The busiest days of the year are here. It could be the best or the worst of times for us. The Christmas season signifies different things for each one. It could be vacation time, time to reconnect with friends. Christmas traditions dictate that we focus on other people. This is evidenced by the rituals—parties, gift giving, charities, etc. If schedules and traffic align, this should give us some time to take care of ourselves as we put ourselves out there. For many of us, this is a festive season that is equally joyful and exhausting.
As we do all the preparations—buying the perfect gifts for our monitos/monitas, preparing the noche buena, organizing family reunions—how do we ensure we take care of ourselves in the midst of it all? How do we prepare ourselves internally so that as we celebrate the festivities, we experience our inner peace and joy?
Here are some tips to make this Christmas season about us as much as it is about the people we love.
Take time to tune in. Tune in to your body, mind and heart. How are the different parts of you experiencing the holiday rush? Is your body able to get ample sleep and rest? Is the mind at peace with the choices you are making? Does the heart feel love and joy?
Remember the spirituality. Christmas is celebrating the birth of Christ. Take some time to reflect on what this season means to you spiritually. How do you connect something that happened 2,000 years ago to how you commemorate it? How does this enrich your spiritual life?
Be aware of your energies. People affect our energies differently. Having lots of gatherings is bound to trigger some things in us. Triggers could be experienced positively or negatively. Some people may remind us of who we are, who we want to be or who we once were. Others might trigger negative memories in us. Give yourself the grace to limit interactions with those who drain you. Let this be your compass to invite more life-giving relationships in your life.
Celebrate yourself. Focus on things about you that you’re proud of. Think about things you do well. Celebrate the difficulties you have weathered. Count the lessons you’ve had this year. Think about what you should do more of to expand the parts of you that you enjoy.
A sense of joy
What sparks joy? Think about the last time you had a sense of joy that didn’t come from material things. These can be small mundane moments that touched you to your core. They can be significant milestones that align with your heart’s desire and purpose. Based on what fills your cup more, decide what to spend more time and energy on.
Grieve. We may have lost tangible and intangible things in our lives. Intangibles could just be ideas of what our future could be like. Acknowledge any loss you’ve had, honor the pain and grieve. This practice helps release mental and emotional space to give way for more positive experiences.
Check your narratives. All of us have our own narratives. They help us make sense of things. It could be our self-image, our roles, what we were told or other people’s stories that we bought into. Many of these may not be helpful for us anymore, but they persist as truths in our minds. This season is a great time to ponder what narratives make us thrive and which ones need to be retold.
Rest. Many of us are wired to need to be and do. This usually comes from an overactive nervous system that has to be in action, all the time. If this sounds like you, know that what is normal and familiar is not always good. Sometimes the most healing thing is to do what is counterintuitive. Despite the body’s urge to do something, plan a shutdown and a reboot. If you don’t do this, your body will do it for you.
Choose what you need it to be. It’s rare to have common holidays across time zones. This is a unique chance to make this time your own, the way you want it to be. While the world takes a break from its business as usual, be purposeful in how you want this time to be.
Give yourself grace. If it feels too much, choose to let go of other things. Too much of good things can still take up a lot of time and effort. Saying no is the best thing you can do for yourself when your battery is running low.
May this Christmas season be healing and joyful to you and your loved ones. —Contributed
The author is an executive coach and an organizational development consultant. You may reach her through coachsheila.tan@gmail.com.