Do you feel extra stress during the holidays? Editing the Winter issue of The Professional Quilter always hits in mid-December and that adds somewhat to my stress level if I consider all the holiday activities I enjoy. I try to get adequate sleep, watch what I eat and drink, and get plenty of exercise. And, I let go of some of what I always do. This year my husband picked out our Christmas tree – without my input – and he is the tree decorator. We do come from families with different decorating styles. His family is a single-strand tinsel placer. I’m a free-for-all tinsel tosser. So, I’m fine with enjoying the end result. Did I mention, I will be the tree undecorator? And, I got most of my holiday baking done Thanksgiving weekend. Despite my attempts to handle stress, I must not be doing as good a job as I thought. I have laryngitis and it’s turning into a whopper of a cold.

If you are an IAPQ member and want to get a handle on stress, during the holidays and beyond, the audio from our monthly call is now available on your members page.  I talked with Meredith McEver, a licensed clinical social worker who teaches mindfulness-based stress reduction workshops. She taught us how to create a breathing space and led us in two different types of guided meditations. She also shared tips and solutions from her years of working in private practice dealing with clients and their stress problems. The audio is just one of the benefits of your membership in the International Association of Professional Quilters.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 11:56 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.