It's the Holiday season, and for alot of people, it means things get busier. You might find yourself Dashing through stores to get things you need. Or Dancing late into the night at a party. Maybe Prancing through the aisles of the grocery store looking at all the holiday candy & other treats.
Ok...enough with the Reindeer games...seriously...
The holidays get busy for us too. But my intention is to move through the holidays with ease & grace. My intention is really to move through my whole life with ease & grace. That's my intention. Doesn't always play out that way:)
It may sound silly, but I like to take something as abstract & maybe intangible as "move through the holidays with ease & grace" and make it attainable by focusing on the practical. It's what I do when I teach. I don't teach people to sit & meditate. Not because I don't think there's value in it. But because I know how challenging it is for me. And because I know that given a choice between physical exercise & seated meditation, most people (not all!) will choose exercise. So I teach a very physical yoga class, but I teach it as a meditation in motion. Creating a practical & attainable way to meditate.
So....back to ease & grace. How does one move through the holidays with ease & grace? Here are my 5 suggestions:
1. I say, start small. Don't worry about everything you have to do between now & Christmas - focus on today. Take it one day at a time.
2. That being said...a little planning goes a long way. And it's hard to feel at ease & full of grace if you're hungry. In our house, hungry leads to hangry (you know, hungry...angry...hangry). So I never leave home without a snack. And I love the healthy snack options offered at nuts.com. Healthy snacks that taste good - stuff that you're actually going to want to eat when you're .
3. Make time for yourself. The busier you get, the more important it is to make that time for yourself. If you can't make it into the studio to take class, try a podcast or a youtube video.
4. Set yourself up for sucess. This ties the last 3 together. Don't say you're going to move through the next 3 weeks with ease & grace & then loose your temper & beat yourself up about it & abandon your intention. When you leave for your mega-shopping trip at the mall, don't pack those healthy snacks that have been sitting in your pantry for 6 months because you don't really like them. And don't say you're going to go to a 90 minute yoga class every day for the rest of the year, even though you've never, ever done more than 15 minutes a day. You're not setting yourself up for success. Make your goals practical & attainable. Set yourself up for success. Get through a meeting with ease & grace. Let your snacks be tasty & healthy. Commit to getting into the studio for 1 yoga class a week & do shorter practices at home the rest of the days.
5. Start now. Don't wait until the New Year. Don't wait until next week. Don't wait until everything is just right. Just start now.
For great, healthy snacks that you want to eat, check out the healthy snacks page at nuts.com. There's too many to mention here, but I do love pistachios, dried strawberries & trail mix.
If you can't make it into Sanctaury Power Yoga to take class, check out my podcasts on itunes. Search for me: Heather Rems Korwin. My podcasts are free!
