Tips For Stress Free Holidays

Tips For Stress Free HolidaysAh! The holidays! As a child there is nothing like the anticipation of all the joy that the holidays bring but as we grow older, it seems as though we take on some stresses that we would rather not have. Here are some tips that can help relieve the stress and tension:

Take Care of Yourself
Get regular exercise; take it easy on the caffeine, sugar and alcohol; get enough sleep; eat healthy food — all the things that are good for our well-being -you know this stuff.

Take a mini-break to get grounded
Visualize your feet being connected to the earth, those connections going through carpet, cement, etc. and down into the earth.  Also the healing energy of the earth coming back up through your feet to the top of your head and beyond connecting you to the heavens, keeping you strong and balanced.  This can be done anywhere, even standing in a line!

Let go of expectations
That things need to be a certain way
That people around you need to behave a certain way
That you need to do a lot of extra things (decorating, cards, etc) because “that’s what we’ve always done”

Delegate
It’s ok to ask for help. It’s a necessary thing, and it helps others to feel needed and wanted.

Appreciate the person next to you
Where ever you may be during the holidays -step outside your own thoughts to notice who is next to you (in a store, in your home, in your neighborhood) and say or do something kind for them. It will raise their energy and yours!

Start a new tradition
Today’s modern families may have different dynamics than those a generation or two ago. You can begin something fun and new!  My husband cooks great Chinese food.  A few Christmases ago that’s what the kids wanted for Christmas dinner, so that has now become our tradition.  Well, that certainly works for me -yum!

Zip Up
With one had trace a line a few inches out from the body, from your root to your bottom lip. This energetically “zips” you up so you can avoid taking on stressful energy around you. To go along with this, visualize a bubble of light around you.

Accupressure Point to reduce anxiety and bring on the calm
On the top of your foot, find the spot in between the big toe and your second toe.  Come toward the leg about two fingers width (about an inch or so).  Rub with your thumb and breathe through it.  This calms anxiety.  Also, if you have a headache rubbing on the front side and the bottom of the foot (same location, just on the flip-side)  at the same time can help take away some of the pressure.

“Keep it light
Don’t overdue it.  Give yourself permission to say NO to unnecessary extras.Listen and follow your inner guidance, don’t let yourself be pressured by other people’s expectations. Remember, it’s ok to have your healthy boundaries!

I hope that these tips can give you some new ideas and some renewed energy to enjoy the holidays with those you choose to spend the time with.

How Well Do You Navigate the Holidays?

How Well Do You Navigate the Holidays?Take a big, deep, beautiful breath: the holidays will be here before you know it. For many of us, this time of year brings with it the joys—and challenges—of family gatherings, gift exchanges, and holiday festivities. The good news is that with a little planning and thoughtfulness, you can navigate the holidays with grace.Take this self-quiz to see how ready you are for this year’s holiday season.

True or False?

1. I start planning for the holidays early so that I’m not on overdrive throughout December.

2. When my family is making plans, I make a point of negotiating what I really want to do and where I’d like to spend each holiday.

3. If my family exchanges gifts, I joyfully give what I can afford and enjoy giving. I stick to my budget.

4. I make sure that I eat healthy food that I enjoy every day. This may require me to take care of my own meals or contribute to meal planning and preparation.

5. When I accept a party invitation or a request for my time, it’s because I genuinely want to—and have the energy to participate wholeheartedly. I know how to say “no” to invitations I don’t want to accept. I don’t beat myself up about it or let myself get “roped in.”

6. I recognize the need for downtime and breaks, so I don’t fill my schedule to the brim with events, shopping and other holiday preparations.

7. I value my important relationships and give them the time and energy they need and deserve. If this means that I go to fewer gatherings outside of my immediate circle, so be it.

8. I don’t dwell on the changes in my family that make me unhappy or sad. I accept the way things are now, and enjoy the loved ones around me.

9. In the lead-up to the holidays and during the holidays themselves, I do something that I find fun or pleasurable every day.

10. The holidays are a time to appreciate loved ones and express my spirituality. I make a point of noticing what’s good in my life, and feel gratitude for those things.

If you answered false to more than four of these, you may want to consider ways to make this holiday season more enjoyable and less stressful.

Author’s content used under license, © Claire Communications

To learn of ways to help release some stress, check out the post Stress Free Holiday Tips.

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Are You a Creator or a Criticizer?

Build up, don't tear downA good thing to remember
A better thing to do
Work with the construction gang
Not the wrecking crew.

 

 

Dale Carnegie said, “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most do.”  Do you find yourself falling into critic mode more often than you’d like? It’s easy to do. We live in a society of critics. It sometimes seems much easier to be negative and critical of everything from the latest movie to our neighbor’s choice of hairstyle. But we can learn to resist this impulse. It’s destructive not only to our fellowmen but to us too.

Dwelling on the negative, broadcasting it outward, will lower your vibration.  After all, you can’t throw mud without getting some on your own hands. Nobody likes a critic.  Like the Yiddish proverb says, “A critic is like the girl who can’t dance so she says the band can’t play.”

You may have good intentions in general, but you’ve heard what the man said about the road to hell and its paving stones. So instead we can connect good intentions with creative action. Many people think that once they get the motivation they will get things accomplished. Actually, the reverse is true: action precedes motivation and begets more action and motivation in an endless positive circle.

When my kids come to me with a problem, after hearing and validating it, I usually ask (and by now they know it’s coming), “How would an extraordinary person deal with that situation?” or “If you were a super-genius, what would you do next?” In no time they have a solution figured out because the super-genius and extraordinary person within themselves gets to work and figures it out! Creativity is built into every one of us; we all possess creative powers. Be brave enough to live creatively. And the bonus of that is that when you spend time improving yourself you won’t have time to criticize others.

Want to Raise Your Vibration?

Want to Raise Your Vibration?In my line of work as an Energy Practitioner, I find that nearly everyone wants to know how they can feel better and how they can have a higher vibration, and also how they can maintain that higher vibration.

Many people want a formula to tell them how to keep their vibration strong and positive. They believe there must be some ancient secret or new age discovery that will teach them how to make that happen in their life.

Well, I’ll tell you an age-old, tried and proven, definitely-works remedy for a waning personal vibration. Are you ready…. Drum roll please…

~ Be kinder than you need to be. ~

Yep, that’s it! Kindness and service to others literally raises your energetic vibration! Is that answer too easy for you? Or perhaps that requires too much of you?

We all know that what you send out is what you get back. So, of course it makes sense that if you seek for happiness, helping someone else experience happiness will automatically bring it your way as well. When we help our fellowmen, not only do our deeds assist them, but we put our own problems in a fresher perspective. It’s a win-win situation!

In my youth I was taught that if you are having a bad day, the best way to ‘snap out of it’ is to do some service for another person. If I was feeling grumpy or out of sorts, or sad about something, I learned to ask myself, “What service can I do for someone else today?”

Through experience I know that the best way to forget my troubles is to unselfishly help someone else. There is something about connecting with another person that makes you feel good through and through –and who wouldn’t want that?

It doesn’t need to be something big, elaborate and time consuming. It can be as easy as some kind words to your neighbor at the mailbox, holding a door for someone, letting someone go ahead of you in a line, sending a thank you note to someone. And it can even be anonymous service, such as pulling some weeds in your neighbor’s yard while they are out (as long as you know them well enough to be in their yard. Otherwise, that could be creepy)

There’s an unexplainable miracle in helping others, that is, by losing ourselves, we find ourselves. The more we help others, the more substance there is to our souls.

By giving out you create more room to grow on the inside. We acquire more depth as we serve others—of course it is easier to “find” ourselves because there is so much more of us to find!

So, in this world we live in where everyone seems rushed, and out for themselves, and not able to see past their own problems, how about trying something that may seem a little counter-intuitive? Take a look around and be open to doing random acts of kindness for others. Opportunities for service abound!

So, to raise your energetic vibration, release some of your own worries, and enjoy more peace and joy in your life, the answer is easier and more practical than you may have thought. Just remember, you can’t help others without helping yourself, or as my grandma used to say, you can’t make a jelly sandwich for someone else without getting some of that sweet jelly on yourself!

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