Monday Morning Hangover

OK. It is not what you are thinking.

The hangover I am talking about is from a weekend running around with the kids and dealing with home stuff. It seems I spend more time running kids around town and shopping and cooking and cleaning and doing the laundry. Just talking about it I am feeling tired.

Every weekend it seems to get busier and busier. The kids have dance and playmates. The kids now have dance rehearsal for the holiday Nutcracker performance. Now add in all the extras from the Christmas season like holiday staff parties, family and friend parties, the Santa parade and other family functions.

Monday mornings when I get up with the kids for school I feel more tired than I did Saturday morning after a week of work. The start of every work week is a slow one for me. I tend to spend more time relaxing on the couch Monday mornings as a way to recover from the weekend.

This week I am going to seek out some solutions for this Monday Morning hangover. I think it is about managing the stress level.

What do you do to manage the weekend schedule with family, kids and the house? What do you do to relax after the weekend?

Back to the Grind

I love going up to the cottage. It is so relaxing and it is always great to spend time with the family. My kids love the freedom of being at the cottage, they swim all day and sit around the fire roasting marshmallows at night. Everyone sleeps well. Ahhh.... it is relaxing just to think about our weekend at the cottage.

BUT ........

It is shocking how quickly that feeling of relaxation washes away. I was back at work Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning I was exhausted again. I was once again feeling worn down and slightly stressed out. Why is it the affects of the weekend getaway don't last longer, can't seem to withstand the stresses of regular life?

I think maybe the trick is to work a little bit of that cottage life into my everyday life. I need to take more time to relax, really relax. I need to take time out and put my feet up and not worry, stress or think about cleaning, dinner, laundry, work ... etc. Easier said then done I think.

 What do you think? What do you do to keep that vacation feeling? How do you relax and unwind during the week?

LAUGH YOUR STRESS AWAY

Having a bad day? Stressed? Who hasn't said at the end of a stressful day, " Boy I could use a good laugh!" Well it might just be what the doctor ordered for sure. Research shows there are great benefits from laughter. It can do your body good, physically, emotionally and mentally. So it was interesting to me when I discovered something called Laughter Yoga. There are clubs and classes all across Canada, and the world for that matter. It is slowly gaining popularity.

Wendy Woods of Watershed Training Solutions and a laughter yoga instructor tells me it has great stress buster benefits. She says you won't be doing yoga stretches while telling jokes, but you will be laughing a lot and using breathing and stretching techniques to help you get yogic benefits.

Check out my article at http://www.amotherworld.com/ for more on laughter yoga and it's stress busting benefits