CEDAR CREST CHIROPRACTIC
September 2019
Dr. Paul Braadt
1028 S. Cedar Crest Blvd., Allentown, PA 18103 • 610-776-2005 • www.CedarCrestChiropractic.com
YOUR PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH Minimizing Seasonal Stress
and decide who brings what, considering people’s food preferences. Another tradition we have is going around the table and saying what we’re thankful for. Predictably, the mothers choke up, and all the kids, who are now adults, share their experience as parents while their kids giggle and wonder why the dessert is taking so long! • Update our donations list and look for opportunities to help locally. Reach out to those around us who may be reexperiencing loss or loneliness this time of year. Sometimes an afternoon reminiscing about fond memories is just what they need. • Georgette found a tech-savvy teen to put our Christmas card list together in label format on her computer, so we can finally mail out cards after years of ignoring our friends and family! • Review what we eat and how to adjust during the holidays. As we’ve mentioned, our eating plan over the past two years has been healthy keto/intermittent fasting (I/F) , so it’s pretty easy for us to not go overboard. Of course, we’ll make a few exceptions, homemade chocolate chip cookies included, but having a predictable eating plan makes exceptions easier. • Please consider creating your own strategy to help minimize the potential stress on your physical and emotional health this upcoming season. As always, I’m here to help.
• Prep, as healthy as possible, treats for the trick-or-treaters. • Review how to integrate our spiritual and family traditions into the upcoming holidays • Think about how we can help the less fortunate and remain grateful. • Start our holiday gift list and decide the budget. Georgette has a way of listening to family and friends throughout the year, jotting down their likes and picking up small items along the way. She finds very thoughtful gifts like their favorite chocolate, missing serving spoons, or a frame for a special photo. Our family has grown over the years. Some members have moved out of town, and in-laws and grandchildren have been added, making it hard to get everyone together in one place for the holidays. We used to play Secret Santa, picking a family member’s name out of a bag at Thanksgiving and agreeing upon a financial limit for the small gift. It was hard for the kids to keep a secret for a month! On Christmas Day, after church and our meal, we’d all gather around the tree, and, youngest to oldest, we would each patiently sit in a designated chair and wait for our Secret Santa to reveal themselves and present their gift to us. It was so much fun, and it reinforced family, thankfulness, and the value of giving and helping during a time when excess can so easily occur. Many of these gifts became homemade treasures. • Create a Thanksgiving guest list with a seating arrangement to minimize you- know-who’s sometimes stressful presence. Consider a few topic starters to keep conversations positive. Organize the menu
Labor Day begins the last quarter of the year. While the hustle and bustle of this busy time can be enjoyable, it can increase our stress levels and take a toll on our physical and emotional health . Georgette and I are taking a new approach to this upcoming busy season. We’re listing what we love about this time of year compared to what stresses us out. Our goal is to create a season that honors our traditions without negatively affecting our health. I hope our thoughts help stimulate your own stress- reducing strategy . We love fall due to the return of predictable routines after summer activities and the cooler weather. We enjoy Halloween; the striking fall colors, including harvest decorations with hay bales and mums; and the gathering of family, friends, and neighbors over Thanksgiving dinner. During the winter, we love the holiday lights, occasional snow , winter food, the smell of a warm fireplace, and the company of those we care about most. The connections made during these seasons are what we truly enjoy. Life has its ups and downs. The question is, how can we navigate this busy time of year with less stress, minimize unrealistic expectations, and put in a bit of organization before the race begins? Here’s our tentative strategy: • Clean and store summer items: coolers, beach chairs, garden/lawn items, etc. • Switch warm weather clothing for cold weather clothing. • Decorate the porch for fall and Christmas and, afterwards, put the decorations in storage.
In knowledge and health,
–Dr. Paul Braadt
Safe, Effective Health Care Without Drugs & Surgery
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