For so many of us, just thinking about the holidays = S T R E S S.
When this time of year rolls around, truth be told, for those of us with the seasonal “job description” as decorator, gift wrapper, party planner, family ambassador, games director and designated “power-clucker” over everyone and anything…there just might not be a lot of personal “FA-LA-LA-LA-ing” going on.
I can relate.
Not too many years ago, my husband and I were spending Christmas solo. The house was decorated….aglow and twinkling. I got that done at least. That’s my favorite part! BUT….Somehow, I had not gotten around to the whole turkey/dressing/green beans/mac-n-cheese/pumpkin pie schmeer. (Martha and Ina, please forgive me) If I remember right, there were 8 eggs in their carton, two slices of 3-day old pizza and a very tired Caesar salad left in the frig. We ended up at a drive-through early Christmas morning…thrilled with a gigantic family size-box of tots. Tots and Bubbly. Period. Really.
We still laugh about it.
But when you have a house full of company coming OR even if you ARE the company…..it’s a whole new ballgame.
I equate holidays or any big event full of “togetherness” with that week right after Daylight Saving Time. When it switches over and our Circadian Rhythms are trying to cope, we just feel wonky for a few days. Staying at someone else’s home, or having our house suddenly full of “strangers” we are ALL experiencing the “inner jostle”.
As a guest, it’s different beds (lumpy, soft, or hard), and pillows (lumpy, soft, or hard) shared bathrooms (too tiny for a spot to put your stuff, whoops…out of TP, again or ….nothing like stopping up the one and only toilet at your grandmother’s house.) Then there’s the thermostat game (the fact that we sleep nightly with our stat at 62 is cause for much horror and discussion…so we swelter in silence). Everybody has their own tastes in food (who is gluten free, who thinks scrambled eggs are ‘gross’; clearly, these guys use the wrong mayo, those juice boxes, full of sugar are why the kids are the way they are.) And then, there’s the noise/cacophony level (three TV’s on at once, plus two computer games…is much too much, or if I ever hear another Nat King Cole Greatest Hits album on auto repeat…oy). If you draw the short straw and end up on an air mattress on the floor, there’s nothing like waking up to the dog, enthusiastically giving your face a bath, while he’s standing on the spot that’s deflating your “bed”.
But we love each other and we try, don’t we?
I hate to bring up that definition of insanity. You know the one….about doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.
So, if any of this sounds familiar or even if day-to-day life feels like a roller coaster ride on “Stress Mountain”, I have a major, super-soother for you to try.
Trust me, it works.
And, it’s so easy.
And you might like it so much you could potentially do this EVERY day.
Take THIS Kind of SHOWER.
Center Your Inner World.
Prepare Yourself to Glow Inside & Out. Chances are you will be taking a shower most days anyway. THIS shower won’t require any more time than the ones you usually take, and when you are in the bathroom….showering, no one has to know that you are ALSO taking extremely good care of yourself. It will be your secret but everyone will wonder what that secret is when they see you calm, collected, and glowing.
I love finding something that works with my everyday life already, don’t you? This is transformative without a bunch of double back flips, and things to organize or read or some course to sign-up for. This can be done tomorrow, tonight, and forever. Yes!
Use the meditation below, to calm your mind, adjust your thinking, and release any negativity you are experiencing. You will feel centered for WHATEVER is ahead. You are blending and harnessing the power of your mental and physical senses AND being totally present to yourself. Think about it, this may be the only time of the day when you are completely IN your inner world with no distractions. You are in complete control to choose the mind-set you’d like to launch your day with. You get to feel the sensation of the cleansing power of the streams running over your body…the rate of flow and the temperature of the water, are also completely in your control.
If you have a favorite body wash, this is the time to use it. The divine scent is just for you to breathe into your whole body and spirit….Each morning you can use a scrubby washrag or a loofa for a vigorous, all-over scrub. Get rid of yesterday and the night before. Turn your skin into a head-to-toe glow. When you are just out of the shower and still a bit damp, slather on a favorite lotion and let it soak in to energize your whole body. (No kidding, I use EVOO)
Some situations call for a night-time shower for a soothing close to your day. No scrubbing. Just enjoying the warm safety of your space. Releasing the day. Asking for peaceful sleep. PAT (don’t rub) YOURSELF DRY like you would when you are comforting an upset child.
Love on yourself.
This meditation and this process are life giving, life-saving, life-launchers. Reading some of these things may bring up a “silly sensation”….I agree, if someone else was watching or if anyone else lived inside your head…but no one is watching and NO ONE ELSE lives inside your head.
Try This.
We’ve created the meditation below in a downloadable format. Print it out. Take it to a copy place and have it laminated so you can literally use it in the shower with you, wherever you are.
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