Tips to Beat Seasonal Overwhelm

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As the calendar year winds down, the combination of finals and the holiday season can make this time of year feel overwhelming. Mindfulness—a practice of being present and accepting each moment with kindness—might just be the antidote you’re looking for.

Mindfulness is having a nonjudgmental awareness of your experience and meeting things as they are with kindness and curiosity. The practice has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression, improve focus and memory, lower blood pressure and heart rate and improve sleep and communication, among many other benefits.

But how do we practice mindfulness? UC San Diego’s Center for Mindfulness shared three helpful tips for staying present during this busy season.

Engage in mindful listening

When having a conversation in a room crowded with family members or at a house filled with childhood friends, it can feel natural to interject with advice or personal thoughts. Mindful listening asks us to simply listen to the person with whom we’re conversing.

Next time you’re engaging in a conversation, notice your desire to interrupt or give advice. Be aware of your body, emotions and thoughts while listening actively to the other person and if your thoughts stray, bring your mind back to the conversation. When the person is done speaking, reflect on what you heard. Instead of making assumptions about what was said, ask for clarification; be curious and nonjudgmental. Mindful listening allows us to stay present in the current moment and give our full attention.

Practice self-compassion

Self-compassion exists at the intersection of mindfulness, self-kindness and common humility. When we practice self-compassion, we treat ourselves with the same kindness we would treat a friend when things go wrong. For example, instead of berating yourself and falling into a spiral of negative self-talk when you lose your favorite water bottle, self-compassion asks us to pause and comfort ourselves in those moments. According to Steve Hickman, founding director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, asking ourselves, “What do I need?” helps us cultivate a compassionate inner voice.

When we practice self-compassion, we find decreased levels of burnout and empathy fatigue while increasing resiliency and social connectedness. A study published by UC San Diego researchers confirmed this: UC San Diego Health Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry Dr. Ellen Lee and fellow researchers found that compassion toward self and others was associated with better mental well-being and loneliness across one’s life. Another recent study found that of the 272 displaced Syrian refugees surveyed by researchers Sarah Alsamman and Wael Al-Delaimy, M.D., Ph.D., respondents who reported higher levels of self-compassion experienced more than 80% lower symptoms of depression and anxiety. This study was the first to show that self-compassion can mitigate mental illness in refugees. Practicing self-compassion has numerous benefits and is an important step in improving mental health.

Meditate

Research has shown that mindfulness meditation has numerous benefits. UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers recently published a study that found that mindfulness meditation produces significant reductions in pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings and reduces brain activity patterns associated with pain and negative emotions.

If you’re new to meditation, start small. Even five minutes of mindful breathing can have a big impact. Resources like the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, CAPS iFlourish and Headspace programs and Bright Breaks for UC San Diego employees can help find the approach that works best for you.