How do you stay mindful during the holidays? There are so many ways to get sucked in, overwhelmed and out of balance. What tools to you use to stay calm and present in each moment? How do you keep your balance?
I think of this especially in the holiday season. Share your ideas here, you just may inspire someone else or give them a new tool to fall back on.
I make soup. And then we eat it.
Recently I wrote down a list of my centering tools and am trying to incorporate at two a day (maybe three if I am particularly stressed). It helps!
-Yoga and meditation
-Acupuncture
-Family Time (walk around the block, play a game, color together . . . no agenda)
-Friend Time (connection over the phone is nice, but face-to-face is better)
-Communication (this can be part of Family or Friend Time, but writing in my journal is therapeutic, as is reading and teaching)
-Music
-Warmth (hot tea, hot bath . . . soup works too!)
I look forward to reading other ideas. Thanks for posting, Liz!
I feel the care and compassion in these comments.
The one skill that helps me the most is simple mindfulness to present moment activity, starting with breath. The more practice, the more proof that giving good attention does two things: 1. prevents stress from turning into tension in the body, 2. actually dissipates stored bodily tension. There are a whole host of ways I like to discharge tension, but giving good attention is the best gift I can give myself.
I call on patience, loving-kindness and compassion. I’m also mindful that nothing is permanent. Even the craziest of times and the most out-of-balance moments will not last forever. Remembering that allows me to smile (genuinely, not faked) through it.
Practicing mindfulness on your meditation cushion or yoga mat is just that – its practice. Its practice for the rest of your life. It’s the same idea as when a boxer punches a punching bag. They aren’t practicing for the sake of hitting punching bags more skillfully, they are practicing for real fights inside the ring.
Sitting in formal meditation for 45 minutes, or practicing yoga for an hour at a time is crucial to cultivating mindfulness. But don’t reserve your practice for times when you have an hour of solitude. Many of us go days and weeks without an hour to ourselves – especially during the holidays!
Meditate informally and meditate frequently. Keep a timer on you. I use the timer on my phone. Every chance I get, I set a timer for a minute or 2, or 10, and I meditate – regardless of the way I feel at the time, be it peaceful or highly agitated. If I get to work 4 minutes early, I set a timer for 2 minutes and practice. If I have to run to the store, I’ll often set the timer for a few minutes when I get to the parking lot. I’ve seen so much change in myself since I stopped reserving meditation for idealistic settings on a buckwheat cushion in a quiet corner, and started practicing more frequently. It has been easily as beneficial as my formal practice.
So be relentless. Practice when you feel like it, and practice when you don’t (especially when you don’t). Practice every chance you get – even if it’s for a minute at a time. Mindfulness begins spilling over into ordinary experiences like standing in line, or waiting for a traffic light, or discussing diet and politics with family members 🙂
Good luck!
– Brian
Fantastic ideas… Thank you for sharing. Maybe we need to post this as its own blog?
Thank you, Brian. I like your practice of meditating anytime-anywhere even if for only a few minutes at a time. I do remind myself to take a deep breath constantly and just close my eyes, shutting out stimuli be it good or bad, becoming centered.
I try and make each day matter by doing something fun to count down the christmas days. I bought a mouse from Mast General and decorated him up and I hide him each day and my boys delight in finding him at Christmas time. I think I will do it for Lent too. Also, taking Max’s words to heart do what you can with where you are and with what you have TODAY. It may change daily and don’t beat yourself up but enjoy what you can do.
I really enjoy reading everybody’s posts.. I like Katherine’s idea of making a list and trying to do something that feels good every day… and Brian H’s approach to bringing mindfulness to all waking hours, not only those spent on the mat/cushion. That’s what I’m aiming for, and a deep breath can be a good reminder… or, a small piece of jewelry or even a small pen drawing on my hand to remind me of what matters, at times when I’m likely to forget.
I like the idea about drawing something on your hand as a reminder. I bet we have some temporary tatoos laying around the house somewhere 🙂
I love all of these comments. 🙂
I like to practice saying “no” when I feel even the slightest bit of tension -physical or emotional. Over the holidays, it’s easy to overbook your schedule to try and meet everyone else’s expectations for the sake of pleasing or “tradition.” While I believe tradition is important, if the “tradition” stresses you out, it may be time to start a new one.
This year, we are starting our own tradition of staying home on Christmas day. Instead of literally rushing all over town to see every member of our divorced and remarried families, we are simply staying home to be with our own little immediate family.
I am so much more peaceful this holiday season. I don’t like the idea of, what had evolved into, an annual tradition of stress.