How are you coping with the holidays?

Can you believe it is the last week in November? Before the festivities begin and we are swept into full on holiday mode, I wanted to take a few moments to share some resources with you. Patients commonly share with me how difficult this time of year is for them. When you are trying to build a family, the holidays pose an especially challenging time: thoughtless comments from friends, excessive dinner conversation about the kids, and prying questions from family members. You may get it from all sides. I put together are some ideas to help you cope.

Rescources for coping with the holidays

If you are hosting, going to visit family or friends, and trying to brace yourself for potentially uncomfortable interactions, here are six great resources for coping with the holidays.

An excellent resource guide for coping with insensitive family members and/or friends. They also have a nice coping techniques page.
Some practical tips for dealing with the holiday dinners.
A thoughtful article on what to share and feeling empowered to change the conversation.
A few more tips for holiday get-togethers.
A great music video to help boost your mood.
A fun list of movies if you are feeling down or need a reason to laugh.
Some easy stress busting tips when the days aren’t going as planned.
You may even consider picking up a book. I recommend Julie Indichova’s memoir Inconceivable or Alice Domar’s book on Mind-Body techniques, Conquering Infertility. I plan on picking up So Close and Portland author Stacy Bolt’s Breeding in Captivity to read over the holidays.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions you think I should share.

Gratitude

I also wanted to take a moment to share some gratitude. It was a rather exciting year around here with setting up the practice and this blog. Once open, I then got right to work. To my patients, thank you for entrusting your healthcare in the Portland Acupuncture Studio and me. I know you have many choices here in Portland. I am grateful you chose my practice. Thank you also to the readers of this blog and your emails. I sincerely appreciate your feedback. I am also grateful for the journey of setting up of this practice. It was a wonderful creative exercise. I’m so happy with the results and truly love going to work!

For me personally, I plan on taking a little down time over the holiday to do some reading and spending time with the family. Thanksgiving also overlaps with Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, for the first time since the late 1800’s. We are especially grateful to spend some time in reflective gratitude for the many blessings of this year. Plus, we really like to play dreidel.

Before I go, here’s one more exercise on gratitude that might also help with coping with the holidays. Are there things in your life for which you are grateful? It might feel a little dorky, but I’ll go first. My husband and I are both very grateful for an amazing little creature who shares our home: our dog, Yoshi. Consider taking a few moments by yourself or with your partner, reflect on the last year and ask yourself this question. What makes me feel grateful? Write it down on paper, in your smart phone’s notes app, or somewhere else you can get to easily. Reach for the list and re-read when you need a reminder of the good things.

I will be back next week with the next installment of my acupuncture for fertility series, writing about how acupuncture can boost a low sex drive and relieve pain that prevents having sex. Until then, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving, and if you observe the festival of lights, Happy Hanukkah!