Finding Joy

Six healthy ways to release stress and anxiety during the holiday season

- Arielle Giordano

Are you experiencing tension, anxiety and stress now with the holiday season upon us? Stress is a normal part of life. It warns you that you are encountering problematic situations, and it is designed to motivate you to act to feel better. Without stress, you would take risks without regard for the consequences and make life decisions without critical thinking. That said: In small amounts, stress can be a good thing. But when that stress starts to become unreasonable—when it starts to make you feel sick, anxious, unhappy or fatigued—it can become a serious problem and the cause of long-term anxiety and physical problems.

Are you willing to let go of your stress and anxiety? If you say yes, then I have six healthy and easy strategies to help you on your journey to a more joyful life:

1) Move more, stress less! Your body wants to move, and your health depends on it! Dance, exercise and stretching movements are viable ways to release everyday anxiety and stress. Human beings have a natural impulse to dance and move. Physical activity and movement such as stretching, dance and exercise play a key role in stress reduction by burning away stress hormones and releasing chemicals that improve your mood. Dance takes you out of your mind and into your body.