Embrace Exercise

If you lead a sedentary life or if you have long been considering a lifestyle of increased physical activity, make the “change of life” your excuse to embrace exercise. If you suffer from hot flashes and night sweats, two of the most common menopause symptoms, evidence shows exercise may help reduce the frequency of these symptoms.

In addition, exercise can help you get a better night’s sleep, shed excess weight, and improve your cardiovascular health. Even moderate exercise can be enough to make a big difference – try taking a brisk walk every night after dinner for 20 minutes or swimming at the gym for 30 minutes 3 times per week.

Consider adding a simple weight lifting routine to your physical activity schedule. Many women begin to lose bone density after menopause, and strength training (combined with a healthy diet) has been shown to increase bone density. There is also evidence weight lifting may help improve your focus and boost your energy levels.

Whether you walk, paddle, or lift your way to better health, be sure to make exercise a part of your life during and after the “Big M.”

Reevaluate Your Diet

Eating a balanced and nutritious diet is essential for mental health, energy levels, organ health, and general wellbeing. Take advantage of the menopausal motivation to rid your diet of processed foods and foods high in sugar, salt, fat, and additives.

With less of these substances in your diet, you can help avoid diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis while keeping your body leaner and preventing changes in complexion that reflect age.

During and after menopause, be sure to incorporate soy foods, calcium, and vitamin D into your diet. Soy products can help replace estrogen in your body, and calcium and vitamin D can help maintain proper bone health and prevent osteoporosis.

In addition to incorporating tofu and milk, take a look at your current diet and consider ways you could gradually begin to improve it. For instance, opt for fresh, whole vegetables and fruits instead of processed or packaged, and select canned or frozen foods without added sodium or sugar.

Treat Yourself to a Spa Day

Perhaps the best news of all is that you can include massages, meditation, and relaxation therapy in both your personal commitment to your health and your self-management of menopausal symptoms. These and other alternative treatments for menopause symptoms can relieve some of the mood swings, aches and pains, fatigue, memory loss, stress, and anxiety menopause can bring.

As if these perks weren’t enough, incorporating stress relief and relaxation strategies into your new lifestyle can offer benefits for your mental health well beyond menopause. Use your sanity and wellbeing as an excuse for a regular visit to the spa, yoga studio, therapist, or even just the bathtub!

Making the Most of Menopause

While many women experience a host of challenging and unpleasant symptoms during menopause, embracing a healthy lifestyle can help you minimize their impact and turn over a new leaf. If the first half of your life has left something to be desired in terms of managing your health, make menopause an impetus for change.

Turn your dreams of regular exercise, a balanced diet, and some “me time” into a reality by committing just a few minutes each day to positive, healthy changes. Life is too short to let menopause interfere, and with a little determination, you can make menopause the best (and healthiest) thing to ever happen to you!

But, the good news is that stress can be managed. No, we can’t instantly remove stressors like work deadlines, debt, health concerns, family crises, etc. from our lives. But, we can do a better job of coping with them. This was an important lesson for me, as I have a tendency to be a little high-strung— it’s the over-achiever in me. If not armed with strong skills and tools to manage stress, I would be a pacing, teeth-grinding, nail-biting super grump.

So, this April (and beyond), let’s stress less. Don’t worry— you don’t have to add a 60-minute meditation or 90-minute yoga class to your already over-scheduled life. Instead, the next time stress strikes, just try out a few of these simple strategies to help ease your tension and get you back on track to your best:

1.  Yoga breathing is known to be an extremely powerful detoxifier, energizer and stress reducer. It’s essentially deep breathing. I do it for a few minutes at a time in the morning before I get out of bed, during the early afternoon slump and whenever I feel a little stress or irritation coming on (e.g. driving in tons of traffic, on the phone with a difficult client). There is no need to sit in a yoga pose or lay down to perform it, although the more comfortable you are the better. While there are several varieties of yogic breaths, here is a simple description of how one is done:

• Breathe in deeply and slowly through your nose, filling up your abdomen with air. (Yes, push out your stomach.)

• Continue the inward breath, next focusing on filling your chest.

• The inward breath is complete when the abdomen is extended, the rib cage is expanded and you cannot inhale any further.

• Exhale slowly though your nose, fully releasing the air— first from your chest and then from the abdomen.

• The breath ends with your abdomen being drawn inward as far as you can and your lungs feeling emptied.

• Repeat. (The breath should feel comfortable; however, expect the first few breaths to feel a little forced until you get a good, steady rhythm).

Try out the yoga breathing for a few minutes twice a day. It will refresh you and create a sense of calm and focus.

2.  Sweat It Out. I know that you’re committed to regularly working out, but I also know that stress can cause us to neglect training. Don’t let it! Research has shown that exercise helps to diminish anxiety levels. So, lean on exercise as support when you are going through stressful times.

3.  Positive Distractions. Positive distractions help you to achieve a calmer, more productive mindset by disrupting stressful thinking with an activity that you love. From experience, when stress has you at a boiling point, it’s often difficult to think of anything you love. So prepare yourself by making a list of 20 things that you can indulge in when stress gets to you.  A few of my favorite distractions are reading a few pages from a great book or blog, writing, hanging out with my pups, calling a loved one or organizing something (yeah, I’m one of those people). One of my friends likes to light a candle, eat a slice of mango and drink a cup of green tea. There are endless possibilities. Have some fun creating the list.

4.  Focus Outward. Sometimes the best way to cope with our own problems is to focus on someone else’s. No, it doesn’t make our problems disappear, but it allows us to get out of our own heads and garner some perspective. If I find myself feeling tense with stress, I reach out to someone who I know needs help or a little boost rather than continuing to allow my worries to fester. A simple call, cubicle visit or a few hours volunteering can go a long way for the person in need and for your mindset. That said, it’s easy to get so caught up in helping others that you neglect yourself completely, which will ultimately create more stress. So, make sure to strike a balance between helping others and taking care of you.

While these strategies will help you ease tension and re-establish a positive and productive mindset, I have found that the key to long-term stress management is all about having a present-focused mindset. To do so, we must stop worrying about things we cannot control, past failures and future uncertainties and invest our energy into what we can do NOW to positively affect our lives. If we do so, stress starts to melt away and all that remains is a series of obstacles to overcome— one thought…one choice…one step at a time. So, refuse to allow stress to take root and keep you from your best. Grab hold of the present, smash through those obstacles and make greatness happen. Win the day!

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But what can you do about them? For some women, it can be easy to let menopausal emotions wreak havoc on interpersonal relationships, while others try to fight any emotion tooth and nail. Read on for simple, natural tips for managing menopause and its wacky moods.

Take Up Yoga

Yoga is widely touted for its ability to center the mind and improve the body’s health. Lucky for menopausal women, it is also easy on the joints and even better at relieving irritability and some symptoms of depression.

Even 15 minutes each day can help you take time out for your peace of mind and release positive endorphins that will improve and sustain a balanced mood. Try grabbing a DVD to do at home, or sign up for a local class or two – fellow yogis are often incredibly welcoming and supportive of new learners, and you may even find your moods stabilizing from additional friendly interactions.

Practice Mindful Breathing

If you can’t make it to the yoga studio – or if you just feel like bringing a powerful relaxation technique to bear at other times of the day – practice breathing mindfully. Focusing on your breathing can help you stave off an outburst or a flood of tears by re-centering you, supplying plenty of oxygen to your brain and body, and having the physical and mental effects of a mini yoga or meditation session.

Try following a 5-minute meditation routine or just focus on breathing in through your nose for a count of 4, holding your breath for a count of 7, and breathing out through your mouth for a count of 8 a few times. This may spare your co-worker, boss, or loved ones the wrath of a menopausal mood monster. Bonus: Mindful breathing also helps reduce anxiety and may help fight hot flashes.

Think, Sleep, Reply

One of the problems with mood swings is that it can make rash decisions very tempting (and very ill-advised). Just because you think your boss is the biggest cad in the world at the moment may not mean she truly is or that she doesn’t deserve a little leeway. If you have received an upsetting email, phone call, or family communication, do yourself a favor and hold back a reply.

If you need to buy yourself time, just say (or write, as the case may be), “I need a little time to think about this, but I will get back to you soon.” Mull it over a bit, let the dust settle, and get some sleep before responding. By giving yourself a chance to cool down (or to climb out of Moody Valley), your response will be better-reasoned and based more on your true thoughts than on your gut reaction.

Hint: Combine your Think, Sleep, Reply routine with mindful breathing and a yoga session and you just may find your brilliance will surprise you.

Winning the Battle with Menopausal Mood Swings

Yes, it is possible to handle menopause with calm and composure (and no accusations of being a menopausal witch). By taking the time to work on your personal happiness, your focus and mood will improve.

If you believe that your mood swings are more extreme or more persistent than is healthy, however, you may be experiencing depression or a severe hormonal imbalance. Try the techniques above but also consult a health professional for a mental health evaluation, supplements, or therapy. After all, menopause affects every woman uniquely – take care of yourself well to help yourself and those around you emerge from “the big M” unscathed.

1. Improve your mood with food.  Certain foods have proven relationships to brain function.  Healthy Omega-3 fatty acids, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, amino acids, and lean protein are essential parts of a healthy diet that can also improve your mood.  Snack on nuts or dark chocolate, feast on turkey or salmon with a spinach and quinoa salad, add colorful vegetables to everything, eat fruit for breakfast, and drink your milk for a happier mood in no time!
2. Boost happiness with exercise.  Physical activity – both cardio and weight or resistance training – helps tell your brain to produce feel-good chemicals and hormones.  These chemicals help regulate mood, boost energy levels, and improve feelings of contentment.  Working out on a regular basis can help give your brain a steady supply of feel-good chemicals to keep you happy all winter long.

Try aromatherapy.  Scents can have a powerful effect on brain function, promoting positive thinking or pleasant memories, easing tension and reducing anxiety or frustration, calming your mind and promoting clear thinking or restful sleep.  Different scents may have different stimulating effects on your thought process, so consult a professional to get the most benefit out of your aromatherapy.

1. Consult an acupuncturist.  This ancient treatment has been used to heal mental and physical ailments and is rapidly gaining popularity in Western cultures.  Professional acupuncture sessions can help release tension, relieve anxiety, and stimulate feelings of peace and clarity.
2. Hop in the water.  Hydrotherapy is an alternative or complementary treatment for depressive symptoms.  Hot tubs, pools, and even jet-massage tubs can help provide stress relief and boost energy levels.  So take a bath, a swim, or sign up for some professional hydrotherapy to reap the benefits of good old H2O.
3. Start a journal.  Writing about your feelings or experiences just a few times a week during your SAD months may help reduce depressive symptoms.  Experts believe that working through your emotions and channeling your thoughts through a diary or journal can help you cope with the change in your brain’s chemical processes.
4. Go outside!  Light is a key factor in reducing symptoms of SAD – that is why the primary treatment for SAD involves light therapy.  To boost your chances of reducing feelings of depression, up your intake of natural light by taking a walk during lunchtime or exercising outside on the weekends.
5. Talk it out.  To further relieve feelings of depression and sadness during the winter months, try talking about it.  Most people are willing to lend support to their loved ones who are suffering, so reach out to your friends and family and let them know what you are experiencing.  Sometimes just letting others know about your pain or unhappiness can help reduce the mental burden you are carrying.  If you do not want to discuss your feelings with people who are close to you, consider counseling sessions or group therapy, where you will have the opportunity to share your experiences with other who know exactly how you feel.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is a challenging condition, but it does not have to ruin your entire season.  By taking these steps to make positive lifestyle changes and complementing your traditional light therapy treatments, you will be giving yourself the best possible chance at beating your disorder and escaping the symptoms of SAD.

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Think about it. When someone passes away how do we remember them? We go back in time and tell stories of what life was like with them. It’s our stories–whether or good or bad–which in the end, gives our lives context and meaning.

As a writer, I’m not only fascinated with the human condition and what makes people tick in general, but by each person’s story and the potential it has to be a powerful force in my life to teach me something new about myself and the world. The stories of others offer me fresh perspectives and the ability to bring clarity to my own life experiences.

In fact, my own natural curiosity often operates like a detective to uncover the stories that lie within individuals if they are willing to share them with me. This is where the power of conversation comes in. Masked within a conversation are our stories that shed light on our individual experiences, beliefs and values. You see the power of story and conversation is what binds human experience together; our struggles and victories in life become connected. And it’s through the commonality of our stories dispersed through conversations that we no longer have to feel alone.

However, our ability to connect and tell our stories has been compromised by the advance of technology and social media. While social media channels can help to spread our stories and strike up conversations on important issues, they have also jeopardized the sanctity and importance of face-to-face conversation in our society. The fact I had friends who used to call me before the onslaught of social networking sites and have since stopped, serves as evidence of this. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say: “I’m just not a phone person anymore.” Technology has sadly led to what I feel is the depersonalization of self. Conversation has become like many other forms of face-to-face communication–automated.

We now connect and converse more and more through artificial channels like Twitter, Facebook, instant messaging, texts, email and chat rooms. These channels make it easier for us to reach out to others on our own time as to not interrupt our precious schedules but not necessarily when people may need us. In fact, I believe that conversing strictly through these platforms is leading to greater social isolation of the individual.

For women especially, conversing and sharing is important for maintaining good health. When women share and connect through “girlfriend time” it actually helps to release more serotonin–a neurotransmitter that helps fight depression and produces feelings of happiness and well being. A support circle of strong women to confide in is particularly important for dealing with stress and difficult life experiences. Women especially are hard-wired to talk out their feelings and emotions and bear their souls to each other to bring clarification to what they are going though. Men on the contrary, tend to bond and form relationships through mutual activities such as sports. They may share certain aspects about their personal lives, but often not to the same depth and magnitude as women do.

The important lesson here is that taking time to nurture relationships and conversing with each other is just as important as exercising or eating healthy. Alack of social connection and face-to-face conversation may actually be detrimental to your health, leading to loneliness and even depression. Remember we are social creatures by habit. Sharing our stories and experiences with each other through the act of personal conversation is vital to our wellness and happiness and can help you as much as the person you are listening to.

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Effects of Breathing on the Body

Breathing is how the body provides oxygen to all systems and bodily tissues. When a person inhales, the bloodstream is oxygenated. When they exhale, carbon dioxide is expelled from the body. Exactly how a person breathes strongly influences how the body functions and how it feels. In stressful situations, people tend to breathe quicker and take shallower breaths. The result is often a feeling of fatigue, causing a person to slump, which contributes to further shallow breathing. This only increases the feeling of stress in the body. By learning to breathe deeply, with the body held erect and diaphragm expanding, a person learns to provide all bodily systems with sufficient levels of oxygen so that energy and mental clarity are maintained. Good breathing ensures that the body’s organs have the oxygen they need to function properly. Circulation improves, digestion takes place more efficiently, and the body takes better advantage of the nutrients taken in from foods. Muscles have the oxygenation necessary to do their work better, and the brain is able to remain clear and calm, even under stress. Yoga breathing, whether used in a yoga class or elsewhere, imparts a sense of peaceful competence that carries over into the activities of daily life.

Effects of Breathing on the Mind

Most people think of breathing as mostly benefiting the lungs, but without good oxygen intake the brain, which controls all bodily functions, cannot function optimally. When a person feels stressed or overwhelmed, one of the quickest ways to address those feelings is to practice yoga breathing. Concentrating on inhaling and allowing the lungs to expand fully brings a nearly instantaneous improvement in feelings of alertness. Concentrating on exhaling helps a person learn to let go of negativity along with the carbon dioxide that is expelled from the body in the process. One reason yoga emphasizes breathing is that performing the various asans, or poses involved in yoga requires presence of mind in order to receive the maximum benefit from them. Sure, it is possible when performing yoga to “phone it in” and do the poses without mindfulness, but being present in mind and body helps the body respond to changes in position so that a person improves their strength and flexibility naturally, and without injury. Yoga classes, whether they are gentle, low impact classes, or more intensive yoga forms, always emphasize proper breathing at the outset. Breathing is how humans develop their life force. It follows that poor breathing leads to sub-optimal mental performance, and consequently to sub-optimal physical performance.

Breathing and Meditation

Breathing in yoga is not only about energizing or calming the mind and body. It is also the key to meditation, which is an integral part of yoga. Deep breathing helps a person enter a meditative state, where they can gain control over feelings of insecurity, anxiety, and stress. When these feelings are expelled, the mind opens up to more positive emotions. Meditative mantras and affirmations work naturally with the rhythm of breathing, with the words timed to coincide with inhalation and exhalation. Tension is expelled from the body, helping the body achieve the relaxed state where meditation can do its positive work. A relaxed body and mind help a person progress on their spiritual journey and leave behind negative responses to the stresses of everyday life. Awareness of the sensation of breathing is one of the first goals of meditation because it allows a person to clear their mind and open it up to positive energy. Just as the churning water of a lake in a storm stirs up sediment and sludge, a churning mind dredges up negativity and unhealthy thoughts. Learning to meditate is similar to watching a body of water calm after a storm, allowing dirt and sediment to gently sink to the bottom, clearing the water. Even if a person never progresses beyond basic yoga breathing, they will still benefit from the clarity of mind and sense of empowerment that result from proper breathing.

Visit HolisticYoga.Info to find out how to improve your life whether you would like to know how to get started with yoga or have been doing for years.

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In our society, we have learned to purchase stuff not for the stuff itself, but for the emotions that stuff evokes in us. What we buy no longer serves a basic utilitarian purpose, but has come to denote status and a luxury lifestyle. The more we own, the more prestige we seem to have.

But clutter doesn’t just occupy physical space. Mental clutter is the critical and pessimistic messages we believe about ourselves that have been ingrained in us from childhood by our parents or other external influencers. Emotional clutter can be painful feelings we bury down inside ourselves ignore and don’t deal with.

It can also be the scripts we inevitably write about ourselves through life. “I’m too fat, I’m not loveable, I’m not attractive, or I’m emotionally weak.” You get my point. Regardless, we come to believe in these destructive messages. The longer this clutter is left to permeate in your mind or heat, the harder it is to emotionally detangle and clean-up.

It distorts our perception of ourselves; we’re convinced the world sees us in a certain light but it’s not true. No one sees us this way—it’s merely how we see ourselves. Athletes are susceptible to this type of mental clutter and must learn to identify and filter it out in competition. Mental clutter can also be anything that triggers a negative head space; unpaid bills, growing debt, lack of inspiration in a job, and parental guilt.

Clutter which occupies physical space can equally affect our mental and emotional energy. Feng shui practitioners argue that physical clutter is low, stagnant and confusing energy that actually drains energy from you. It can even block the flow of life events depending on where it’s located in your home.

The worst place for clutter is the bedroom. Our bedrooms are where we are at our most zen; they serve as our oasis for rest and reprieve from the outside world. For more than a year my bedroom had been cluttered by a mountain of clothes climbing the wall at the foot of my bed. Imagine a cyclone ripping threw your room and strewing your clothes everywhere—that was my bedroom.

Not unpacking my stuff led me to remain ‘stuck’ in a transient space for almost two years. “You need to clean-up the clutter in your life starting with your bedroom closet so you can clear your mind” a good friend advised me.

So together we tackled the clutter in my bedroom. “If it doesn’t make you feel happy or good about yourself throw it out,” she said. “And don’t worry about how much it cost.” By the time we were done half my wardrobe had been bundled into four bags for charity and two totes for consignment.

Now I’ve stripped my wardrobe down to what I love and need. Less truly is more. I feel a little lighter and less attached to the objects I own. The purging process can be very cathartic I can’t put it into words. I have freed up mental and physical space to allow the flow of good karma back into my life. And I’m on a path to live this lesson everyday and find joy in the little things, not in what I buy or own.

So say goodbye to the clutter in your own life and witness an emotional and mental transformation unfold. Amazing things will begin to happen. You will know it because you’ll feel it.

Guess what? Today it’s good enough. Today, everything you have, are and do… is enough. How could that be? Simple, you get to choose it. You get to choose to see with a different set of eyes. You get to choose to look all around you and see what you do have, and make the decision to work with it as though it’s all you have. Wanting more is a natural instinct, but it can also strip us from joy in the moment. When you choose to see your possessions and resources as meager and requiring improvement, you foster a scarcity mentality; which can leave you feeling empty and inadequate, with a constant need for improvement. “Not good enough until I …(have, am, look like)” How can these feelings be good for anyone’s self-worth?

Here is a practice to try: No matter how much money you still need, no matter how outdated and over-worn some of your clothes, furnishings and supplies are looking to you, no matter how much you wish you spent more time taking care of your body and appearance, stop for one minute each day. Stop and notice. Ask yourself, what have I got right now that is working for me (regardless if I wish I had a better, sleeker version)? What am I grateful for having in my world right now, today? The theme of this approach to noticing what you’ve got is to be willing to accept where you are today, and be willing to work with it, as though it were all you could ever have. This is also an extension of the mindfulness practice of presence, which also is one of the health benefits of yoga. Being present: right here, right now, stripping away angst or a sense of in-completion regarding the past or the future.

There are people who possess little, utilize little and leave little impact. The few items they use are treasured and appreciated, regardless of quality. The quality of anything lies in the reverence you give it. If you tell yourself your home isn’t good enough, it isn’t. Or you can appreciate that you have a shelter, and that it’s working for you right now. If you decide that your old cashmere sweater that you’ve worn at least a hundred times is still your favorite piece, even if it’s coming apart, then you are wearing it with love which is a beautiful feeling that inadequacy cannot penetrate.

Today you can take a break from worrying about what’s not good enough yet. Because this moment is all you have for certain, you’re not guaranteed the chance to work on that “yet”. Today you can choose to notice how full your cup is, and be willing to work with what you’ve got.

I am not unaware of the goings on of the economy and wider world but I have a feeling it was ever thus but as our ancestors did not have television and internet they only heard about it in a letter, which quite likely made life less overwhelming. I am going to share three ways that can make your life better that do not cost money and as a bonus create more happiness in the world.

Why not try these three things to put you in a good mood today:

• Be grateful: gratitude is powerful and infectious.  Somehow if you are grateful for, say, your glass of water sitting next to you or the food in your fridge, the birds singing in the garden or the shoes on your feet, then you’ll find that you notice many other things to be grateful for.  It is infectious- in a good way!
• Be in nature: being grounded in nature is what humans always lived in and around (before we built large towerblocks, concrete pavements/ sidewalks and mega motorways/ highways).  Our ancestors walked outside on grassland or soil and as a result were more connected to the earth than you generally are.  There is now considerable research showing that you thrive when grounded, as it were.  So get out into nature, ideally in leather soled shoes or bare feet.  Hug a tree- it is really refreshing!
• Be you: many magazines and television programmes give you all manner of ideas of how you can look like a celebrity, look younger or anything other than YOU today.  Why is this? I think this is destructive as you are you and are wonderfully made and it is far more positive to celebrate being you than constantly wanting to be someone else.  A friend says “would you be willing to put you back in the bag and get a new you out of the bag, bearing in mind that you may be someone else who is less fortunate than yourself?  The answer is always a no, so quit moaning!” Direct but an interesting point don’t you think?

I would also add that being grateful is a habit, and a negative default pattern is remarkably common but simply starting to be grateful for your lunch, comfy bed or sunshine for example, you’ll notice that there are many more things to be grateful for.

Try it, what do you have to lose?

Will you be grateful?  The results may surprise you!  I’d love to hear how you get on.

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Sadly, people often forget the joys of this season, due to pressures, financial stress and the general chaotic busy-ness of the outside world. This stress may ring even more true for perfectionists. For those plagued with the constant need to do things with excellence – to the point of going above and beyond satisfactory requirements – this time of year is an exceptional strain on energy and self-worth. Consider how many areas one might be compelled to participate in traditions, yet feel the need to get it perfectly right: gift-giving, cooking or baking, decorating, entertaining, dressing for events, making and giving cards, not to mention managing weight and health commitments amidst a sea diet-busting temptations. This list highlights numerous tasks that aren’t a part of regular life throughout the rest of the year; at least in such a concentrated period. If you’re a perfectionist, remember this fact.

Also remember that on top of your exceptional to-do list, there will be other factors that tax your energy: navigating the crowds, lineups and transportation in the public world, interactions with an increased number of personalities (including those you may not choose to call or spend time with during the rest of the year), managing a budget, managing time and maintaining a gracious, festive attitude throughout!

A few tips:

1. Take your ambitions down a notch (or three): instead of making 4 different batches of cookies, choose one. Even more radical: choose the easiest one, and find a way to make it unique. (Even if you aren’t baking, transfer this intention to any other project you may be taking on as part of your giving gestures)
2. Set limits and try your hardest to stick to them…if you have a hard time with this, try using this mantra: “I am doing enough. This is perfectly enough. I will save enough time for my health.” Even if you feel you need all the time you can get to put towards your holiday to-do list, try your hardest to leave some spaces unscheduled…for self-preservation and insurance.
3. Avoid letting your ego get tied up in duties and gestures. You don’t have to do the biggest or best. Understated can be enough. Any gesture is enough.
4. Don’t try and do it all. Nobody is forcing you to attend all the parties, give gifts to everyone, bake every treat, and most of all…please everyone.
5. Realize that there are plenty of people out there doing excess; and that whatever you do, even if it’s a small simple gesture, will be plenty. This is a season of abundance, and a time where many indulge in going ‘over the top’. For example, if you didn’t add baking to the collective this year, believe me; people won’t starve. There is always excess floating around.
6. Put things into perspective. You and your holiday ideals are only one tiny part of a bigger whirlwind that, before you know it, will pass and be long gone. Once January sets in, what you didn’t get done or get done perfectly, will be long gone and irrelevant.
7. Set an intention to do the opposite of rushing through the ‘spending time together’ part because you are strained or distracted by all the things you are trying to do perfectly.

Remember, if you are spending the holidays with other people, the best gift you can give them all is to be at peace in yourself and to be present to them.  Your relaxed and self-assured energy will be a delightful vibration that will ease all you come into contact with; something they will cherish far more than something wrapped from a store.

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