How many parents find themselves struggling to “keep it together” over the holidays? It’s an all too familiar story. In fact, one study showed that the stress of holiday shopping can increase your heart rate by 33 percent! Julie Potiker, author of “Life Falls Apart, but You Don’t Have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm In the Midst of Chaos.” Julie shares a simple acronym that anyone can use to check in on themselves and press the reset button on holiday stress.
R.A.I.N.
- R = Recognize your feeling and name it (i.e., “Oh, that’s overwhelm. I’m feeling frustrated. I feel upset.”).
- A = Allow your feeling to be there without judging it.
- I = Investigate gently with curiosity why this feeling is there.
- N = Nourish yourself. What do you need give yourself or hear or do right now to make yourself feel better?
“Stepping back for a moment from what you’re feeling to observe it, instead of being stuck in it, can enable us to handle even the most stressful moments,” Julie says. www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com
