Swap your summer Stresses to Smiles®

We’re coming to the end of National Smiles month, a perfect time to reaffirm the power of a smile and the benefits of enjoying smiling every day. With the summer holiday season approaching, smiles are definitely something you want lots of in your holiday itinerary!

You may not know that it takes you an average of 2-3 days before you start to relax on holiday, and for many people, a lot longer. That makes a serious dent into a week away and wipes out the weekend away. What a waste of your most precious downtime.

The good news is you don’t need to pack those invisible stresses in the bags and take them with you –  you can let them go before you go and make the most of your time away.

Here are my top five holiday smile tips -

Keep expectations realistic and plan ahead. When you know you or someone takes ages to get themselves ready to leave, factor in some extra getting ready time to avoid last minute stress leaving the house. No child enjoys queueing so make sure they have their favourite things and distractors in the their hand luggage to keep them occupied.

Empower before the event. When you, family members or children have certain stress trigger times or situations – like a fear of flying, don’t like airports, feel claustrophobic in crowds, talk to them (or yourself!) at least a couple of weeks beforehand about it and ask -

o   What would help you to feel safe? (As humans, if we don’t feel safe we cannot relax or think clearly)

o   What could you do? Encourage them to think of their own support solutions and plan of action. (This is especially important for children, so often we can feel the urge to sort it out for them or fix it in the way we feel it should be fixed!)

o   Or I’m stuck - what could Lou help us with?

You may not be able to grant everyone’s wish, however, you will have tried to validate emotions in a calm, preventative way avoiding having to “support and sort” in the moment which can be more stressful, and you also will have empowered them with a plan of action that you are all aware of.  

Stress first aid – Let’s be realistic, stressful situations can still happen with people we care about! When they do, take a few seconds before you react. Do something to stay calm and compassionate. These are both contagious like stress but much more enjoyable!

o   Connect to your breath. Breathe in calm through your nose, breath out stress through the mouth in a longer, gentle exhale.

o   Imagine you are talking to them from your heart rather than you head and see them as the whole person (including things you love about them), not just their action or reaction – this will add in extra compassion and the heart says kinder words that can get better outcomes! 

o   If the situation is to do with your child’s behaviour, remember that behind behaviour there is emotion. The angry tantrum or the teary outburst may have fear or worry behind it. So focus on that first rather than the behaviour (which you are not saying is acceptable but you can deal with later). Perhaps something like “I can see that something has made you upset/angry. What can you or I do to help you to feel a bit better”. If they don’t know, encourage them to do some deep breaths with you, offer a hug or water, a little walk, or sit in a safe space away from the situation to have some quiet time.  

Have water to hand and move around (especially if you are on a plane) - You get easily get dehydrated on a plane due to the air system and your body needs water -

o   Your brain is 70% water and lack of water causes less cognition and attention, and increases irritability, tiredness and fatigue.

o   Your mucosal membranes that form part of your immune system also need plenty of water to optimally trap viruses and bacteria and prevent you from becoming ill.

o   Whether you are on a plane or in a car, take time to move around or make stops to stretch your legs. Your lymphatic system transports immune support around your body and remove toxins.  It doesn’t have a pump (like your blood system does with the heart) so relies on your movement to keep it pumping.

Let it go before you go! – The more stress, worries, and pain you can let go of before you go, the more smiles you will enjoy. It is really surprising how much tension we carry around without even realising it! So find ways to relax, release and rebalance before you go away. I’m here for you, if the stresses, anxieties, worries and fears persist. 

And finally, meet Stanley - When I help younger children aged 5-11 to let go of anxiety, worries and fears in tailored sessions and my Stresses to Smiles® programmes , I ask them to show me their favourite toys and introduce them to my toy Stanley, the Superpower owl!

Stanley shares superpower tools with them that they can use anytime to help them to feel better and to move from Stresses to Smiles®. All the children love Stanley and as one of my adult client’s said “everyone needs a Stanley!”

So if you or someone you care about would like to relax, release and rebalance with my unique blend of emotional wellness tapping, reflexology and reiki before they go away, or who would like to meet Stanley and connect to their superpowers (whatever age they are!), please get in touch.

I wish you all a wonderful summer full of smiles.

Lou x