Navigating Holiday Stress: Managing Tension Myositis Syndrome for a Pain-Free Festive Season

Ever been stuck in that holiday traffic, or argued over the dinner table during a family feast, and felt a twinge of physical pain surging through your body? I have personally been through the grind and am here to discuss the relation between these stressful situations and a condition known as tension myocytus syndrome (TMS). In this talk, I reflect on my past experiences of holiday stress and how it impacted my wellbeing, while sharing valuable tips on managing TMS.

The much-awaited holiday season is just around the corner and I will be your guide on handling it better. I delve into the benefits of practicing mindfulness, exercising regularly and the power of embracing our imperfections. Drawing clear boundaries and saying no when needed can be a game-changer. As we approach Thanksgiving, I want to thank each one of you for tuning in and wish you a holiday season that is active, stress-free and most importantly, pain-free. So, buckle up and let's make this holiday season the best one yet!

Podcast Disclaimer:

The Pain-Free Podcast is presented solely for general information, education, and entertainment purposes. Any information presented in this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional diagnosis. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. As always, users should not disregard or delay obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition that they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.

Transcript

Dana: 0:05

Welcome to the Pain Free Athlete Podcast. I'm your host, dana Jones. I am a certified personal trainer and I'm here to help you achieve your fitness goals without pain. In each episode, I'll share tips and strategies that will help you stay safe and pain free while you're working out. I'll also interview experts in the field of fitness and pain management. So if you're ready to learn how to stay active and pain free, then subscribe to the Pain Free Athlete Podcast today. Hi everyone and welcome to the Pain Free Athlete Podcast. I'm your host, dana Jones.

Dana: 0:39

Today's topic is about the holidays. Yep, they are coming and how do we handle them and how do we handle all things that are around the holidays. So I kind of want to break down the holidays in terms of TMS and self-care and if you haven't listened to me before or need a refresher, tms is also known as tension myocytus syndrome. It's a mind-body thing and it is a situation in which psychological stress and repressed emotions manifest in physical symptoms such as chronic pain, so migraines, joint pain. There's also been some link to fibromyalgia and there have been results that people have received, as in terms of doing work around their emotional repression and just having feelings of safety and good stuff that have less in the symptoms of fibromyalgia and other autoimmune type disorders. Anyway, the holidays are coming and I'm sorry, it's just a crazy-ass time of year and, on the good end, families are coming together and that's always a good thing. For a lot of people there's such joy in seeing somebody you haven't seen in a long time. You get to see your nieces and nephews or grandparents or whatever it may be. But it's also I call it the holiday blending of personalities, because kind of like a soup, nothing kind of gets mashed together unless you puree it, or maybe it's a salad, right? Essentially like things just kind of are in the same container but aren't the same, and that can make for fun times, shall we say.

Dana: 2:34

But between hectic schedules, spending money etc, this is probably one of the more stressful times of year. So for a lot of us for me I know, for a long time I would freak out and become very symptomatic during the holidays because they were stressful for my family, you know, there were a lot of strong personalities being Italian. Well, actually I don't even know if it's a cultural thing I think all cultures have very strong personalities but I was always told it was because we were Italian, that we were very passionate and crazy, essentially. But there was always this worry, right, like who's going to freak out this time, who's going to leave screaming and crying and who's going to say they're never going to see you again or whatever it was. And little Dana was always worried like what outburst was going to happen. How are people going to react?

Dana: 3:29

I was always afraid of seeing people get emotionally hurt. I still am to this day, because who would want to see people get emotionally hurt or feel like that was something that was cool or interesting? Right, it's always sad, but I just didn't want people to be angry and so then that was kind of another way to stuff, right, it was like, you know, things would happen and I would just suck it in, right, because one, I didn't want to become part of the drama and I didn't want to speak out to say anything, because then that may upset somebody and then I would have to be a part of it as well. I never wanted to really witness these disagreements because it was just very stressful, especially when your mother's involved, because you don't want to see your mother angry or upset or whatever the case may be. But it was just, it's a hard time for a lot of people, but I would get sick, I would have stomach issues. Of course, I would have the migraine, my nail biting would be at an all-time high. So I would do my best to kind of hide off in a corner, do those things, and avoidance became like the pathway to at least a decent time.

Dana: 4:44

But in light of that, and in light of my lovely knowledge and studying and acquisition of all kinds of facts, I figured that this is a way for me to share my knowledge about how to navigate the holidays, because that was the old scenario for me and that's not exactly what's happening now. That's not happening now, and so holidays are actually enjoyable and participating in them, which is also something, because when you start to avoid, you're like I don't want to go, I don't want to do things, and then you feel sorry for yourself. So it's like this weird cyclic depressive weirdness thing that kind of occurs. But I don't do that anymore, and so there's a couple of things that I kind of do, some tips that I want to share with you today, and I'm hoping that that will. At least somebody who hears this will think this is pretty good and feel better about it and if not, you know that's good listening material for a little bit for your ride to work or whatever, because we have one more day and then I have the week off of Thanksgiving, which I appreciate. Anyway, here's some ideas on how to balance your upcoming craziness.

Dana: 5:53

Number one practice mindfulness. What does that mean? Be aware of your thoughts, your actions. You know the easiest way and the you know without like, oh, I have to sit in a corner and or whatever, I got a journal, I got a hide, or you know that kind of thing is to breathe right, conscious, big breaths, breath holds, all that kind of stuff. You do that for one or two minutes. You it will definitely reset your body, bring you back to the present, and that is wonderful. The other one is physical exercise. You know, while you're waiting for the turkey to cook, go lift some weights, go out for a walk, practice some yoga. Take this little bit of me time right so that you can be present for your family and that you're not stressed out of your mind and probably a little less reactive to people's comments and such.

Dana: 6:50

Number two embrace imperfection, aka go with the flow. This is the time of year that things are going to get wonky, right. You know packages aren't going to arrive on time. The turkey may not cook, right, you may drop the cookies, you know so. And so is late. You know all that kind of stuff. Let it go right, just enjoy the moment. Say la vie, right, just keep trucking along. You're okay, everybody's okay, you're going to be fine.

Dana: 7:21

Number three set boundaries. Today, when I was at work, I heard one of the staff members use this and I was like oh, this is perfect. And she said a boundary is about your needs and not what you want the other person to do. So, learning how to say no, depending on your personality type, you may need to take some time away from people to recharge. But going back to that whole idea of right, a lot of times you know you wish so and so would behave. You wish they wouldn't say those things. Oh God, please don't open your mouth, whatever it may be. And the thing about boundaries is that they're about you, right? So if you know, you know, you all know, right, you know when something's coming out of somebody's mouth and that's the time to tap out right. Like, oh, I need to refill my drink, get up and go right, oh, it's time for me to go to the bathroom. And then you go to the bathroom and you sit in the bathroom and you breathe or talk to yourself in the mirror. Do whatever you need to do. Go, take a walk. Go, you know. Check in on something, ask how you can help.

Dana: 8:25

There are ways that you can set boundaries for your own well-being that aren't about confronting another individual and telling them what you need from them. It's really just about yourself, and that's a challenge, because we are at this time where you know there are a lot of different personality types and you're going to have to navigate it. So learning how to set boundary for yourself is fantastic. Now, the second part about that is learn how to say no, because it is important for you to set those types of boundaries and that during this time, a lot of people get stressed because they're feeling obligated to you know, do these dinners, do whatever, and if you're not feeling it, then don't do it. Thank you, force yourself to do it. If it's something that you've consistently avoided and you're like I always say no and then maybe, then that's fine, but then give up something else so that you have time for yourself. And again, depending on your personality type. You know, if you're an introvert, you're going to need that special time to go ahead and recharge after being all people-y for a period of time.

Dana: 9:27

All right, and the last tip express gratitude. And I'm not like at the table holding hands, you know where you'd like to give thanks, that kind of stuff. I mean legit gratitude, you know. Be grateful for your ability to afford the food that you're about to eat. Be grateful for the fact that you have a roof over your head, because some of you may not. Be grateful for your ability to take time off to actually celebrate the holiday, because not everybody has that benefit. Right, be grateful for your family, you know, regardless of their flaws and nicks and all kinds of stuff. Right, be grateful for the weather, right, the fact that you get to experience it, the air you breathe. I know I'm sounding very, you know, airy-fairy, kind of whatever you know kumbaya-ish, but you know there's something about gratitude and it definitely puts you in the correct mindset and so it's always good to be grateful for stuff. If you know somebody didn't show up and you missed your flight, be grateful for the fact that you have the money to, you know, reschedule the flight, or that at least you're. You know, getting to spend time with people and maybe they're not necessarily your family, but you get to go ahead and exchange thoughts and ideas and something like that.

Dana: 10:50

You know, I think often we're not grateful for who we are and what we have. You know, a lot of times the focus is on the lack and how we're getting screwed over and you know all that kind of stuff and you know that settles in your body and that's not a great way to be. And that's from experience is that when you focus on the negative, then everything you feel is negative and it hurts. And you know you don't want to deal with that. There's no need for that. You know, and I'm not saying that you should. You know, think bad things are great and you know, just go and, you know, skip down the road, kind of deal. But notice the other things in your life. Notice, you know, the smile on your child's face. Notice, you know, the hugs that your animals give you when you come home. Those are things to be grateful for and this is the time of year to recognize that, but you should be recognized that all times a year.

Dana: 11:51

Anyway, this is a shorty episode. I just wanted to kind of check in with you, give you some tips. Next week is the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving everybody. I appreciate you and don't forget to breathe. Thank you so much for listening and I will catch you next time.