Creating Connection During the Holidays

It's early morning. The dogs are curled around my legs as I lie in bed, and James, our manx cat, has not yet woken from his favourite perch on my office chair to tell me that it's his breakfast time. I want to savour the quietude, but my brain is already abuzz with its list of tasks for the day. There always seems to be something to accomplish - and the holidays create a blender effect of escalating duties that fill the imagination, crowding out the tranquility of the present moment.

It's so easy at this time of year to get caught up in holiday preparation and lose our connection, not only with others, but with ourselves. It's often difficult to shut down that anxious voice in our heads with its list that seems to be longer than the one Santa reserves for good children. Rather than try to shut it down, I suggest you take that extra few minutes in the morning to feel that tension to which the mind gives voice. Experience the fire in the body that stress creates. It's interesting to see how that anxiety shifts and slows when we give it attention rather than fight it off.

Take time, this season, to stop a moment in your bustling about and acknowledge your feelings. Don't worry about labeling them or figuring out where they came from. Just stop to feel - the same way we're often told to give pause for breath in yoga class. Just feel for a moment and allow your body and its emotions to come to rest. You'll continue into your day with a different perspective by being patient with yourself and your feelings each morning and whenever you can during the day.