Party Planning? Here Are Three Ways to Dodge Holiday Stress

Inject a little joy back into the season by focusing less on "doing" and more on "being."

The holidays can be both a joyful and chaotic time of year. Families get together—a lovely experience, but when we’re hosting relatives and coordinating gift exchanges, a sense of obligation can crowd out some of our jollier feelings. There’s often so much doing that we don’t make time for being together.

Here are a few simple ways you can mindfully plan your holidays and spread feelings of kindness and compassion liberally this season:

Have A Mindful Potluck

Cutting down on cooking is not a cop out. Extending the invitation to family and friends to bring their favorite recipes into your home is a great conversation starter—we all have a few recipes passed down to us from our grandparents. Potlucks also cut down on worries you might have about guests not enjoying the food. You can extend your generosity a bit further by coordinating your potluck with the fundraising efforts of local food organizations.

Dodge The Dogfights

Getting together with relatives can be a real joy, but it can also create many challenges. There are lots of unspoken expectations about the holidays. And sometimes when we visit relatives, we feel like we’re a teenager again and not an adult. And the…