The holidays can be stressful, let’s face it. How do you ensure that you are able to fully appreciate the most wonderful time of the year? How do you ensure that you’re not just “surviving” the holidays? Well here are 10 things to keep in mind:

1. Be mindful. Be present in the moment while you are enjoying family gatherings and Christmas morning. Set aside all your worries and simply focus on the now. Use your senses! Pay attention to the finer details of how your gifts are wrapped, listen to the Christmas chaos, appreciate the smells of turkey in the oven, eat and appreciate the taste of your favourite Christmas treats. Simply slow down.
2. Set boundaries! Decide how much you can handle and don’t let others book you for 18 family Christmases. Decide what is important to you and your family and stick to your choice.
3. Set clear gift requirements. Stressed about money? Why not challenge the family to home-made gifts this year or a lower gift limit.
4. Self-care, self-care, self-care! Take some time just for you. Whether it’s after the kids go to bed or 5 minutes extra tacked on to your shower to use your favourite scrub, it’s really important that you’re doing something for you.
5. Be realistic. Don’t over-commit yourself. You can only cook, wrap, bake, decorate so much. Do as much or as little as you want to do.
6. Ask for help! Are you hosting? Delegate things to others to lessen the load and take people up on their offers when they ask what to bring.
7. Let the little things go. Santa might not get every stocking item wrapped and that’s ok.
8. Participate in traditions. Christmas is a hard time for a lot of people. Make new traditions if you need to and create new memories to look forward to for the holidays.
9. Plan ahead. Prepare as much as possible ahead of time. Can you bake and freeze some items? Can you dice the veggies the night before?
10. Express gratitude. What are you thankful for this year? A roof over your head? Kids? A great grandparent who is still with you? Coffee? Taking the time to appreciate the things you are grateful for (even the little things!) will immediately increase your mood. 

Hopefully these tips can be useful over the holidays!! If nothing else, make sure you complete #4! Comment below with your best holiday tip!