December has arrived! Though many talk about the joy that comes with the holidays (and indeed, there is), I feel it is also important to acknowledge that for many, it is also one of the most stressful times of year. The American Psychological Association Holiday stress statistics show that up to 69 percent of people are stressed about having a “lack of time,” 69 percent also are stressed by feeling a “lack of money” and 51% are stressed out about the “pressure to give and get gifts.”
According to allonehealth.com, the stress and anxiety of the holiday season can manifest in symptoms such as headaches, sleep disturbances, fatigue, exhaustion, difficulty concentrating, short temper, upset stomach, low job satisfaction and morale, aching muscles (including lower back pain), loss of appetite, changes in behavior while at work, and a decline in productivity and work performance.
We are also facing the “end time” of the year – a sense of finality for which we look back on the last 12 months and critique the outcome. Since we are usually our own worst critics, guess which way that observation goes? It can be an incredibly “heavy” and “burdensome” time of year to many. Also, we witness nature going into hibernation, we reference the trees and plants “dying” which can also affect us psychologically.
What can we do spiritually to help us get through? Here’s a few simple things.
First, try to stay grounded and remember to cleanse yourself energetically. With all the stress, along with the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers, our auras (as well as our minds) are being bombarded with frenetic and tense energy not normally displayed by most people at other times of the year. We may observing with our eyes, but we typically ABSORB things into our energies and emotions, so it becomes imperative that we do things that will help cleanse ourselves of this abnormal energy we are diving into and swimming around in.
If you shower in the morning, use the power of visualization to allow the water its energetic capacity to take hold of that unwanted energy and send it right down the drain. Additionally, wash your hands a few more times throughout the day (this is not meant to become an OCD thing). This will not only protect you from potential germs on your hands and keeping you from getting physically sick, when you wash your hands under the faucet for more than 45 seconds, that extra time can again help to draw out negative energy collecting within your field (which might later transmute into physical maladies).
Another way to combat stress – and this works anytime throughout the year – is to meditate. Sit down for about 15 minutes minimum and just let go. Focus on nothing but your breath and allow that focus to realign your system and clear you. Release your need to do anything or be anything, and just be STILL. Meditation will clear both your energy systems as well as your mind. The monkey mind goes extra crazy this time of year, so it’s important to do what we can to calm it.
Conversely, instead of calming yourself, go out and do something that makes you crazy with happiness! Whatever the activity is – a few hours gathering with friends, solitude with a paintbrush, turning up the music full blast and dancing – whatever it is that can interrupt the state of holiday frenzies. Call it a “time out” if you will … and schedule as many of them as you need in order to get through the season. Heck, be an inspiration for others to create their own seasonal “time outs.” Sweat-inducing exercise can also help here - as well as assisting in keeping off those extra pounds from the yummy holidays feasts!
Keep in mind, as energetic beings we not only absorb, we transmit. If we can find that stillness or ability to wash ourselves clean of the holiday stress, we can then help others do the same. How much more joyful would that make this time of year?
So know that in closing, I most sincerely wish you –
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
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