Not surprisingly, Christmas anxieties include financial worries, family issues, and travelling logistics but apparently lots of people also suffer from festive FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out. I, on the other hand, suffer form FOBI – Fear Of Being Included, (or Invited).

I love the quiet Christmases I work hard for, and a week off work. I’m not anti social, just pro solitude. But if your Christmas time promises to be ‘full-on’, there are a few recommendations to keep you sane. Obviously they include walking and spending time outdoors.

Nature is a great sedative and I find walking a great way of keeping things in perspective, thinking up new ideas and even solutions. It’s like a moving meditation. I also meditate every day and love – and highly recommend - Transcendental Meditation, after some instruction with the wonderful Helen Evans, who runs the National Transcendental Meditation Centre in Cardiff. You can see more at www.uk.tm.org and make an appointment for an informal chat to learn more. It would be the best Christmas present you could give yourself – or someone you care about.

Meditating for just twice a day means my day just goes ‘better’, and more smoothly. I feel more motivated to do things ‘naturally’, without berating myself and procrastinating and I definitely feel calmer and more tolerant of difficult situations and people. Ironically, it is only when I stop for a few days – why is it that when something works well, we stop doing it – that I am reminded of these (and more) benefits.

Having a similar conversation with a friend recently, they told me that there is a good app for meditation, called Headspace. It might be a good place to start, and better than not meditating at all, but personally, I would encourage you to exclude your phone from this one discipline altogether. It’s definitely not something that you can ‘make’ people do, I think you have to come to it in your own time, but I do encourage you to at least ‘look into it’ and maybe have a ‘Christmas conversation’ about it.

Meditation may be a strange link to ‘Boxing Day’ but the day after Christmas Day has nothing to do with the sport. It goes back to 1743, with the explanation that ‘traditionally on this day trades people, employees, and farmworkers would receive presents or gratuities from their customers or employers in the guise of ‘a Christmas box’. I couldn’t help but wonder why it was the day ‘after’ Christmas Day, as the boxes traditionally contained food and spirits which could have been utilised on Christmas Day but it turns out that ‘servants of the wealthy’ (trades people) were allowed the following day off to visit their own families after serving their masters on Christmas Day. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses, and often left-over food.

Known as Gwyl san Steffan (St Stephens Day), records show that Boxing Day was traditionally celebrated in a way unique to Wales. This consisted of ‘holly-beating’ or ‘holming’, where young men and boys would beat the unprotected arms and legs of young females with holly branches until they bled.

For years, Boxing Day was synonymous with sales with some great bargains to be had – for the same things you had paid full price for as Christmas presents. But more recently I think Boxing Day has become more popular for charity and ‘self-development’ events like ice-cold sea swims and family fun runs. Good luck if you are planning to do anything like that.

In the meantime, Merry Everything and Happy Always. See you on the other side.