Getting Personal

                Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - A Guide to Chilling Out This Christmas
            
                Christmas is that wonderful time of year that promises us treasured times with loved ones, a big pile of irresistible Christmas gifts, and those good old tidings of comfort and joy. Unfortunately for many Christmas can prove to be more of an upheaval with around one in five of us highlighting the festive season to be a personal source of stress. In the run-up to Christmas our frenetic lifestyles start to revolve around frantic Christmas shopping, overspending, late night parties and hangovers and for some of us, challenging social situations where we feel the pressure to be festive when we're often out of our depths. Time to step back, take stock, and remember that you do have the choice to opt out of the frenzy if you prefer instead to make this a relaxing, indulgent time for yourself and your nearest and dearest.
 
If you choose to opt out of the stresses of the festive rush, take heed of the following great ways to relax this Christmas:

1. Buy all your Christmas gifts by the end of November and have them wrapped and tagged ready to place under the Christmas tree. This will allow you to spread the cost of Christmas gifts and leave you enough time to make the right gift choices.

2. Listen to relaxing Christmas carols, especially when you are out and about in your car delivering those Christmas gifts. The oldies are the best, and will transport you back to the trouble-free Christmases of yesteryear.

3. Forget slaving over a hot stove - go out for a sumptuous Christmas dinner in a cosy restaurant with welcoming log fires, accompanied by a few undemanding members of your close family and friends.

4. Take time out to get into a relaxing festive mood, by eating roasted chestnuts by the fire, sipping mulled wine on a frosty evening, wrapping your Christmas gifts by the tree, and snuggling down on the sofa to watch your favourite feel-good Christmas movies.

5. Many people who are affected by lack of sunlight feel depressed around Christmas time with the onset of the dark winter nights. Spend time outdoors in the run-up to Christmas, with regular walks in the park to connect with nature and sunlight and feel the crisp, frosted autumn leaves under your feet.

Sharing the joy of relaxation

Of course, when it comes to Christmas gifts, you'll have more than enough choice if you decide to share the joy of relaxation with your loved ones. There are a whole host of gorgeous items on sale including accessories especially designed to relax and unwind tired minds. For those who value the importance of the odd power nap for instance, a handy blue or pink hangout hammock can be hung anywhere you decide you fancy a snooze. Tie it between trees in the forest when you're out walking, or out in your garden in summer. Its portable pocket size means you can even take it on holiday and indulge in your own ultimate beach fantasy.

Christmas is always the time for the merry folk among us to succumb to the pre-Christmas party fever, and for those who suffer the consequences, there's the hangover helper therapy candle, packed with relaxing oils to soothe away those nasty pains in the head that just get in the way of the best laid Christmas plans. And if you're suffering from pre-Christmas nightmares, Poppy the microwaveable penguin will banish your stresses and strains - just pop her in the microwave, sprinkle a few drops of lavender essence onto her and she'll soothe away your winter blues.

The bathroom is one of the best places to experience true relaxation, especially during those long cold winter nights when the rain is bashing down on the windows outside. Ladies love Christmas gifts that allow them to indulge in some 'me' time, so take advantage of a range of pamper hampers and bathroom bundles, packed with all those gorgeous goodies to indulge the senses, and add a set of colour changing spa lights to create the perfect mood for true relaxation.

If you've always been familiar with the curse of Christmas clutter as the stocking fillers pile up year after year, you'll appreciate how some believe that clutter around the house can contribute to stress. So for the friend or partner who has everything, experience days make excellent Christmas gifts. A luxury health spa experience day will be the perfect tonic for ladies who deserve to de-stress after a busy Christmas, or alternatively, why not indulge her in a massage or pamper treat? If your budget won't quite stretch that far, the 'genie head massager' gives you the chance to experience those same indulgent sensations whenever the mood takes you.

Related article: Beat the holiday blues - A guide to Christmas cheer (Christmas Gifts)