The George Washington University’s finals period is officially over Dec. 18, marking the start of winter break. For many, the holidays will come as a well-deserved respite after exams and final projects. For others, it may be a tough stretch representing a reversion to old habits, an encounter with difficult family dynamics or some new issue to navigate. Even for those who love the holidays, moments of stress when returning home are almost inevitable.
“A break may look like an opportunity to recharge, but it can actually become more stressful for a variety of reasons,” said Lorenzo Norris of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), whose many leadership roles at GW presently include chief wellness officer of the university’s medical enterprise, SMHS associate dean for student affairs and administration and medical director of GW’s Resiliency and Well-Being Center (R&W Center).
“There may be increased pressure to be social and present; you may have increased responsibilities, whether those are imposed by others or by your own high expectations of yourself; and any time you’re getting out of your usual routine, that can disrupt your overall health and wellness.”
But there are concrete, practical methods for maintaining your peace, Norris told GW Today. Here are just three.
- Take control of what you can control.
“The first thing I would tell people is to own your holiday season,” Norris said. It’s crucial to check in with yourself, find two or three things that are most important to you and set boundaries to keep those routines sacred. “The key is not to make some overgrown list, but to note a few things that renew you and be clear about prioritizing those things,” Norris said. He practices what he's preaching: this year, his goal is to keep up his step count during the two-week holiday.
- Examine your communication patterns—and in difficult social situations, “PNC” before responding.
Communication is fundamental to our relationships, Norris said. But the holidays offer plenty of obstacles in the way of healthy communication. First, people are often torn between many commitments and responsibilities during the holiday season and can lose sight of what they need and can handle. Remember that you are allowed to say “No” and be kind but direct when doing so, Norris advised.
Going home may also involve getting roped into conversations with relatives or loved ones whose politics, priorities, outlook or—to put it diplomatically—conversational style differ from our own. That’s especially true right after a contentious election cycle. When it comes to conversational boundaries, Norris has a favorite acronym: PNC, which stands for Pause, Notice and Choose. Some people love to get a reaction, and it may feel automatic to give it to them. But by taking a breath and pausing for a short five-count of silence, a moment in which you notice both their behavior and your own emotional and physical reaction to it, you create space to choose the response that is truest for you, rather than the one you’ve been provoked into. In some cases, that response might still be an argument; in others, it's lifting an eyebrow, saying “Huh! What a weird thing to say,” changing the subject or exiting the conversation. Either way, you choose your response—you’re not bullied into it.*
- Maintain your sleep schedule.
“If I had to pick one thing it’s sleep, sleep, sleep and sleep—specifically, a stable sleep routine,” Norris said. “Don’t play with your sleep.”
We encounter plenty of stumbling blocks in the way of good physical health during the holidays, including a lack of exercise and a less-than-balanced diet. Ideally, Norris said, we should try to avoid processed foods and get half an hour of movement a day. But if your routine changes around these goals (and try not to judge yourself if it does—healthy flexibility around lifestyle choices is better than destructive rigidity), Norris urges people still not to compromise on good-quality sleep. That means doing your best to cut off alcohol and electronic device usage a few hours before bedtime. If you’re trying to prevent yourself from spiraling online, it may be helpful to keep another physical object close by, like a Sudoku book or fidget spinner, so when your hand reaches automatically to check social media it has something else to grab.
“If you’re sleeping well, that’s a sign that you’re practicing self-care,” Norris said. “In regards to many health conditions, if you can get good sleep, the syndrome is broken.”
*Norris noted that some family dynamics cross the line from “difficult” into “abusive,” and general approaches are not applicable to these cases; each is individual and requires care to navigate. If you feel that you or someone you love is in an abusive situation, resources are available both through the GW Student Health Center and national organizations like the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
