I am revisiting this blog that I originally posted a while back to remind me of healthy ways to alleviate the anxieties of the holiday. Hope it helps you too-

Acupressure uses your fingers to massage or apply pressure to identified points on your body to promote healing and is a great way to bring peace to a stressful situation. The first point that I use is called the “Hall of Impression Point” or the third eye. It is located just above and between your eyebrows. Gentle circles with the fingers of the hand can create a calming sensation. Another area to try gently massaging is the “Heavenly Gate Point” inside the upper curve of your ear. The third point that you can easily massage yourself is the “Union Valley Point” found in the webbing between your thumb and forefinger. All of these movements can easily be done anywhere and should be accompanied with my next best tip- deep breathing.

There are many different breathing techniques, these are two of my favorites and that I do often to settle myself. The first is simply to breath in through my nose for a slow count of 5, hold it for 2, and then out through my nose for 5. If this doesn’t get me to the level of calm I need, I can also try shutting one nostril while doing this exercise. The act of constricting access forces me to slow down and take deeper breaths.

I would never let these techniques take the place of my other stress reduction practices, such as my yoga, journaling or walks. There are moments, however, when I can’t strike a downward dog to recapture my zen, and that is when I use these to reconnect quickly with a calmer state of mind. These techniques help me remember that I am strong, I am capable and I am in control not matter what my husband’s PD tries to throw my way.  

The information on pressure points came from the Healthline web site and can be found at Pressure Points for Anxiety; I found the breathing techniques at Relieving Stress in the Moment by Livongo-zen.com.