'Tis the Season to Tune Into Yourself

Oof, the holidays can be a minefield of triggers, amiright?

This time can have a way of amplifying whatever it is that you’re already going through, and can make things more difficult.

If you’re a new or expecting parent dealing with a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder, or struggling with infertility, how hard this season can be, seeing image after image of seemingly happy families.

If you’re grieving, how often the holidays can remind us of our lost loved ones and memories, or how much we want that person with us now.

This is such an opportunity to tune into ourselves and what we need.

It may be a time for simplifying and scaling back. For setting boundaries or being very choosy with who we surround ourselves by, and who we don’t. It may be choosing to skip some of the regular traditions and opting to do them some other year, while choosing to do others that help us feel grounded.

You might not be feeling it this holiday season. What, with a global pandemic and all, it’s quite natural if you just aren’t into this year.

You may be grieving not being able to do your typical traditions, or sad about not being able to see everyone you normally would. You may also be literally grieving lost loved ones, and dealing with some really tough situations. There might be more conflict than normal in your family, and it might be really difficult to choose who to spend time with, and what traditions you might just want to skip.

How lovely to give yourself a break and not do ALL THE THINGS and instead give yourself permission to rest. Taking breaks and tuning into what actually brings you the most joy is great self protection right now. For me, it was decorating the hell out of my house and making fudge...😀

What are the parts of the holidays that you love the most? And, what ends up draining you of your energy? What if we gave ourselves permission to partake in the more joyful aspects of the holiday and “snooze” others to another year as a way of protecting our energy?

Being good to yourself right now also means being gentle with expectations. And that might mean going “full on” or not at all, whatever you’re in the mood for this year.

Wherever you are this holiday season, I wish you wisdom and attunement, and some peace from within.

xo - Beth