Dear Reader,
As we move into the holiday season and the accompanying joys and sorrows, we may find ourselves in situations where we feel more off balance than usual. With large crowds, financially straining expectations, and get togethers with family and friends, it can be difficult to remember self care routines and how to embody the true meaning of the holiday season. To offer some help and some simple reminders, I have put together a basic list of ideas that I hope will help you navigate the next couple of months with grace and ease!
12 Tips to Hold Your Zen During the Holidays
Raise the Vibe for lighter, more loving interactions with your own heart and with the hearts of others!
1. Become Conscious of YOU - Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings - they create your perceptions, and thus, your experiences! Remember "like attracts like" and "misery loves company." Thoughts feed emotions - emotions feed the energy field - the energy field attracts people, situations and experiences that match the predominant energy in the energy field. What you think, you feel...what you feel attracts...what you perceive as coming to you, through the filter of your own thoughts and emotions, becomes your reality. Pay attention to your field of resonance...
2. Practice Present Moment Awareness - Be aware of what is happening in the present, letting go of the past, and possible future, as much a possible. It can be especially helpful in moments of overwhelm to close your eyes, take 3 deep breaths, center yourself, and then open your eyes and find 5 neutral things around you in the environment. (Example - look around the room or the space where you are, notice the sky, the ground, the carpet, the refrigerator, etc.) Keep doing this until you feel more balanced.
3. Practice Conscious Gratitude - When things are flowing smoothly, ask yourself and even out loud to the universe, "How does it get any better?" Do the same when things are more challenging. The universe will respond in kind. Pro Tip - keep a gratitude journal - every night before bed, jot down at least 5 things you are grateful for from your day. This programs the subconscious mind to give you more of whatever you are focusing on before sleep.
4. Get out in Nature - Nothing grounds my energy more than taking a walk near water or through tall trees, just breathing deeply and paying attention to the life buzzing all around me. Relaxation...ahhhh...
5. Surround Yourself with Your Tribe - practice saying no to those people, places and things that drain your energy. Surround yourself with those that lift you up, make you feel excited to be alive, and safe to feel sad when you are down. To be of greatest service in this world, we are asked to simply hold love...the most important aspect of this is to learn to love ourselves, warts and all, and inviting those into our lives that support this view is imperative.
6. Listen to your thoughts - are they predominantly positive or negative? If negative, take charge! Change the channel, like tuning into a different radio station. I like to say to myself "cancel-clear-delete" when I find my thoughts spiraling into a more negative headspace.
7. Remember to BREATHE - breath means life...take a few minutes each day to remind yourself to FEEL yourself breathing, inviting deep inhales and exhales, focusing your attention on the oxygen bringing life to your cells and relaxation to your mind. Breathing plus energy work or yoga or meditative techniques will super charge your connection to yourself and the possibilities of adventure all around you!
8. Do something you love! Laugh, sing dance, play games with your animals and/or children, write a song, watch a funny movie, go on a date, get a massage, bake a cake, practice tantra, plant a garden, meditate, paint, read, etc. Whatever makes you feel alive and brings you energy, carve out some time to do it and let our natural creative energy flow. This connects you to the essence of your soul and will bring renewed energy into all areas of your life.
9. If you feel stuck, move - move your body, change the scenery, get outside. If you are cooped up indoors, get outside or at least go into another room. Shift the energy around you, which can help shift the energy within you. Great ways of moving energy - exercise, dance, yoga, massage, meditation, energy work, acupuncture, journaling, salt baths and laughter, just to name a few...
10. Take a power nap and/or meditate - This seems a bit self explanatory... ;) Taking a short 30 minute nap or do a brief 20 minute meditation - both can be amazingly effective for rejuvenating sluggish energy and managing erratic thoughts. Check out the audio downloads under the "free gift" tab for some simple yet powerful meditation exercises. CLICK HERE
11. Nutrient dense foods - fill your body with nourishment, from warm earthy soups to alkalizing green juices and low sugar fruit smoothies.
12. Healthy Boundaries and Loving Compassion for Yourself and Others - Practice holding space and allowing others to have their own experiences, only offering help or advice when asked and when you are feeling very strong and energized yourself. Supporting your loved ones through intense changes and energetic shifts can be a wonderful gift, but healthy boundaries and self nurturing are a must. We cannot offer water to another if our own well is dry.