Aunt Mildred gave little Tommy 15 bags of candy and 3 mugs of her famous caramel hot chocolate with marshmallow cream topped with sprinkles, Uncle Swanson gave him a bb gun, the cat is missing, Tommy is now throwing up the chocolate, the marshmallow creme is somehow in his hair, the bb gun now is missing, the cat is stuck at the top of the tree. Ahhhh the holidays.
Let’s face it, sometimes the holidays can be stressful. But there are some great ways to quickly relieve stress that do not involve fried cheesecake.
1. Get moving! Your body WANTS to move when it is stressed, it’s a natural thing for it to do. So do what is natural and move. Get out for a quick jog, a brisk walk, go hide in a bedroom and do 50 squats, 25 push-ups and 25 sit-ups. Whatever it is, make sure you increase your heart rate, and spend at least 15 minutes moving your body.
2. Plant-strong makes you pant-strong… We’ll just leave it at that. 
3. DANCE! Put on some fun music, and get the party started! Find some big band music for Aunt Mildred and turn the kitchen into a dance floor!
4. Be a kid. If there are kids around, all of these things will just look normal, if there are not kids around, just blame holiday cocktails. Go sledding, blow bubbles, draw on the drive-way with chalk, color, make a holiday craft, skip!
5. Take a nap. Sometimes you just need a little power nap. Plan it into your day if you need to. We realize that especially those of you with kids might find this impossible, but see if you can get a little help in making this possible.
6. Wake up early for some time for yourself. Even if it is 15 minutes to just take a long shower, try to get some peace and quite before your day starts.
7. Eating/drinking/smoking will only add to stress. Sometimes people make the mistake of believing their bad habits de-stress them, when that is not the case at all. The stress on your body will become the stress in your head, stay away from the vices this year.
8. Watch a movie. Get everyone out of the house and go watch a movie! We highly suggest “The Muppets”. Make Uncle Swanson come along as well. Bring plant-strong snacks!
9. Get a massage. We know that it might seem impossible, but there are even some grocery stores like Whole Foods that offer in store massages now! A 10 minute back massage can do wonders for the rest of your day.
10. Laugh! Find something to laugh about, find reasons to smile, it will melt the stress away!
And of course, join us on facebook to help with your holiday stress!
