I have to admit to sounding a bit ‘scrooge’ like here, but – now that my boys are many years beyond the age of believing in Father Christmas – I tend not to get so excited about Christmas any more.  It all seems to start earlier and earlier each year, and gets more and more stressful, with adverts showing us perfect Christmas families all eating wonderful food, and unwrapping brilliant presents.

Many of us – particularly women – feel a certain pressure to make sure that everything is organised almost in a military fashion, with endless lists, nothing being left to chance, presents bought and wrapped beautifully, home-made cranberry sauce made etc. etc.  Where does this pressure come from?  To a certain extent it is media-driven, as all the images on TV, in magazines and newspapers can be imprinted onto our subconscious minds, and even if we say to ourselves that we are going to make things easier and simpler this year, there is a little voice in the back of our minds telling us, it is Christmas, so we should be stressed out trying to make sure that everyone else has a good time.   Also, it may be from well-organised friends, who tend to ‘get everything done’ back in September, so we are no doubt starting to panic if December has arrived, and we still have much to do.

I would urge you to make sure that, in the lead up to Christmas, you find time to be still and quiet, perhaps have a five-minute meditation.   This can be done quite easily – just sit or lie down, make sure you are nice and warm, and then focus on your breathing, breathing in through the nose for the count of 3 and out for the count of 6.  It may be that your mind wanders off, but you can just allow it to this, with practice you will be able to bring it gently back.  Perhaps lighting a candle or putting on some nice relaxing music may help.  By doing this regularly, you will find that you feel far less stressed or pressured.

Another thing you can do, is keep things as simple and fuss-free as possible – is the world really going to come to an end if you don’t make a few mince pies, but instead you buy them?   Also try to focus on the really special things at this time of year – if you have little ones, their excitement at seeing Father Christmas is truly wonderful.  Look after yourself – light a nice fire, and toast some crumpets, watch an old film, stay away from shopping centres (most things can be ordered on-line these days).    If you have difficult family members who are visiting, tell yourself that its not for long, and be as nice to them as you can.