"...Tis the Season...
to be Stressed!"
10 Ways to Avoid Getting Stress in Your Holiday Stocking this Season

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With the holiday season upon us, we all know that stress levels can run high.  With stress comes an exacerbation of symptoms, affecting both your mind and your body.  Living with Endometriosis is stressful enough...so how can we avoid extra stressors during this time when our daily routine is fraught with pressures and pitfalls?

First, let's examine what stress actually is.  Stress is any factor, whether it be physical or emotional in nature, that threatens the health of the body or has an adverse affect on its functioning.  Disease, injury and worry are three common stressors.  Stress can cause both physical and emotional reactions, from changes in the balance of your hormones to sweaty palms; heart palpitations to nausea; fatigue to headaches; tightness in your throat to depression; anxiety to anger.  Simply put, nothing good can come of being stressed out.

If you can't respond to this fight-or-flight response from your body in a way that removes the stress, it can take its toll on you.  The longer stress continues unabated, the worse the symptoms will be and the harder toll it takes on your body.  Worse still, experiencing one form of stress can actually decrease your resistance to other forms!

Not only do we need to cope with existing factors that stress us out, we need to learn how to avoid stress factors that are within our control.  During the holidays, there are a few things that we can do to ensure we keep stress out of our holiday stocking.  No matter how nicely it's wrapped, it's never a pretty gift!

Number one, and most important of all:

• Thou shalt remember that thou is the most important priority.  If you are no good to yourself, you won't be able to be any good to anyone else.

• Thou shalt make a list - and check it twice.  If you're like me, you've spent many a Christmas Eve standing in the middle of Macy's department store, staring blankly at the display cases wondering for whom you were supposed to buy what gift.  One year while on Lupron (which in and of itself was a stressful time), I actually sat down in the atrium at the Mall and cried in frustration.  Several years, I vowed to cancel Christmas at my house altogether.  Planning and organizing is a sure-fire way to avoid adding extra stress to your day - if you need to go shopping for gifts this season, make a list of all those you are buying for, what you plan to get, and what locations you might be able to purchase the items at.  Don't do like I usually do and wait until the last minute, either!  Allow yourself plenty of shopping days.  As of right now, you've got about 20 days to go.

• Thou shalt remember that thou is not superwoman.  I have a dear Endosister, whom we'll call...Jenny...Jenny has a superwoman cape that she wears daily.  As superwoman, she is mom, wife, business woman and world problem solver every day.  The holidays make it worse.  I think a lot of us have our very own superwoman capes hanging in our closets...we have to learn that sometimes, it's ok to take them off.  Do what you need to do for yourself and your family; don't take on extra tasks and responsibilities that someone else can - and should - be doing.  For further reference, please see number one.

• Thou shalt learn how to relax - and make it a priority.  Relaxing offers so many benefits! First, it gives your body an opportunity to heal from the day's events.  Rest makes for a stronger body, and a stronger body makes for a higher resistance to stressors.  Meditation, breathing techniques, aromatherapy, massages, hot baths, imagery and good old fashioned sleep are just a few ways to relax.

• Thou shalt not drag thyself to the Mall if thou cannot rise up off the couch.  If you are healing from surgery, having an especially hard time with your Endo, or are feeling just altogether horrible, remember the true spirit of the holidays...giving.  "Giving" does not mean purchasing, wrapping and then giving; it means giving of yourself and your time.  If you are unable to get out and about, invite your loved ones over for some quality time.  If you have children, spend time with them doing one of their favorite (low impact!) projects.  They will appreciate it more than any gift Santa could bring.  If you're feeling well enough, make and wrap up something homemade...cookies or other baked goods, collages or other artwork, a heartfelt homemade card or poem.  You get the idea.  Don't think you're any less of a person because you couldn't brave the holiday rush at the stores on Black Friday! (p.s...I'm a huge advocate of internet shopping!)

• Thou shalt grieve if thou needs to.  The holidays can be really devastating to someone going through infertility, who has lost a loved one, or suffered through any traumatic life event.  Remember that it is ok to give yourself time to be sad if you need to be.  Don't be afraid to seek professional assistance to help you cope.

• Thou shalt watch thy diet.  I'm not talking about our waistlines; I'm talking about the food and drinks so many of us strive year round to avoid because we know our symptoms will be "kicked up a notch," as Emeril says.  During the holidays it seems that everywhere we go, we are handed these foods and drinks on a silver platter and encouraged to eat to excess and drink to elevation.  Ask yourself if the pain you know you will experience as a result of ingesting them is worth it.

• Thou shalt not sweat the small stuff.  And, as a very wise person once said, "it's all small stuff."  So what if you didn't get that angora sweater you promised your sister for Christmas?  Give her something else she'd value even more - another gift choice and your subsequent good health for not having worried yourself sick about it.

• Thou shalt call thy healthcare practitioner if thou feels as though thou needs some extra medical care this time of year.  Don't put off getting or keeping an appointment with your doctor because you think you have to go cut down the Christmas tree by yourself...the tree will still be standing there an hour later, after your appointment.

• Thou shalt refer to Number One at all times.