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9 Holistic Tips for Holiday Health and Happiness
How you can beat holiday stress, sadness, and weight gain naturally.


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Keep the inches off during the holidays by taking up healthy habits.


Don’t volunteer to take on additional tasks if they interfere with your health, your family, or your stress level.”
If you feel stressed out around the holidays, you are not alone. Recent research indicates 69 percent of Americans feel stressed by thoughts that they don’t have enough time and/or money. Almost a quarter of us report feeling "extreme stress" over the holidays. One study found that holiday shopping can raise heart rates 33 percent, similar to running a marathon.

The holidays are also a time when people are more susceptible to sadness and depression. We may overeat, overindulge, and take a holiday from healthy routines such as getting enough exercise and sleep. These changes, in turn, can make us more exhausted and emotionally fragile, and at greater risk of getting sick.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps we can take to experience holidays with more joy, less sadness, and better physical and emotional health. Here are nine of them:

* Choose Foods to Fight Depression, Anxiety, and Weight Gain: Eat foods that are as close to nature as possible. Fill up first on things that are good for you. Eat vegetables and have a good salad, so by the time the gravy and candied yams are there you eat smaller amounts.

* Avoid Foods With Long Lists of Ingredients: This applies in general... not just to the holidays. Any food that has a label that has to explain to you what is in it is probably not something you want.

* Talk More, Eat Slower: When you go out to eat with friends, come prepared with stories to tell so you're talking more, and—as a result—eating more slowly.

* Drink Up! (Water, not Alcohol): Staying hydrated is the key to avoiding excess eating and helps cleanse impurities from your body for better physical, emotional, and mental health. Water is a great choice when you are tempted to have another glass of wine or beer.

* Listen to Your Body (and Say "No" When Necessary): Don’t volunteer to take on additional tasks if they interfere with your health, your family, or your stress level—it won't be worth it.

* List Your Blessings: People suffering from depression tend to be focusing on the negative things in their lives rather than counting their blessings. One of the most important things you can do is to make a list every day of the things in your life that are actually good.

* Take a Breather: If you find that the people you are with are making you feel stressed out, go outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air. This is probably a better solution than another piece of pumpkin pie. Recognize your own feelings and analyze what the other person said, giving them the benefit of the doubt. Do it for your own health!

* Move to Beat Depression and Stress: Exercise—as simple as getting outside and walking—is the natural, drug-free way to combat depression. Moving your body throughout the day burns away stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol that can otherwise linger in your system for up to 24 hours, damaging your immune system and organs. Exercise burns those hormones out of the bloodstream and prolongs your existence on the planet.

* Discover and Release Emotional Baggage: Unresolved emotions from difficult experiences in our past—what I call trapped emotions—are a major underlying cause of anxiety, depression, panic attacks, phobias, and other forms of illness. The good news is you can learn to find and release them.

Next to dealing with those unwanted old emotions, the most important thing you can do is to listen to what your body is telling you. This includes recognizing what your body needs physically, such as fuel and rest; and what you need emotionally in order to feel okay, such as emotional support from a spouse, a lunch date with a friend, or even just some time alone. Take care of yourself and may you find more joy and peace this holiday season.

?Veteran Holistic Physician Dr. Bradley Nelson is one of the world’s foremost experts in the emerging fields of Bioenergetic Medicine and Energy Psychology. He has certified thousands of practitioners worldwide in helping people overcome unresolved anger, depression, anxiety, loneliness, and other negative emotions and their associated physical symptoms. His bestselling book, "The Emotion Code," provides step-by-step instructions for working with the body's healing power. Download a free copy of the ebook and the audiobook along with other resources by visiting www.EmotionCodeGift.com.


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Over 1 million couples turn to Hitched for expert marital advice every year. Sign up now for our newsletter & get exclusive weekly content that will entertain, educate and inspire your marriage.



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