Christmas Calm...

​It’s the most wonderful time of the year… but not easy for everyone. This Christmas you can be aware of your own sense of wellbeing. At Christmas you can feel so much pressure; to participate in family traditions that may no longer be relevant or possible for you, to provide endless gifts, to finish the working year neatly, to smile, to manage family conflict and to do so with ease, gratitude, and noticeable joy for the children!
Make a conscious effort this year to approach Christmas in a way that is kind and takes gentle consideration of yourself too.

​Food
This time of year you can find a toxic food relationship is ignited with your body; from crash diets to prepare for summer and socialising, to overeating and drinking at functions and gatherings. Overeating at Christmas can almost feel expected, you feel obliged to eat to please others. This all or nothing approach is unkind to your body. Make a promise this year to listen to your own health, comfort, and signals of satiety from your body and approach food gently.
Christmas food and drinks are festive and special, but you can pass on the second dessert, or the next glass of wine, sure in the knowledge there will be more opportunities for tasty morsels - after your body has a well-deserved break from indulgence.
If you are preparing food this year, don’t put pressure on yourself to cook the perfect over-sized Christmas feast. Keep it simple this year, your family may be relieved, they feel this degustation overwhelm too!

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​Your-needs
This is a wonderful time to be immersed in the spirit of giving, but you cannot give from an empty cup. Consider your boundaries and self-care. Schedule in some alone time, meditation, or half an hour reading a good book. These small practices can be powerful to reduce anxiety and stress.
Think about what sparks joy in you at Christmas and make it your priority. Even though the world seems to expect it, we cannot be everything to everyone, especially when we give nothing to ourselves.
Remember to ask for help. When you don’t accept help, you are not allowing others to feel connection and gratitude with you. There is loving energy that flows through the acts of both giving and receiving. 

Exercise
Running around to 83 shops to source that limited edition Pokémon gift doesn’t count as exercise for you. Enter this Christmas season committed to setting aside regular exercise time focused on you. That walk, run, ride or yoga class, will have a side effect of preventing mental fatigue, keeping your mind clear and your body and immune system balanced. 

Remembering
How do you hold space and remember the empty seats at your Christmas table? Be kind to healing hearts and find a resting place in your activities for their stories, memories, and love. This is a very personal process, you cannot be hurried or told how to feel, but you can ask for time, space, and gentleness as you need it. If you have a ritual in your family that soothes you, savour it gently, you are navigating this time of year your way… the best way for you.

Expectations
What do you really want from Christmas this year? What are your expectations? Consider whether you are seeking approval through the way you participate in Christmas. Do you ever get it? Is It fulfilling? There may be other healthier ways to gather this feeling of love from family and friends. Christmas will never be like it is in movies and glossy magazines, it can be much more than that by stepping back into the feelings and values that are important to you and your family.
When we expect perfection from ourselves at Christmas, we inadvertently send this message to our loved ones too. Perfection is a wobbly goal that teeters uncomfortably on the edge of failure – and that is exhausting! You can make Christmas a celebration of imperfection in 2022, welcoming and allowing it from everyone.

​A vision of calm
Maybe this is your year for a Christmas overhaul. Call a meeting! Make a list of what each person is looking forward to this year. Start from there, and then work on you.
Think of your sense of balance and joy on the frontline of Christmas chaos. How do you want to feel as you glide through Westfield buying frenzies, or hear the same complaint from aunty Mabel? The buzz, emotions, excitement, loss, expectations, and frustrations will be like whirls of busy around you this month. Breathe and believe. You are doing Christmas exactly as you are right now, and that is exactly as it should be.