What Makes Christmas-time Feel Good? by Coach Anjalon Wimbush

I absolutely love the Christmas season. For many reasons, this has always been the case. As the youngest and only daughter growing up in my household, I can notably admit that I was spoiled. If I wanted something in the JCPenny catalog and in the ToysRUs ad then I pretty much got nearly everything I circled. It brings me happy memories to recall how my brothers and I would set our alarm clocks for 3A.M. so we could sneak into the family room and look through the presents while my parents slept. Those were the good ol' days.

That brings me to talk about why Christmas-time can feel good to many of us. I did some research around the web and there were common themes that I want to highlight for this post.

It can be a time of Nostalgia. Recalling childhood memories or even memorable festive times that you may have experienced during the season. As a child, some of you saw the season with more innocence as a magical, joyous time full of tradition and special moments. With these types of memories come a plethora of nostalgic feelings like excitement, anticipation, happiness, naiveness, and warmth. These feel-good emotions make life seem much simpler and at ease which is more desirable as an adult.
It increases "Happy Hormones". The four hormones that can evoke happy feelings that bring us natural joy are Oxytocin, Seretonin, Endorphins, and Dopamine. When the season of Christmas includes spending time with family and loved ones, eating comfort food, baking holiday cookies and other goodies, watching corny Christmas movies, and sharing a universal sense of kindness and belonging "because it's Christmas", we are liable to feel those hormones increase throughout the season thus decreasing the impact we feel from the winter blues and the dreary shorter days.

It increases Gratitude for your life. The holiday season has a universal expectation, to be Grateful. With this comes time of giving to others because you are counting your blessings and grateful for what you already have, even if it is not very much. The act of showing gratitude on a regular basis can lift your mood and bring you a broader perspective of meaning to your life. When you can do this, your levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) decreases and it actually can relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety. You are embracing the little things and all of the sudden getting that "big ticket priced" gift isn't as important as the quality time that you can spend with your loved ones or giving to those who are in need. It can be a win-win time of the year.

These are just 3 ways that we see how Christmas-time can bring about feeling good. What are your thoughts? Leave us a comment and share a feel-good Christmas activity that you engage in during the holiday season.

Coach Anjalon Wimbush is a social worker by trade. She is the CEO of Positive Steps10, LLC, a self-help organization focused on providing self-care resources. This includes journals, workbooks, PS10 Radio podcast, and The Lotus Life Self-Care Coaching services. If you are feeling stuck, overwhelmed and burned out in your current lifestyle but desire to cultivate a nourishing self-care routine so that you can transform your life into a thriving lifestyle to be the best you, then reach out to chat with her. The Lotus Life Self-Care Coaching program provides 1:1 coaching as well as other supportive resources to become more resilient through self-awareness.