when it is darker earlier, consider what activities you need to keep your body feeling good.
• Eat foodsthat work with your body. I like asking the question, what is your right food. Wonder to yourself if this food will give you the energy to do the things you need to do.
• Notice if you tend to try to restrict what you want to eat. This restriction can have the opposite effect and lead you towards binge eating. Recognizing there are special foods for this time of year can help you have the holiday foods that you want to have.
• Are you sleeping well or enough? Sleep is critical to your overall health. This time of year, we can have a varied sleep schedule due to activities. Look at how you can get your right amount of sleep.

Second, making sure you are focused on YOUR mental health and emotional wellness is a key to holiday survival.

The busy atmosphere can make us tend to override our mental health and emotional needs.

Try some strategies to help with keeping your emotional needs in mind.

1. Acknowledging and addressing holiday-specific challenges, such as loneliness, grief, or dealing with family conflicts, can help maintain emotional well-being. These emotions can take a hold of us and affect how to maintain our balance.
2. Try techniques like setting boundaries, practicing gratitude, or taking some space from others when you feel out of balance.
3. If you feel too overwhelmed, seeking therapy can be helpful. Look for a qualified mental health therapist to help you if you are feeling down.

Third, evaluate what stress management skills you need for yourself this holiday season.

Here are some key tools to distress.

• Is your schedule overloaded? Try decluttering your schedule. What is your intention for this holiday season? What do YOU want to accomplish: rest, connecting with special people, taking a trip, or being active are some of the questions you can ask yourself.
• Evaluating what you need to let go of in your schedule can be valuable. You have permission to say no to people and activities that do not serve you this holiday.
• Prioritize your self-care can be life affirming. Ask yourself the question, what would bring me peace. What do you need to do for YOU? I ask myself these questions to help me practice more self-care.
• What is it you would like to do? Do you have a list of what you want to do this holiday season? I like using my Holiday Bucket list to determine my priorities

I write out my Holiday Bucket List every year. This is my list of what I want to do over the holiday season.

What are the things this holiday that you want to do?  Here are some questions to guide you in the right direction.

1. What foods you want to have?
2. What foods do you want to make?
3. What kind of activities would you like to do?
4. Where would you like to go?
5. What decorations do you want to put up.
6. Do you desire some rest or more activities?
7. What are crafts/decorating that bring you joy.
8. Where would you like to go over this holiday season?
9. What does this season mean to you and how can you embrace that?
10. What are your spiritual needs? What can you do to support your spiritual needs.

I find it is helpful to take my list and put it in on my calendar.

Lastly look at the social and family dynamics playing out around you.

Determine what YOU need for yourself and preparing to ask for what you need can be critical.

1. If you must manage challenging conversations- this can be the time to practice boundaries. I like coming up with my plan before the difficult conversation happens.
2. Navigating differing values within families can be a concern over the holidays. It can be helpful to prepare your response to intrusive questions.

• I like planning neutral; inclusive activities can make gatherings smoother and there is less time for inappropriate statements from others.
• I like to pivot the conversation away from challenging topics, so I have some non-controversial topics prepared: weather, vacations, or sports.
• Being prepared to say, I don’t want to talk about this, is valuable. You can practice what you will say in advance. I like to ask the person bringing up a controversial topic- Why are you bringing this up? What is your intention? This helps you understand where they are coming from and set some limits.

1. Who do you really want to spend time with? Who are the right people to spend time with? You deserve to spend time with people that are pleasant and enjoyable.

I encourage you to set yourself up for success. You are worthy of an enjoyable holiday.

Make this your time to connect with yourself and others that you truly care about.

Check out the Feed Your Soul with Kim Podcast where we talk about Holiday Survival Skills.

Kim McLaughlin, MA is a Psychotherapist, Speaker, Author, and Coach who specializes in working with people who suffer from binge eating and emotional eating. She is a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. She is the author of the best-selling book Feed Your Soul Nourish Your Life! A Six Step System to Peace with Food and the Amazon #1 Best Selling book Discovery Your Inspiration.

You can find Kim on her podcast Feed Your Soul with Kim and you can find it on all podcast platforms.

Wondering if you are an emotional eater? Sign up for the free Am I an Emotional Eater Quiz.