That's right! New Year's Day is the happiest time when everyone looks forward to family gatherings, long vacations or travel. However, stress is often an uninvited guest during the New Year.
Traveling, gatherings with friends and family, and shopping for gifts can all be stressful. Not only does this affect your mental state—whether you can truly enjoy the New Year—it may also affect your physical health.
If you experience stress from time to time, or even out of the blue every year, now is the time to start practicing self-care and prioritizing your mental and physical health. Taking a moment to focus on yourself every day can help you reduce stress and put you in the best shape possible during the holidays.
At Therabody, we are deeply aware of how different types of stress can affect mental and physical health. Therabody's Stress Relief Therapy helps your brain and body relax and relieve stress. Here are our tips on how to use technology to cope with and manage festive season anxiety.
How does stress affect the body?
Whether you have to deal with a lot of pressure from relatives during the Chinese New Year or have to deal with family affairs day and night, stress will accumulate in your body.
Stress, abnormal diet and a disrupted daily routine are all culprits. It is impossible to simply relieve stress. On the contrary, you should manage stress effectively so that you are not in a state of constant tension.
This includes identifying your sources of stress and finding simple ways to prevent or deal with stress.
Here are five ways to overcome New Year anxiety:
1. Write down your stressors The first step is to write down everything that you consider to be a source of stress. Is it the preparation of New Year dishes? Is it a messy home? Or the concern of parents and relatives that is difficult to cope with?
Try making a list of all the situations that stress you out regularly, or that you know you'll encounter on a particular holiday.
This gives you enough time to plan for the time and occasion, which may allow you to identify sources of stress and avoid unexpected situations.
2. Breathing practice Breathing includes subconscious and conscious breathing exercises. Scientific research shows that practicing breathing can promote a state of relaxation and improve feelings of stress.
In particular, deep, slow breathing can help improve stress tolerance, and breathing may also help improve your focus. Breathing deeply from the diaphragm increases oxygen uptake—moving more oxygen into the bloodstream. This helps provide fuel and energy to your body's cells, naturally soothing your body and mind.
Theragun Sense and Theragun PRO Plus are equipped with guided breathing exercises (see Therabody App for details), making it easier for you to master techniques and continue practicing, while helping you relax your mind.
3. Prioritize daily exercise. Have you forgotten all your normal exercise during the Chinese New Year? Science has proven that regular exercise is an effective way to reduce stress. When stress occurs, exercise can help you face it effectively.
Doing some stretches on the yoga mat in the morning, going for a walk in a nearby park, going to the suburbs to get close to nature, or even cleaning your home are all good exercises.
While these exercises may seem trivial, they actually have a big impact on your mental state. So don’t forget to do some small exercises, use your Theragun, and replenish adequate nutrition and water.
4. Relieve tense muscles. Not only high-intensity exercise can cause muscle tightness, it is also closely related to stress. Stress causes muscles throughout the body to constantly tighten and contract. For example, the muscles in your mid-back may be particularly tight due to changes in breathing caused by stress. Over time, it can cause discomfort, back pain, and even headaches.
In addition, long-distance travel may also cause muscle tension. For example, sleeping on a mattress that is not suitable for you, or carrying an overweight suitcase may also cause muscle soreness.
Don’t forget to use Theragun at this time. Theragun's impactful relaxation helps relieve soreness and tightness. At the same time, its size allows you to take it with you wherever you go on the planet.
5. Fixed sleep time There is a great relationship between pressure and sleep. Stress affects your sleep, and poor sleep affects your ability to cope with stress.
During the Chinese New Year, it is not good to eat and drink a lot, or to mix day and night. It is necessary to maintain a fixed sleep time and try to fall asleep and get up at the same time every day. This is very important for maintaining the healthy state of the body.
In addition, reduce caffeine intake, avoid drinking alcohol and put down 3C devices before going to bed. Blue light will affect sleep. Don’t forget, moderate exercise can also help you sleep well.
Of course you can also try SmartGoggles. It uses Therabody's unique biometric sensors to lower your heart rate to a more relaxed state. Its gentle massage also helps to relax you, improve sleep quality and extend your sleep time.
Having said all that, what are you waiting for? Theragun is definitely the perfect gift for the New Year. Look, there is one less thing to worry about :P.