Christmas is one of the high, exciting seasons of the church year. We do a lot to serve God’s people during advent, and it’s festive and joyful. It can also be a little more stressful trying to get everything done. This negative energy doesn’t have to sabotage our Christmas efforts. Instead we can face it head on!
A powerful tool to managing stress is recognizing your unique stress response. Everyone experiences physical sensations as the body engages in a stress cycle. You can find these responses within your body by doing a body scan while you’re stressed, to intentionally locate what stress feels like for you. You can read more about conducting a body scan here.
Once you’ve uncovered this, you have the basic awareness of knowing when you’re stressed. This step is crucial because the instant you notice you’re stressed, you can do something about it.
Let’s imagine for a moment a stressful scenario…
- Maybe you are sitting at your kitchen table, addressing the 18th Christmas card and you notice that your shoulders creeping up in tension.
- You could be assembling the bulletins for the midweek service, and you feel your face tightening up.
- Or late in the day you’re typing up an email to a coworker, and you notice a fuzziness in your eyes that you can’t blink away.
- You could be baking Christmas cookies and you put the last dish in the sink and feel a little lurch in your stomach and chest as you see the mess you have to clean.
- Your tense shoulders, tight face, fuzzy eyes, and unsettled stomach can all be stress signals. In those moments when you notice stress, you need to STOP.
Stop and Assess
At the first signs of stress, stop what you’re doing, and invite God to calm your body. Then check in with yourself. Assess what is happening in your body and do a basic needs inventory:
- Am I hungry?
- Am I thirsty?
- Do I need to go to the bathroom?
- Do I need to stand up and move or sit down and rest?
Sometimes our body just needs a little fuel or a quick break to help us complete our task. If you’re hungry, stop and eat, and then keep addressing your envelopes. Drink a glass of water before you continue folding bulletins. Don’t wash the dishes until you actually sit down and take a 5 minute break. Maybe you have been ignoring the urge to go to the bathroom, and you just need to go! Our body deals with stress better when we are meeting our basic needs.
Why is it hard to STOP
Stopping at the first sign of stress sounds remarkably simple, but is actually rather difficult when we’re in the moments of our days. We typically ignore the subtle signals our body sends, and press on with our tasks. We want to get things done! We think if we just keep going, we’ll be done faster and be happier.
However when we push past these stress signposts, the stress response builds. What starts out as shrugged shoulders can turn into a tension headache. Instead of feeling invigorated and excited, we feel tired and achy at the completion of tasks. When we feel tired and uncomfortable in our bodies, we’re less inclined to exercise, make healthful food choices, or care for ourselves in healthy ways.
Other times we find we are well fed and hydrated, had a good night’s rest and still feel like stress is swallowing us. In those moments, we can mediate stress in other ways. Next week we’ll explore some simple ways to tackle stress. But for now, practice the act of STOPPING this week at your first signs of stress.
Bethel Wellness 