Christmas Balance
Body & Soul
05.12.2025 Christin Müller 5544

Christmas time in balance: tips and exercises

Just before the end of the year, time seems to pass even faster than it already does. How often do you hear that now? Please get everything done before Christmas/New Year! Why is that? Then there's shopping for presents, preparing for Christmas, Christmas parties and children's performances. Sounds like a lot of work and not enough time.

Read more in this article:

Deadline end of year

Many people see the turn of the year as a clear cut to start the new year "tidied up". A lot of things need to be taken off the "table" at the last minute. However, people often forget that the work is no longer necessarily on the "table".

Pause for a moment: Concentrate on the essentials and don't allow yourself to be distracted.

Ticking off: Create a checklist and tick off what has been done.

Check: Are there any upcoming tasks that can only be completed in January? Is it possible to postpone a project? Which e-mail still needs to be processed now, which still has time?

Thinking differently about traditions

Christmas tree, family, presents, festive food - it's always been like this. But does it have to stay that way?

Agree: Discuss with your family how you would like to deal with certain traditions in the future. Agreeing to only give presents to the children can make for a much more peaceful holiday. Especially in the run-up.

Divide up: When the big family gets together, the preparation often falls to one person. Each family member could take over the planning and preparation for a different part of the party.

Take a load off: Eating together is usually a central point of the holidays. Take a load off and go to a restaurant in style. With good planning, this is also possible in large groups.

Exercise & relaxation

Even if it is difficult, especially in the wet and cold season, exercise is far more effective at reducing stress than lying on the sofa. It doesn't always have to be the gym. And after exercise, you can enjoy the relaxation twice as much.

Mindfulness: Go for a walk. Consciously enjoy the winter sun, listen to its footsteps on the frozen ground and let the snowflakes melt in the palm of your hand.

Celebrate: For example, take part in a tea ceremony, stroll through the Christmas market with your family or treat yourself to a massage.


 

Instant help for stress - 3 quick exercises for body and mind

"Shake it all off" - let go of stress 

This 1-minute exercise relieves tension, helps to reduce stress and gives you a boost of energy.

This is how it works: 

  • Stand comfortably and shake out your arms, legs and upper body loosely one after the other.
  • Start with your hands and work your way down to your feet.
  • To finish, shake your whole body loosely for 10 seconds.

The breathing anchor: 1-minute mindfulness break

This exercise calms the mind, reduces stress and helps you to consciously perceive the moment.

  • Sit down comfortably, close your eyes or lower your gaze.
  • Focus your attention on your breath. Feel how the air flows in and out through your nose.
  • Count "one" quietly as you inhale and "two" as you exhale. Repeat this for one minute.
  • Let any thoughts that arise pass and return to your breath.

Thought detox: create free space 

This exercise will help you "empty" your head. This gives you clarity of thought and makes it easier for you to focus on the next task.

  • Take a sheet of paper or open a note-taking app.
  • Write down everything that is on your mind for 2 minutes - without any structure or evaluation.
  • Do not read through what you have written immediately, but put the notepad to one side or delete it (if you wish).

The pme Academy wishes you a relaxing pre-Christmas period and happy holidays.

zero Gratitude makes you healthy and happy

Woman smiles gratefully
Body & Soul
25.10.2024 Christin Müller 19617

Learning gratitude and staying healthy

We adults live in an everyday life full of to-do lists, tight deadlines and ambitious goals. We often overlook the little moments that really enrich our lives. Feeling grateful for these little things almost seems like a luxury that we often don't have time for.

In this article, we show you why feeling gratitude can be the key to a healthier and happier life and what methods you can use to learn gratitude.

Learning gratitude increases the feeling of happiness

To feel gratitude in such a situation, you need to look deep inside yourself. Leave out everything negative and focus on the positive aspects of your life - however small they may be. After all, gratitude has been proven to increase happiness and joie de vivre. And not only that: gratitude can be learned!

There are various methods you can use to learn gratitude. The best known is the gratitude diary, in which you write every day before going to bed what was nice that day or what you are grateful for. One thing a day is enough. In our article "Writing down positive thoughts", we explain the principle of writing them down in more detail, which you are welcome to use as a template for your diary. However, it is important that you don't just write down what you are grateful for, but also reflect on it so that you can feel it.

Gratitude method: The 5-finger method

We would like to introduce you to one gratitude method today because it gives you a holistic feeling and quickly and effectively sharpens your eye for the little things mentioned above.

The starting point for this gratitude exercise is the 5-finger communication method developed by US psychologist Elsbeth Martindale. You can do the exercise regularly or when you are not feeling so well. You will quickly experience a good mood boost and permanently increase your well-being.

Use your hand as an aid and go through the following five steps one after the other.


 

  1. Thumbs: Familiarize yourself with the topic! Think about what you are really proud of. Be aware of your strengths and give yourself a pat on the back.
  2. Point the finger: Point to the facts! What excites and inspires you? For example, think of something beautiful from nature or a piece of work that you have created.
  3. Middle finger: Name your feelings! What good thing have you done for someone and how did it make you feel? How does it make you feel when you think about it now? Think about who you could do something good for next.
  4. Ring finger: What makes you feel good? Think of the person(s) you love or have loved. What feelings does this trigger in you?
  5. Little finger: What do you want? Name one thing you are grateful for.

Do you already feel a change?

Gratitude makes you healthy

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You may have already guessed that gratitude makes you happy and content. But did you know that it can be a real all-round medicine? People who are grateful generally have a positive attitude towards life. It improves sleep and reduces feelings such as anger, anxiety and depression. Gratitude increases motivation and reduces chronic stress - both in private life and at work. This has even been scientifically proven in various studies over the past 20 years. A study conducted by the University of California in 2015 even found that being grateful has been proven to improve heart health.

The good thing is that gratitude, like curiosity or humor, can be trained, says psychologist Willibald Ruch from the University of Zurich. Those who do this regularly increase their well-being. After some time, the neurobiological effects of gratitude training have even been proven by brain scans, report scientists from the University of Indiana (2016), according to Spiegel.