Marilyn O’Malley, CPCC Life Coaching & Resources

A Healthy Mind Set Creates a Joy-Filled Holiday  Part 1 Breath!

Although we would all like to experience a loving and joy-filled holiday season, with all the splendor of our faith, tradition and family, that is not always the outcome.

During the holidays we get unconsciously caught up in living out our past holiday experiences in our mind, thinking that what happened in previous years is going to happen again this year.

Depending on your experience, you are either preparing yourself mentally to put up with what you don’t want to experience or you are taking it on like it is a mountain to scale, creating what you have done year after year because…..just because!  Others zone out emotionally and just do what they are told–where to go, when to go, and what to buy.  They retreat to what I call the dumb and numb zone; it is too overwhelming to even go there.

The imbalance is that we feel out of control; the holiday season with its traditions and history is bigger than us, leaving us no other choice than to be an ungrateful participant who feels powerless.

I am here to say that you can be in control by increasing your level awareness and changing some old habits and thinking that are no longer benefiting you.  You will feel empowered to create a holiday that feels fulfilling, rich and joyful.

Here is one simple thing you can practice between now and the New Year:

        Breathe!

We stop breathing as deeply as we can when we are stressed and anxious, which creates less oxygen to the brain and more physical stress on the body.

Focusing on your breathing produces two results:  you are giving your mind something to do other than spinning negative thoughts and you are supplying your whole body with the oxygen it needs to feel energetic.  Breathing grounds you, gets you in touch with what you are feeling, gets you out of your head and into your body, and it relaxes and energizes you.

Try these techniques:

• Pay attention throughout the day to the quality of your breathing by setting an alarm on your cell phone or watch to go off every hour.
• When you start to feel overwhelmed or anxious, frist bring your attention to your thoughts, notice what you were thinking, stop that thinking by focusing your attention on your breathing for a full minute using the breathing exercise below. Once you have completed the breathing exercise, switch your thinking to thoughts about what you want at that moment, . 

                     Breathing exercise

Put your awareness on the breath entering your nostrils and filling you belly…yes, let the belly fill up like a balloon.  Feel your ribs expanding out in all directions, front, back and sides, and let the chest rise with inhalation after the belly is full.

When you exhale feel your abdominal mucles contracting to help expel all the air.  You can picture your mind riding the wave of air out of your nose or mouth.  Just let it float away.

With each exhale feel yourself relax, feeling calm and having peace of mind.   

Try doing this exercise before you make any big decisions or attend an event this holiday season.  It will help you to not over extend yourself and to make better choices.  You can do this anywhere:  shopping, in the car, at a party….

Love to hear how this worked for you!