More on Holiday Depression Natural Remedies
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Holiday depression natural remedies can transform your holiday season.
How to Overcome Depression Mentally:
Once you have taken steps to help your body cope because you have more energy, the next step is finding the courage to take charge of your holiday season the way you want to, rather than continuing to succumb to others’ expectations of you.
DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT: Instead of accepting the same old routine that you may or may not like, visualize your perfect holiday 
season. What would YOU like to do? Spend time with the kids? Travel? While your visualization may or may not be realistic, it gives you a start to hone in on what you really want and by focusing on it (and believing that it can work out somehow), the Law of Attraction can help you get it. Maybe it will happen this year or next year, but it all starts with your deciding how you want to spend your holiday season. This breaks the chain of accepting the normal routine and sets you on a new trajectory of getting something new. To break the chain through travel, see this issue’s article, “Transformational Travel is Perfect for the Holidays!”
COMPROMISE AND HAVE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS: Seasonal depression disorder not only comes from the shorter days of light and the extra burden of the body having to keep up with the busiest time of the year, but also comes from the high expectations we have of ourselves to make sure that Christmas is perfect for everyone around us. Learn to let go and let the people around you love you because you love them and not because you gave them the perfect gift or the perfect meal.
SCHEDULE YOUR TIME AND STICK TO IT: Something that always gets me through crazy busy times is to print out a one-month calendar and pencil in my schedule STARTING with “me time.” Once I have set aside time for myself, I start adding things until I feel like the month is full. Avoiding the Christmas blues is easier when you feel in charge of your time and feel powerful enough not to overbook yourself and one way to do that is by using a piece of paper that has the whole month “at a glance” with those small 1-inch square boxes to fill in your days. If it doesn’t fit inside the square, you’re overbooking yourself. See this issue’s article: “Personal Development Strategy: Get Holiday Tasks Done & Stay Calm” for more.
SET LIMITS: Part of what causes holiday stress and depression is worrying about money. Relieve financial pressure by setting limits on who’s on your list and make agreements with people to either keep it minimal or do something special at another time of year. I’ve celebrated my birthday with a friend six months later (to the day) than my birthday (which happens to be right before Christmas) and we both love it because we have more time to spend together and can splurge for lunch!
VOLUNTEER: This one is especially good for those who don’t have a lot of social activities and may feel forgotten and alone, but everyone can benefit by getting out there and spending a day or two helping others because when you’re helping others, you’re forgetting about yourself. It’s like magic!
MAKE A PACT WITH YOURSELF TO LIMIT “MOOD AFFECTING FOODS:” During the holidays, chocolate abounds, which can make us feel great right after eating it, but then we can get completely overwhelmed when we hit the “sugar low” later. Try to keep your sugar level on an even keel by eating small, protein and vegetable meals often so you’re not riding the roller coaster of emotions that come from huge swings in your blood sugar level. Drinking a nice big glass of water during your afternoon lull can also pick you right up without the “sugar crash” that can come from guzzling a soda or two. See this issue’s article, “Holiday Food Ideas For Staying Positive” for more.
STAY GRATEFUL: Try fighting depression with gratitude. If you decide to keep a grateful attitude rather than one that looks for things to complain about, you’ll soon get hooked on feeling grateful and finding more and more things to add to your gratitude list.
GET PROFESSIONAL HELP: If you are really breaking down from winter depression or seasonal affective disorder, see a doctor or counselor, especially when coping with holiday depression becomes too overwhelming.
You don’t have to have the Christmas Blues! Give yourself lots of support for your body so you have the energy and courage to make the mental and emotional changes to your life that will help lift your seasonal depression. By making choices that create happiness for you this season, you are honoring yourself and teaching others to honor you and your time.
You can set limits this season… all it takes is pampering yourself and focusing on how you really want to live your life instead of mindlessly running on the “holiday hamster wheel” because it’s what you expect of yourself as well as is what others have learned to expect of you!
Learn how affirmations can be great natural depression remedies…
