Bring More Spirit to the Holidays with This Simple Practice
Photo credit: Petrunjela
We all say we know that the spirit of holidays is more important than gifts, but do you actually put it into practice?
We have an addiction to needing more. Every year we need to top whatever we did last year. But we don’t consider the mental cost of what that does to our emotional well-being. You may think that’s ridiculous; that there is no correlation, but hear me out.
I remember growing up as a kid in the 70s. Like many American families back then, we had one Christmas tree. And we loved it. My parents gave my two siblings and me one gift each, and I got one from Santa. The gift was usually a doll I really wanted. When I was five years old, I got a snow cone maker from Santa. I loved it! It was also the year I discovered Santa was mom because I woke up in the middle of the night and saw her wrapping a gift with green paper with Santa Clause, Christmas stockings, and candy canes on it. The following morning when she handed me my gift, I noticed Santa had the same wrapping paper. I never told her I knew. But that’s a different story.
It seems these days every inch of the house needs to be decorated. And every kid needs the latest electronics, and every adult needs to be decked out in the hottest trends. Like addicts needing more and more to get high. We are unaware of our gradually increasing addiction of needing more. Instead, we call the simplicity of older days as outdated or boring. It’s no joke that people are adrenaline junkies. But at the same time, when things are so grandiose, it not only desensitizes us, we also lose the holiday spirit.
Before I was aware of this, I used to be caught up in needing more too. Growing up in New York City, Christmas was Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Center. At my first job after college, I was working at a PR Firm on Seventh Avenue in the fashion district. We threw and were invited to lavish parties around Manhattan. The best Christmas for me was going to Tavern on the Green and finding something from Tiffany’s under my tree.
But something happened after I got married. My then-husband and I left New York City and moved to the Midwest due to a relocation from his job. When we purchased our first and only home together, we didn’t have a lot of money that year. We made a budget of $25 for Christmas. After we were more financially sound. We never really increased the budget a whole lot. I don’t think we spent more than $100 on each other, $300 max. But we did reserve Christmas as a time when we would purchase something frivolous that we always wanted. We were blessed to have incomes that we never really wanted or needed anything more. However, I still dreamed of getting modest diamond earrings or something from Tiffany’s. I got both during the course of our marriage. Even though I lacked for nothing, there were days, I felt so empty inside, I could not feel the spirit of the holidays.
It wasn’t until I discovered spiritual and mindfulness practices after my divorce where things really started to change. A mindfulness practice helped me to appreciate what is. And a spiritual practice helped me not to place meaning into things (because you will never find it there) but to connect directly to spirit itself, especially for the holidays. And whoa, what a difference those practices make.
This, to me, was a more fabulous gift than anything from Tiffany’s. So much so, I don’t need anything from Tiffany’s anymore to fulfill me. I realized I wanted those because of how they made me feel. Now, I place value within myself, not things. I don’t need a piece of jewelry or a label to make me feel good about myself. I can feel good on my own because they don’t define my worth, I do.
With these practices, it also doesn’t matter what religion you are. Or if you have a religion at all in order to capture the magic of the holidays.
Here are four ways to bring more spirit to the holiday season:
MEDITATE ON MAGIC
Yes! You can meditate on anything. Peace, love, joy. Why not magic? What you focus on expands. Our inner world is reflected in our outer world, so why not make it magical? Sit in silence for 3–7 minutes or however long you like. Place your hand on your heart and envision what looks and feels like magic and the holiday spirit to you. Breathe that in slowly and deeply until it envelopes your entire being. Do this every day for the month of December and see what a difference it makes in your holiday season.
Holiday Meditation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZlR60LjAyc
Do a Walking Meditation with Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kHH6LJpEbQ
2) BE PRESENT, SAVOR THE MOMENT
Instead of focusing solely on big gifts and displays, bring your attention to scents and textures. Appreciating how they taste, feel, and smell.
Put on cozy PJs and socks and sink into its softness and really feel it.
Sit back enjoy a cup of a hot cup of peppermint cocoa. Close your eyes and taste the smooth chocolaty tingly sweetness on your tongue.
If it’s snowing by you. Watch the snowfall. Look at the snowflakes. Look at the ice formation on your window. Now, that’s magic. Be present in the moment.
Savor the time you spend with family and friends. Sometimes we get so caught up in doing the holidays, we forget that these moments we have right now won’t last forever. Kids grow up. Friends move away. Relatives pass on. Someday you may look back and wish you could live them all over again. Live them and be present now. Even if you had a loved one who passed away a few years ago (Don’t do this if you recently lost someone). You may miss them, especially at Christmas, but losing my oldest sister, made me appreciate the precious time I have left here on earth with those who are with me now. Especially my mom as she gets older. Don’t grieve what is gone; appreciate what is here and now.
3) LESS CAN BE MORE
When gift-giving with friends, set a price limit. Not spending more than $15 or $20 per gift. The gift has to be meaningful or inspirational. An inspirational book, a pretty journal, a deck of affirmation cards, etc. A memorable gift doesn’t have to be big or expensive.
4) DO GOOD, FEEL GOOD
A mindfulness practice is also about extending loving-kindness to the community.
Donate a quarter or a dollar every time you see a red kettle bell ringer during the holiday season.
Volunteer with your kids. Help volunteer at a local food bank, charity, or church. Deliver food to the elderly or people in need. Volunteers are needed for food prep and to deliver meals.
Call or help an elderly relative or neighbor. You can bring groceries, a meal, or some freshly baked bread, or even give them a call to check on them.
Buy a self-help book to empower women in need. I know how books helped me. So now, every Christmas, I select 3 people and send them a book I hope will change their lives and empower their future.
In the spirit of the holidays, smile more at people you see on the street, at the stores, or in a cafe. Wish them a happy holiday.
Buy the person behind you a cup of coffee, or maybe your local café allows you to donate money for coffee or food for people in need.
Be creative. Come up with your own.
Follow these steps and build a mindful, spiritual holidays practice, and I guarantee you that it will bring more meaning and spirit to your holidays.
It’s not that holiday spectaculars aren’t fun and festive. Creating experiences can also be amazing. But, it’s that you shouldn’t need that in order to feel the spirit of the holidays. I love doing fun and magical things with my friends and family during the holidays. But I feel just as wonderful going for a walk in the park or sitting at my laptop writing this while sipping chamomile, vanilla, honey tea.
The magic is already all around you and in you. As Glenda, the Good Witch, said, “You had the power all along, my dear.”
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” — Ron Dahl
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