When menopause symptoms are flaring and your to do list seems endless, just stop and think for a minute.  Is some of this holiday stress my own doing?   (Hint: ya, maybe! Remember, you’re in control here.)

What is this season all about anyway?

At times, we may make this time of year way too hectic.  And we don’t even mean to.

Somehow we’re conditioned to overdo it during this time of year.  From Halloween to New Year’s Day, we kind of lose it.

We are too hard on ourselves with our own expectations about how things need to be perfect.  You may have the need to buy just the right presents for everyone on our list.  (Amazon can be your best friend in these cases!) Or worse, you kill yourself in an attempt to make your home picture (or Pinterest) perfect.

I’m challenging you now to re-think your holiday “crazy”.  Continuing to be the perfect (insert your word here) – mom, hostess, parent, boss, neighbor, daughter, etc. is exhausting.

The problem is…you may wear one or more of these hats and now it’s even harder to keep up with what you’ve created. I’m tired just thinking about it.

In this week’s episode, Rhonda and Chris talk about their holiday memories as well as tips to win against holiday stress.  Even making a promise to yourself to try 2 or 3 of these ideas will help your stress levels.  You need to give it a try. Check out our FREE download for more ideas.

When a woman’s hormones transition during menopause, things are out of balance.  This hormone imbalance, may cause menopause symptoms like hot flashes, mood swings, depression, anxiety and insomnia to worsen. Increased stress-inducing activities around the holidays (shopping, cleaning, overeating, or in-law overload) increase the production of cortisol.  Cortisol is your “flight or fight” hormone which in normal levels is life preserving. However, when cortisol increases, helped along with the holiday stress cycle, things get out of balance and may result in a layering on effect with increased symptoms and frustration.

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