The holidays can be a stressful time of year.  All the shopping, holiday festivities, family visiting, and decorating can get a bit much. All of those things are fun, but sometimes there seems to be not enough time to do it all. Add in wedding planning, and then it can be really stressful. Even if you have hired yourself a wedding planner, (cheers to you by the way!), there can be some of those stressful days during the holiday season. We’ve got five tips on how to cope with stress:

1. One of the things that you can do when you are feeling anxious is to go to the spa and get a massage. This will help to reduce the amount of knots that you have in your body so that you can maintain your flexibility and reduce the strain that you feel. This is seriously a great way to pamper yourself, while reliving all that stress. Make it a day and enjoy!
2. You can reduce your high levels of stress by reading a book. When you read, your mind wanders into a fantasy land, where you are not troubled by the different pressures that will cause you tension. Buy a book which is really fun like a mystery novel, or pick something from the best sellers bookshelf. Just try to choose something that is not related to weddings. You will see that reading book can be quite relaxing. If the weather is nice, maybe take your book outside on the patio/backyard, beach, or park.
3. In order to keep your stress level under control, it would be wise to try to find something along the lines of a hobby that you can engage yourself in. Maybe take a class, like a exercise class, (yoga, cycling, zumba, etc) that can really put your mind at ease. Working out is one of the best ways to get rid of stress. Another idea is to go to an art class, or cooking class, or anything that you have  a passion for.
4. Try to get as much sleep as you possibly can during the course of the day, regardless of how much you have to work. Lack of sleep will result in increased stress levels, which can limit your productivity and hurt the way that you feel. Aim for 8 hours of sleep a night to feel your best. If you have a hard time falling asleep and dreaming of wedding planning all the time, maybe read your book in bed, or listen to soft music. The idea is to get as much rest and sleep as you can. When you are working with a lot of wedding details and decisions, sleep is your friend. Well, your wedding planner is your friend too.
5. When you are feeling overwhelmed and are dealing with a great deal of stress, it is important to learn how to breathe. Emotions  like anger, sadness, frustration, or any negative feelings can cause stress. These types of feeling can happen during the holiday season AND if you are in the middle of planning a wedding.  When you feel any of these type of emotions,  take a moment to breathe and imagine you are breathing the emotions out of you. Awareness of what triggers stress is the first step to tackling it and breathing will ground you in the moment and make you aware of what you are feeling. Just always take a moment to take a step back, breathe, and then continue.

Hopefully these tips can be helpful during this wedding holiday season.