We’re smack dab in the middle of most people’s craziest time of year. After Halloween, the days can just fly by in a blur of holiday parties, kids’ Grandparents’ Days and Christmas concerts, cooking and cleaning up for family gatherings, and shopping for gifts. If we’re not careful, we blink and it’s the new year. I’m writing this post to show you ways to practice mindfulness during the holidays so you’re present in the moment and slow down the blur.
What is mindfulness?
Google defines mindfulness as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations…” It’s about being present and aware of what’s going on around you and inside you and not overreacting to it. This could mean not getting overwhelmed by the chaos of screaming little cousins running around. Or accepting that Grandma disagrees with you living with your boyfriend and not getting upset about it.
Why is mindfulness important?
Mindfulness is a big trend right now, but for good reason! Practicing being mindful helps you enjoy life and be fully present in your life instead of just letting life happen. This aligns with my value of living intentionally – don’t let life happen to you, live on purpose! Mindfulness allows you to be in the moment with your loved ones, an experience, or with yourself. Outward and inner stressors have less of an effect on you.
Mindfulness is extra beneficial during the holidays
The holiday season can be such a stressful time of the year. There are triple the activities and events going on, you’re hosting and/or traveling, there are gifts to be bought and wrapped – all the things! It’s a special time of year with many opportunities to make memories with family and friends, yet sometimes it feels like we’re trying to simply “survive” the holidays. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Mindfulness can help it really be the most wonderful time of the year.
Okay so hopefully I’ve convinced you that mindfulness can benefit your holiday season (all seasons, really!), but what does that actually look like? Well, it’s less of an action and more of a way of life. But I’ve put together a list of a few things you can do to start your mindfulness practice! These three things will help you get started.
Three Ways to Practice Mindfulness During the Holidays
Let’s dive into three practical things that can jumpstart your mindfulness journey this holiday season.
1. Become more self-aware
Self-awareness is a major principle of mindfulness. You can start by paying attention to your thoughts and feelings. Just taking a moment throughout the day to ask yourself, “How am I doing? What am I feeling?” brings you into the present and you can start learning more about yourself.
Other tools can further your self-awareness. I’ve learned a lot about myself from the Enneagram (like I shared in Friday Five #13). Having some language around how I see the world allows me to better recognize and label my thoughts and feelings in a given moment so I can acknowledge them and move on. Other personality tools might help, too. Awareness of what’s going on inside is the key.
2. Accept what is out of your control
People like to be in control, plain and simple. But there’s a lot of freedom in accepting when something is out of our control. If you realize and truly accept that you cannot change it, you’re able to move on and stop letting it stress you out.
A great example of this is other peoples’ opinions. This was the topic of the week for Last 90 Days a few weeks ago and Dave and Rachel made so many good points. Peoples’ opinions are more a reflection of them than of you. You can’t control how people judge you, but you CAN control how you react to it!
There may be other things out of your control that you’re stressing over that you need to accept. Maybe this is the busy season at work and you’re allowing yourself to freak out about customer issues you can’t fix. Or you’re a nurse who has to work on Thanksgiving and won’t get dinner with your family. I don’t want to belittle hardships or stressful situations, but the only thing you can control is your reaction to them. Acceptance helps us stop dwelling on what we have no power over.
3. Prioritize what you spend your energy on
Practicing mindfulness does not need to mean you’re at a stand-still all the time allowing whatever happens to happen – you can still do all the things on your list! However, that list could use some examination. Take a look at all the activities and expectations you have for the season and prioritize what’s most important.
This could mean spending more time decorating the tree as a family and picking up store-bought cookies for the class party. Or saying no to the 3rd Friendsgiving you’ve been invited to. Maybe it’s letting go of finding the perfect gifts for everyone and just getting something you think they will love (my Guide to Holiday Gift Guides might help you!).
Being more aware of your thoughts and feelings, accepting what’s out of your control, and prioritizing how you spend your energy on what IS in your control can make for a less stressful, more enjoyable holiday this year. I hope you practice these mindfulness tips and make lots of memories this holiday season!
More mindfulness ideas
More resources
I’m far from a mindfulness expert, but want to share more resources for you to start incorporating this practice! I found a lot of value in this mindbodygreen article about mindfulness in general. They have a lot more articles about the topic, too. This week’s episode of the WANTcast takes a look at setting mindful boundaries with your family.
Meditation
Meditation is also a concrete way to practice mindfulness. The Model Health Show has some good episodes about the importance of meditation with scientific evidence to back it up, including Episode 378. I use the app Headspace to talk me through a variety of lengths of guided meditations (some as short as one minute!). It’s great for beginners who have no idea how to start. You can try it for free with my referral link, or just by downloading the app and signing up for a free trial. You can set up alerts throughout the day to remind yourself to take a “mindful moment” and ask yourself those self-awareness questions I mentioned above.
Gratitude
Another way to be mindful is to practice gratitude. I’ve been writing down five things I’m grateful for every morning since the beginning of August, and have honestly seen a difference in my life. I look for things to be grateful for throughout the day and focus on the positive a lot more, accepting the negative things that are out of my control.
How do YOU practice mindfulness during the holidays?
What do you do to come back to the present moment? What’s the hardest thing about the holidays for you? Comment below!
