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Class OverviewWe now know even if you cannot change all of life’s circumstances, you can change *what* stress does to you. Follow these easy tips to change your stress response and thrive this holiday season! (Check out the Top 10 Big Ideas from the class below!) Your ProfessorAlan Christianson is an Arizona-based Naturopathic Doctor who specializes in natural endocrinology with a focus on thyroid disorders. Alan co-authored the bestselling ‘The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease’How to Thrive Under Holiday StressWhat do you get when you are spending more than you planned, eating too much, not sleeping enough, hanging out with people you don’t see regularly, being stuck indoors, and dealing with bad weather?  A recipe for some serious holiday stress!  Stress is a big deal and worth preventing.  It causes daily symptoms including: -Unclear speech -Insomnia -Social withdrawal -Edginess -Gas and bloating -Fatigue -Frequent urination -Headaches -Clenching teeth -Back pain -Dry mouth -Racing heart -Frequent sighing -Poor concentration These symptoms cause people to seek out explanations for their troubles.  Often doctors find no medical explanation for the symptoms, which only adds to the stress.  So much research has been done on stress that we now know even if you cannot change all of life’s circumstances, you can change what stress does to you.  Follow these easy tips and thrive this holiday season! The Top 10 Big Ideas1Don’t Be SAD Along with all of the situational factors that make the holidays tough, the simple lack of sunlight (which provides the essential vitamin D) compounds things, and can cause stress and sadness.  The end of the third week of December marks the shortest day of the year.  Short days mean less sun and less sun means more stress, but keeping your vitamin D at a good range can make up for this.2Baby Yourself Some More Just like babies, grown-ups do better with routines and schedules.  When your normal patterns are disrupted, you feel off and edgy.   To avoid this, keep the same schedule you normally do for sleeping, waking and eating.3Play Nice with Your Liver A few small servings of alcohol per week is harmless enough, but above that and you start disrupting your brain chemicals.   The bad effects of alcohol on your liver are heightened by sugar.  A single glass of wine + dessert can feel a lot like 3 glasses of wine the next day.  Plan in advance which one you will gently indulge in before getting too far into the event.4Just Chill In the winters, your body anticipates temperature changes.  When you stay warm all of the time, the cycle is disrupted and you will feel more stress.  Brief, controlled exposure to cold elicits the ‘cold shock response’.   This response causes:•Increase in endorphins•Reduction of stress hormones•Increase in immune function•Reduction of painHow can you do this?Ice blast – Fill a sink with ice and water, soak a washcloth in the cold water, wring it out and rub it on your chest and abdomen for 30 seconds. Cold rinse – Take a 3 minute lukewarm shower, then turn the temperature to as cold as tolerable for 30 seconds and repeat this for 2 cycles.
Wet socks – At bedtime, put on 1 thin pair of cotton socks that have been soaked in room temperature water and wrung out.  Place a thick pair of dry wool socks over the top and sleep.It is so simple and you will love your bodies positive response!  5Time for Winter Repair Keep your cells in the repair mode by eating lots of colorful foods.  Colors in plants come from chemicals that lower the free radical damage from stress, lowering anxiety, improving the health of your blood vessels and lowering your risk of diabetes.  Quick examples:•4 ounces of pomegranate juice•1 handful of raisins•1 cup of baby carrots6Steer Clear of Bad Stress Bad stress is caused by events that are:•Ambiguous in time-frame•Unintentional•Uncontrollable•Well below or well above capabilitiesBad stress results in:•Anxiety•Decrease in performance•Avoidance reactions•Physical symptoms7Pile on the Good Stress Good stress is caused by events that are:•Clear in time-frame•Intentional•Controllable•Voluntary•Within capabilities or slightly aboveGood Stress leads to:•Motivation•Inspiration•Heightened present and future performance•Positive mental association8Veg Out Don’t forget your veggies!  Even with all of the holiday food and leftovers, you can still get your 5 servings per day of produce in 3 minutes flat.Ingredients:•Baby carrots – pre washed            1 handful•Spinach leaves – pre washed        1 handful•Celery hearts – pre washed           2 stalks•Roma tomatoes                              1 tomato•Frozen blueberries                         1 cupRecipe:Take all of the above, place it in your blender, add 2 cups water, 1 cup ice, blend for 2 minutes and enjoy.  Each batch makes 1 large serving or 2 small servings. 9Enjoy Your Buzz In the winter, your body gets more sensitive to the effects of stimulants like caffeine.  Caffeine is harmless, yet daily use does not increase energy and actually worsens symptoms of anger, edginess, insomnia and anxiety, especially in the winter.  Intermittent use of caffeine increases its effects on focus and performance without the negative side effects.  If you need your morning cup of joe, try using decaf on odd numbered days.10Have Fun! Ironically, when setting out to have a nice get together, you can get so task oriented that you have a terrible time.  When hosting, just know that people might remember if you were in a bad mood, but they will never remember that the napkins did not match.