How to Tip the Scales and have a Positive Experience this Holiday Season!
Techniques for having a positive experience this holiday season!
- I say to myself, simply, “tomorrow’s another day”. That saying has always had a great deal of personal meaning to me. While it sounds simple, I think that may be why it works. It keeps me from getting stuck in the past. Whatever failures I might have felt I had for the day are put in perspective. I’ve always found my greatest power to be in the present moment. So try it with an open mind and I think you’ll get good results.
- I take a long slow breath or two and wait for whatever emotion or thought that caused me distress to be eclipsed by how good a deep breath feels. If my mind wanders, I recognize my humanity and bring it back to taking another long slow inhalation through my nose releasing it easily and freely out the mouth.
- I shift my attention to the spaces between the thoughts. Those spaces are just as important (and arguably have equal to greater value) as the latest thought or emotion dragging at my attention. It’s in those silent spaces where we experience peaceful stillness, where we remember that we are not our thoughts and can experience oneness and float into peace.
- I learned this technique from Julia Cameron’s wonderful book The Artist’s Way. Schedule an unbreakable Artist Date with yourself to feed your spiritual and/or artistic well. An Artist Date is an appointment you make with yourself to do something you enjoy. The last time I did this I went to the Richard Lyons Nursery (it’s an aromaphile’s wonderland). I also schedule time to garden in the mornings and this resulted in a couple of tomato plants. Talk about aromatherapy! The smell of those tomato plants, not the flowers, not the tomatoes, just the stems, reminds me of my mother’s garden and how good those home grown tomatoes were and taken care of I felt back then! Every morning, I wake up and go smell the tomato plant smell and check out the newly budding yellow flowers on the plant and wonder what the tomatoes will look like and then I go rave about my tomato plants to everyone. Even if it bores of my friends it gives me abounding joy and energy, it literally makes me giggle! So, take the time to make an artist’s date with yourself and be prepared for the joy to flow!
- I remember how enjoyable and life affirming it is to wait to open a present. So, buy yourself a gift that you really want, wrap it beautifully and give it to yourself on Christmas. (Or any other holiday) The important thing is to have to wait to open it. This practice has everything: anticipation, good stress, and reward!
These are the top techniques for now. Stay tuned for more in the new year!
Yellow Flowers Blooming on Sherrin’s Tomato Plant