The busy holiday season is upon us. This year, lets avoid the stress-effect on migraines this holiday season.  If you experience stress additional stress through the holiday season, then you are among millions of people worldwide who do so. Did you know that your body is actually designed to feel stress and react to it? That is so that you are alert and ready to avoid danger. However, when stress persists, the body begins to break down and illnesses, such as headaches and migraines, can occur. So how do you cope with this merry-go-round? The most effective way to cope with stress is to identify the stressors in your life. That’s easier to do this time of year. Just take a look at everything you have going on in your life right now and you may be able to easily see what is causing the stress. Once you have identified your specific stressors, then you need to learn ways to reduce and manage your stress. In doing this, you will be able to start finding much needed relief for those migraines and/or headaches.

What Is Stress?

Simply put, stress is your reaction to any change that requires you to either respond or adjust. Basically, stress is the result of how you respond to stressful events.So, it’s important to know that you can control stress.

 

What Causes Stress?

Causes of stress are different for each person, just as the way our body responds to that stress is unique to each individual. It can be caused by anything requiring you to adjust to a change in your environment and life. Your body reacts to these changes and circumstances with physical, mental, and emotional responses.
So it’s nice to know what stress is and what causes it, but once we know that, what do we do?  Well, here is a list of some of the common causes of stress:
  • A change of location
  • Money problems
  • Accidents
  • Death of a loved one
  • Crowds
  • Confrontations
  • Marriage
  • Pregnancy
  • Deadlines
  • Legal issues
  • Loss of job
  • Heavy traffic
  • Divorce
  • New job
  • Retirement
  • Sickness
Since it can be difficult to know the exact cause of your stress (although as I said, it is often easier during the busy holidays to pinpoint your stressors), you might want to consider keeping a journal of what’s going on in your life can be helpful. It also helps to know the warning signs of stress. These are important steps because when you can identify the warning signs, you can learn how your body responds to stress, so you can then take steps to reduce it.

What Are the Warning Signs of Stress?

Your body is so miraculously fine-tuned to you and your stressors that it sends out physical, behavioral, and emotional warning signs of stress.
Emotional warning signs of stress include:
  • Anger
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Unproductive worry
  • Sadness
  • Frequent mood swings
Behavioral warning signs of stress include:
  • Over-reacting
  • Acting on impulse
  • Using alcohol or drugs
  • Withdrawing from relationships
  • Changing jobs often
Physical warning signs of stress include:
  • Stooped posture
  • Sweaty palms
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Weight gain or loss
Now we have talked more about stress, what it can do, and the importance of knowing your stressors, here are some practical ways to help with your stress.

How to Cope With Stress:

Be realistic in your expectations, and accept that there are events and circumstances you can’t control. That is especially so as we rush around trying to shop for Christmas, for parties, and other social events. However, remember the holiday season is ideally supposed to be a fun, and peaceful time where we have time for families and friends.
Here are a few things you can do to cope with stress:
  • Asking others for help
  • Taking responsibility for the situation
  • Trying some problem solving
  • Expressing emotions that are distressing
  • Being assertive and not aggressive
  • Maintaining relationships that support you emotionally
  • Staying emotionally composed
  • Engaging in attempting to change the source of stress
  • Putting distance between yourself and the source of stress
  • Learning to relax
  • Eating and drinking sensibly
  • Exercising regularly
  • Learning to practice a healthy sense of self-esteem

Seek Help for Managing Stress.

If you feel you just are getting nowhere managing your own stress, and you feel you are going down the same downward spiral over and over again, seek help. This is a way I can be of help to you in showing you ways to relieve your stress and live a healthier, more productive and stress-free life. If you work with me, some  of the benefits include:
  • Learn to recognize your stress triggers
  • Decrease anxiety levels
  • Learn to cope with the demands of your daily life
  • Learn techniques to help you remain calm
  • Replace bad habits with good ones
  • Have a healthy self-esteem
  • Learn relaxation techniques that will help alleviate your stress
  • Recognize irrational fears
  • You will learn preventative measures for migraines
  • You will recognize your migraine triggers and how to avoid them
  • You will learn techniques to incorporate into your daily life to minimize the migraine pain and prevent frequent occurrence

Learn to live free from stress and pain, and minimize and reduce your migraines.