Holidays and Self Care: Bah Humbug!

Let's change the narrative.

The holiday season starts now!  Do you feel your heart rate increase?   We are surrounded by messages that tell us what we should be doing, buying and feeling.  Under pressure is usually how I feel during this season.   I would like to avoid that this year.   Would you? 

There are buzzwords such as mindfulness that I am sure you have heard but what does it really mean?   Let’s break it down…

Let’s keep it simple… take five.  My sister works with school aged children and when she says take five, she means pay attention to all your senses…

What do you see?

What do you hear?

What do you smell?

What do you feel?

What do you taste?

In other words, focus, pay attention, notice, take a moment…

I walk my dog every morning and find myself running down “to do” lists in my mind, having debates in my head about which thing to do first, how to be most efficient with my limited time, what will have the most impact...  All too often I find myself having walked a few blocks and completely missed my surroundings.  So now, when I step outside the door and clip the leash on Levi, I say to myself, “Take 5, notice, pay attention”.   To my surprise I discover there are many kinds of trees on my block with a variety of leaf patterns.   Rabbits sit camouflaged on lawns and even Levi misses them, I hear toddlers crying in the house across the street, I see enormous trees and wonder how long it has taken them to grow so tall. What do you notice? 

Do you feel a light breeze on your skin?   Smell wood smoke in the air.  If you stand on a beach, can you taste the salt in the air or, in Colorado, do you feel the moisture and notice the “smell” of snow?   Or do you recall what you ate at your last meal or were you so busy putting food in your mouth that you honestly don’t remember what it was you ate… if it was spicy or sweet?

Take 5 is another way to think of mindfulness… becoming aware with all your senses, noticing, being present in the moment.  Slow down.   Tis the season to feel frantic, to feel obligated… it need not be like that this time around.  Breathe...

Set an intention for your day, a goal.  Need help with that?  Engage a wellness coach.   Find your Best Life Balance.

Taking six deep breaths and focusing only on that action is one simple mindfulness tool.