All year long, you’ve been growing and learning to be more conscious and congruent with who you really are.
Then, the winter holidays hit…
You’re around family members more than any other time of the year. You find yourself triggered and reactive and slipping back into old, unhealthy behaviors – behaviors that are not congruent with who you now know yourself to be. Let’s face it, for many of us, one of the most challenging environments to stay conscious in is family gatherings!
What’s a girl to do?
Help is here! Here are a few of my favorite tools for staying connected to YOUR truth during the holidays:
- Remember to BREATHE. I guarantee you that when you go “unconscious” and revert back to reactive responses, you are not breathing deeply and calmly! Give yourself a few nice, deep breaths whenever you feel triggered. For those of you who’ve done soul work with me, do a series of three 4-4-8 breaths.
- Imagine that you are interacting with your family members for the very first time. One of the reasons we get so triggered around family is that we tend to carry years and years worth of old memories and baggage with us into every interaction with them. So we hear everything they say through a distorted filter of all these past memories, and we often hear something very different than what they’re actually saying! We don’t do this with strangers or new people we meet, which is why it’s often so much easier to stay conscious and true to our best self when we are with them!
- Start and end each day with a practice that truly connects you. Do NOT take a vacation from these at the very time you need them the most! Pick one from your toolbox that takes only a few minutes at most and is “portable” enough to do away from home. If it involves a journal or book or candle, make sure you include that item on your pack list. One of my new favorites that I do in bed each morning BEFORE looking at any technology (yes, I’m talking about you, cell phone!) is something I learned from medium John Holland. I touch my chest and say to myself “I am a Soul” 3 times. This is an amazing way to remind yourself of the truth that you are a soul with a body, and not the other way around. INSTANT connector! Get connected again at the end of the day. It could even be something as simple as saying to yourself “I now release any energy I’m carrying that is not my own.”
Your holidays will be so much more enjoyable when you stay true to who you are now!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!