Take Time to Relax
December – a special time of year when we are busy with friends and family, decorating, shopping, gift giving, and… eating holiday desserts! It’s easy to let our appetite spin out of control as get-togethers, company parties and family gatherings take over, but staying healthy during the holidays should be everyone’s focus as much as the holiday-related activities we enjoy so much. We are experiencing weather changes, an active social schedule, and the dreaded flu that travels through schools, work, and everyone in the family – twice! So why is the title “Holiday ‘Desserts’ – Take Time to Relax”? Well, “desserts” spelled backwards is “stressed” – I just like desserts more!
Chocolate is my vice and my destressor – especially dark chocolate (71%+). Clinical studies suggest that chocolate (flavonol-rich dark) might lower your blood pressure and improve insulin resistance, and some researchers say that chocolate is good for the heart, like the benefits of drinking red wine. That’s a dessert I feel good about eating – stressed or not. Stress is a part of life and we have to learn how to control it so it doesn’t control us. Dealing with stress helps to gain the positive benefits and minimize the negatives since not all stress is necessarily bad. It can challenge us to grow in new and exciting ways and it can teach us valuable lessons about who we are and what matters in our lives.
The physicians and nurses at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital offer the following ways to help reduce our stress:
1. Get plenty of rest. The body recuperates during sleep and 6-8 hours is ideal.
2. Exercise. Physical activity may help to release some of the stress carried in the body and it helps us sleep.
3. Enjoy a healthy diet. A balance of fruits, veggies, proteins and carbohydrates will help provide the body with the real energy it needs to fight the effects of harmful stress.
4. Evaluate major stresses and find ways to reduce them.
5. Prioritize your values to understand what’s most important to you and the stress that may result.
6. Talk. Sometimes “letting it out” is therapy enough.
7. Pick up an old hobby or find a new one. You may meet new friends or find it’s the distraction you needed.
8. Dig deeper. Many have found that spiritual relationships allow one to see stress in a different light altogether.
If you feel that you can’t handle the stress alone, seek help from your doctor. Take the time this holiday season to relax and enjoy the festivities – including some of those holiday “desserts”!
Article provided to the La Quinta Chamber of Commerce – GEM Publication December 2006 page 4.
http://www.lqchamber.com/pdf/gem_dec06.pdf
