This is such a relaxing, calm, soothing and uneventful time of the year, right? NOT! It just seems like no matter how many times we say, "This year is going to be different. I'm not going to drive myself crazy and get all stressed out," WE DO! If we would only do our Holiday shopping in August and have all of our Holiday parties in February life would be so much easier. But since we will never do that, how can we stay more relaxed this time of the year?

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There are a couple of simple things that we can do to help us deal with the stress of the season. The biggest help would be to breathe. I can hear you saying now, "I'm breathing, otherwise I would be blue and collapsed on the floor." We don't really breathe in a relaxing way though. We lose our attention on our breath and as the stress mounts our breathing becomes more and more shallow and our bodies become tighter and tighter. If you don't believe me just try consciously changing your breath to short rapid breaths and see how tense you feel.

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Now try some conscious breathing. Take a minute and just observe your breath. Don't breathe deep or long, just pay attention to how you are breathing. In a minute, or so, you will be taking nice, relaxed breaths. You will actually feel the tension release from your body.

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Here a couple of suggestions of how you can incorporate some conscious breathing into your day. First, take a few minutes to sit in silence and just pay attention to how you are breathing. No phone, no computer, or noise, just your breath. If you do 5 minutes of this, or 15 if you can, especially first thing in the morning, you will reset yourself for the rest of the day.

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Now, take out that stack of Post-It notes and on about a dozen of them write one simple question: "Am I breathing?" Put those notes on your phone, your computer, your dashboard, your refrigerator, the dog, the bathroom mirror, and on the way out of the door at your house. The rule is that every time you see one of these notes you have to answer the question. Seem simple? It is. But I guarantee that every time you see that note you will stop and take a breath. You will feel less tense, less stressed all day.

Are you breathing? Enjoy the holidays!

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