For the past month, I've been promoting the Christmas boxes. From advent calendars to herbal tea trios, there was really something for everyone.

Two trios stole the show. Guess which ones?

Hint: 2 extremes

The big sellers were the CALM and the FESTIVE boxes. Both made it into your shopping carts the most.

I compare choosing a trio of herbal teas to an internet quiz: Give me a characteristic of your ideal evening and I'll describe your moods and personality.

I simply tell you which tea or herbal tea you want to drink. And also what you see in the person you want to offer it to.

As the names of the popular trios indicate, and this without any ambiguity, Quebec needs to relax (THE CALM) and celebrate (THE FESTIVE).

We are isolated and anxious

Do we tend towards the extremes because of the current situation? Or were we like this before 2020. According to several articles, confinement, isolation, fear of being sick and/or contagious, telecommuting, home schooling contribute to a decline in our mental health. As for partying, we're human and the lack of human contact takes its toll.

Statistics

According toStatistics Canada and the results of a survey conducted at the end of May, which was near the end of the first confinement/first wave, the majority (88%) of participants experienced at least one symptom of anxiety in the two weeks prior to taking the survey. The most common symptom was "feeling nervous, anxious or tense" (71%), followed by "becoming easily upset or irritable" (69%) and "difficulty relaxing" (64%).

Too much cortisol and not enough dopamine

This translates into:

• A need to relax because we're at our wits' end and continuously secreting the stress hormone
• A need to please ourselves by secreting dopamine (pleasure neurotransmitter) which is released when we do activities that give us pleasure such as listening to music, meditating, practicing a sport, making love, achieving a goal and also, consuming certain types of food, alcohol, substances...

What do we do to help ourselves now?

So, it's not that we want both, it's that we need both traits to go well. We need to calm down to reduce anxiety and stress. And we also need to secrete dopamine by pleasing ourselves.

You've heard me a hundred times. It's all about balance.

Come to think of it, you chose your Christmas boxes well.

1 FESTIVE + 1 CALM = BALANCE.

I still have a few left and there's still time to get some for you:

• The LE CALME trio of herbal teas to help manage stress
• The FESTIVE trio herbal teas to release dopamine.

Happy Holidays to all!❤️🎄

P.S.:The cocktail recipes that go along with the LE FESTIF trio are HERE!

P.S.S.: If you've read this far, here's your promo code for 5$ off the LE FESTIF trio (valid until the end of 2020... )

promo code: LEFESTIF5