December is upon us and as we race towards Christmas life can be hectic. For me things have been fairly full on lately. Between the kid’s school events, wrapping up work before the holidays, prepping for Christmas and seeing friends and family I could easily feel like there’s no time to breathe. I can feel myself getting swept up in life but I am determined not to get knocked over by it.
I have been leaning hard on my tool kit of yoga and mindfulness practices to keep me feeling level, grounded and generally happy. And I can honestly say it is working and I am pretty proud of that. I don’t say that to gloat but because I have found myself getting overwhelmed and burnout so many times over the last year or so and I am feeling super pleased to say I feel like I am mastering the art of staying rested in a busy life.
So of course I want to share what I have learned and in particular what I feel can help you through the rest of December and the festive madness. So here is my gift to you –
My Christmas Wellbeing Tool Kit
1. Breathing - Whenever I feel like I am too overwhelmed or busy to breathe I find that is exactly the best thing I can do. You might have heard me say it a million times before but I will say it forever and again. Your breath is one of the best tools you have for quickly and effectively shifting your mood and mindset.
This week in particular I have found myself talking a lot about the pauses in breathing. So often we rush from one thing to the next with out taking a break and quickly that becomes exhausting. Our breathing reflects this and when we’re stressed it speeds up and we are going from one breath to the next before the last is finished. However, when we are relaxed there’s usually a slight pause after we breathe in and out, our whole system knows that we can relax and take our time. We can use this to our advantage by consciously slowing our breathing down and bringing in a brief pause after we inhale and after we exhale. As you do this really focus on your breathing and the sense of stillness between the movement. Not only does this remind you to pause and to stop, even just for a moment, but it brings us into the present. This can be vital when we are busy, stressed and overwhelmed and caught up in an endless stream of thoughts.
2. Know your limits and your boundaries – This one feels big, especially at this time of year. There’s likely to be lots of extra demands on you and often from friends or family members who it might be hard to say no to. But also from yourself, it’s easy to put pressure on ourselves to want to make everything perfect, but is it worth it if that’s at the expense of really being able to enjoy things?
It really helps to acknowledge how much energy you have to give to planning, prepping, socialising and all the other Christmassy tasks. Look at what you feel you can do and then draw a line under it and set some firm boundaries so you don’t over do it. It’s far better to do less and have less but really enjoy those things than to have everything but be so spent (energetically and probably finanicially) that you end up resenting things or feeling to exhausted to enjoy them.
Remember it’s not your job to please everyone. Ask for help, share the load and be ok with saying no if something feels to much. If it feels hard to say no then be honest. If you explain why there’s a good chance the other person will understand, they’re probably feeling a bit overwhelmed too.
3. Gratitude – At a time of year that can become very consumer driven it pays to take a moment to be grateful for what you have. Take a bit of time to count your blessings and acknowledge to yourself what you have and what you’re grateful for. Not only does doing this bring us into the present moment by forcing us to think about what we have now, but gratitude practices are proven to help us feel happier and healthier too.
4. Gentle, calming movement – Of course getting into our bodies, slowing down and stretching to release some tension is a brilliant way to relax and reset when life gets busy. In particular I have found myself using, and sharing with others, the Sunbird Vinyasa from Mukunda Stiles’ book, Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy. I’ve made a recording of the practice for you to follow along to, you’ll find that on my resource page here. This is a short practice that only takes a few minutes, you can repeat it as many times as you like.
5. Mantra meditation, Sa Ta Na Ma – This is lovely mantra that can be brought together with breath and mudra (hand gestures) to create a really calming and grounding practice. I have rediscovered using this mantra recently as I have been teaching it on my Yoga for Wellbeing for Health Through Yoga CIC. Again I have made a recording for you to follow along to over on my resource page. Let me know how you get on with it.
6. Grounding Meditation – If you’ve been to my classes you’ll probably know I love the imagery of connecting to the earth and all that represents. Taking a few moments to feel the ground beneath you, the support and stability that the earth brings, can be such a great way to shift stress or anxiety. Check out this post where I talk you through a grounding meditation that you can use easily where ever you are when you need to feel a bit more relaxed.
7. Stop and Savour the moment – Last but very much not least this one might seem obvious but it is so easy to forget. How often have you been through fun experiences and come out the other side and realised you sort of missed it cos you were so caught up in the busyness. Check in regularly to what is happening in the present moment. Feel through your senses, what can you see, hear, smell, taste, feel, what is your experience right now and can you truly let yourself be in that. When we do those check ins and properly soak in what’s happen we appreciate our experiences so much more.
I hope that you find some or all of these tools useful and of course I wish you a very happy Christmas and New Year.
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