Holidays almost always come along with extra stress. Whether it’s family, work, schedule, or something else piling on, there are simple and effective steps you can do right now to connect back to yourself, so you can enjoy this time of year while handling whatever comes your way with grace and ease.
We all crave clarity, peace of mind, and good energy levels. A regular practice of meditation can do wonders for how you feel.
Your life experience is a direct result of your state of mind.
A mindful state will put you in great use of your energy. The opposite will leave you continually frustrated and unable to access your energy and potential.
1. Slow Down
We go so fast these days from our schedules to our hyper connectivity. Create a regular habit of starting your day with five big, deep breaths.
Right from bed, sit up comfortably and close your eyes. Rest your attention on your breath. When you notice your attention wandering on thoughts, guide it back to your breath.
Try this during the day for some peace of mind breaks and notice the difference in how you feel before and after.
2. Take Time for Yourself
When we are frazzled self-care is the first thing to go and the last thing on our mind or to-do list. Create the time to do simple things to take care of yourself and you’ll see time open up in your day with improved clarity and mental space.
A hot bath before bed, 20 minutes for a morning yoga practice, and a regular walk in nature are great places to begin.
3. Create the Space
You need nothing besides yourself to meditate. It might help you to create the space where you live to make it a regular habit. Whether that’s setting a mat beside your bed, in your living room, or finding a nice place by a window. Pick your place and get breathing.
4. Practice Gratitude
This is a challenging and rewarding practice. Even when frazzled, you can find several reasons to be grateful. Create this as a daily practice. You can say to yourself each morning when you wake up your daily list and watch your peace of mind and creativity unfold accordingly.
5. Get Others Involved
Grab those you care about and share your practices. Encourage friends and family when they ask why the heck are you so happy and centered all of a sudden. Share your secrets, and your happiness will multiply.
Staying Centered with Meditation
Our mind becomes more frazzled when we do activities out of line with our nature.
During the holidays, we can all relate to this frazzled feeling and it can be brought on by almost anything.
A simple way to visualize ourselves when we are tense and frazzled is our wires get crossed, nothing seems to work, and we’re stuck.
When you add regular meditation into the mix wires become open and free flowing of energy.
Our body returns to radiant health and wellbeing. Intuition and creativity jolt and we are returned to our natural state, that will probably feel very unnatural at first, since we used to living with so much tension and stress.
A regular practice of meditation is a wonderful way to stay calm, centered, and connected to your self no matter what is happening externally. The practice gives you perspective on yourself instead of a feeling of being dragged around by the ups and downs and dramas of life.
Stay easy and enjoy.
xo
Tara