Holiday Stress Relief
Along with the joy of the holidays can come unwanted pressure. You might be facing a daunting list of items to buy, food to cook, or presents to wrap. If you need some stress relief this season, here are ideas from the co-op to help you feel your best self, even during the most wonderfully busy time of the year.
Find stress relief outdoors.
Get outside when you can — even a few minutes count. Whether you take a quick walk around the block or take the kids ice skating or sledding, bundle up and get out there in nature! Fresh air, some mid-day sunshine, and seeing the snow sparkle might be the perfect dose of stress relief for your day.
Outsource the cooking.
There’s no need to do it all. Give yourself a break and let someone else handle the cooking! The deli has a number of scratch-made soups, made fresh each day and sold hot in the hot bar, refrigerated in the deli’s grab-and-go section, or frozen by the quart. Find pizzas to take and bake, dill or maple-glazed salmon to heat and eat, fresh salads that make the perfect pairing, and more! Sometimes outsourcing can add needed ease (and deliciousness) to the day.
Rethink the gifting.
Most of us have too much stuff! Consider giving amazing, thoughtful gifts to those you love by focusing on experiences, such as:
- Tickets to: the Guthrie, Children’s Theater, or another local theater; the Minnesota orchestra; the movies; or a sports event.
- Annual passes to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Children’s Museum, Science Museum, a downhill ski area, or Three Rivers Parks’ cross-country skiing, disc golf, archery, and more.
- Classes, such as art classes, photography sessions, or a cooking class — like those taught by Shelagh at SheCooks.Design, who creates many of our new recipes. You can also check out local community education classes or events at a local nature center, such as the Richardson Nature Center, Lowry Nature Center, and Wood Lake Nature Center. The parks’ schedules include winter nighttime hikes and snowshoe outings, winter s’mores, ornament making, ice fishing, scavenger hunts, and many more!
If you want something tangible to give, consider consumable gifts. You could pair up food or body care items to create a gift combo, such as these items:
- A local Quince and Apple jam, shelf-stable summer sausage, and box of Wellington assorted crackers.
- A glass jar (use one from home or find one in the bulk aisle, sold separately) filled with a bulk tea blend, plus a jar of local honey.
- Local chocolates from Groveland confections and a bag of local Isadore nuts.
- Bath salts (we like local Roots Essential soaks) and a candle from RareEssence, SunLeaf, or Nature Raw Beeswax.
- Aura Cacia shower tablets in eucalyptus or lavender and a jar of BeeSpa hand and foot cream.
As a bonus, you can pick up these gifts while you’re already at the co-op doing your grocery shopping. You can also find many of these items online and have them delivered via Instacart – learn more about grocery delivery.
Have others do the wrapping.
If you do buy physical gifts, there’s no need to wrap everything yourself! Choose the “gift wrap” option for online orders or seek out stores that have complimentary gift wrap. If you buy a small gift at Lakewinds, you can get a small craft bag for gifts at the customer service desk for free. Otherwise, have family members be in charge of the gift wrapping this year. If you enjoy wrapping, there are eco-friendly alternative to wrapping paper options you can try, from dish towels to “the funnies.”
Find stress relief through the day.
When’s the last time you really savored that first sip of coffee, tea, or cider? When you have a hot mug in your hands, pause. Inhale the aroma. Appreciate the color. Think about the flavor as it hits your taste buds.
Other ways to find stress relief in tiny moments throughout the day include: Set a timer to get up from your desk and stretch – feel your muscles stretching and loosening. Turn on some classical MPR and pay close attention to the music and the story it tells. Enjoy the comfy feeling of putting on your pajamas at night. Little moments like this can give you a mindful pause.
Focus on your self-care.
Another stress relief tactic is to spend time on your own self-care. Take time to have nourishing meals that give you energy. Get plenty of sleep (for tips, read our article about sleep hygiene). Stay hydrated. Try to carve out time for just you, whether that’s reading a book, listening to music, doing yoga — whatever fills your bucket, even 10 minutes at a time.
This season, find stress relief as you go through your day! Make sure that the holiday season is not just a joy for those around you, but a wonderful time of year for you, too.
Make the holiday season easier with more tips from the co-op. We have step-by-step cheese board tips to make an amazing spread, a list of appetizer recipes that include ideas for those with special diets, and a list of Minnesota gifts for those missing home.
Find the Lakewinds nearest you!
