4 Steps for Remembering YOU Amidst the Holiday Cheer 

Everywhere I go, people are asking, "Are you ready for Christmas?" "Are you ready for Christmas?" Traffic is heavier, lines are longer, people are rushing about.  

The deadline for finishing the gift wrapping and holiday baking is just days away. Then it's time to pack the bags, round up the kids, board the dogs, load up the car and head out to your favorite relatives' house for "holiday cheer."

Before you know it, you'll be spending the long holiday weekend sleeping (hopefully) in a foreign bed and sharing a bathroom with those whose habits are no longer "familiar" to you.

Yes, you love them, and it can be fun spending the holidays with the ones you love. Better than spending them alone, right?

I have one question for you: Are you breathing?

Stress, anxiety, travel, lack of sleep, unfamiliar facilities, changes in diet, excess of breads and sweets everywhere, and the chaos of togetherness! How sweet the moments! But it sure can sour the stomach.

All of these unsettled energies draw your attention away from your self, away from your body, away from your own heart. Then where are you? You end up uncentered, ungrounded, unfocused. This ungrounded ground is fertile for spawning new episodes of the old family patterns, and your disconnectedness leaves you susceptible to be sucked right into the old dynamics.

But you can choose a different course this year. Here are 4 steps to help you stay centered, grounded and connected amidst the chaos:

1. Breathe in Divine Love and Light - of course we all breathe, we have to. Intentional rhythmic breathing can help to bring your focus back inside so that you can be present with your own body and heart. Start the day off with 11 deep breaths - before you get out of bed, before anyone even realizes you're awake!
   
   Set your intention to inhale in Divine Love and Light, allowing the Love and Light to fill your lungs and heart, infuse your oxygen and blood, and feel it circulate throughout your entire body. Visualize your cells taking in the Love and Light like little pacmen and pacwomen. (remember the old Pacman video game?) Aaaahhhhhh....   
    
2. Discern outer from inner - if you find yourself getting caught up in a situation, or anticipate that you might be walking into a situation where you could get caught up in an emotional state, take a moment for discernment. 
   
   Take a moment to break out the situation:

           - What are the outer material facts?

           - What are your internal responses? 

           - How are you compelled to react?   
 

3. Listen to your inner messages. What are they telling you? What is your heart needing? What is your body needing? What are your choices? You do have choices!   
    
4. Breathe again - Call upon that Divine Love and Light again, and feel its presence connecting right into your heart. Set your intention for centering yourself around your own heart, feel yourself ground into the earth from this place of centeredness.  

Aaaahhhhh... There you are!

Think of the tree with its strong trunk and roots that anchor it into the earth. When the wind gets chaotic, the leave get tossed about, the branches bend, but the trunk stays anchored in the ground. When you are uncentered and ungrounded, you are like the leaves. When the wind comes along, you are easily tossed about.

When you connect to your center and ground yourself to the earth, especially when you call upon the Divine Love and Light to fill your heart and anchor your being to the Divine Oneness, you become the tree trunk. A strong wind can blow, and you remain steady and unshaken.

Wishing you a most blessed - steady and unshaken - holiday season!

Have a Joyful Day!