How to have a calm Christmas podcast with Beth Kempton

Christmas can be a hectic time for a lot of us, but there are plenty of things that you can do to take the pressure off. Calm Christmas author Beth Kempton has shared her tips with us to help you have the kind of celebration that you really want.

In this episode, we talk about how to have a more mindful Christmas, plan festivities that everyone will enjoy, defuse family conflicts, give presents in a more conscious (and affordable way) and how to get through the festive season if you're having a hard time.

"Taking a bit of time ahead of Christmas to think about Christmas can be a really good thing," says Beth.

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"I think Christmas is an incredibly stressful time of year for a huge amount of people," she says. "I mean there's mental health statistics around that about huge numbers of people feeling so stressed that they can't actually cope with Christmas. It puts so much pressure on us for many, many reasons.

"There are things that we can control, like what kind of Christmas we decide to have, and the pressures that come with that."

Beth explains that a lot of the pressure surrounding Christmas comes from ourselves. We have our own image of what we think it should be, which is often based on our own childhood experiences, Christmas movies or even songs that we hear on the radio. It can be helpful to reflect on what we actually want from the holiday and not get too hung up on comparing ourselves to others.

She says that it can be challenging to create our own version of Christmas, especially when everyone taking part has competing expectations.

Beth Kempton's book, Calm Christmas, is on sale now in the UK priced £12.99. You can also follow Beth on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or visit her website bethkempton.com