How to Live AWESOME During the Holidays!!!

With holidays fast approaching we begin to feel the buzz of energy around Christmas parties, holiday planning, gift buying, decorating and travel plans. The lights are decorating the city streets and house entrances……People are talking about gift lists and planning shopping trips before the rush…...Invitations are going out to save the date for holiday parties…..And my personal favourite: Starbucks is serving their red holiday cups and have their specialty holiday drinks!!!! Christmas and the holidays are beginning to sparkle everywhere around us! I invite you to take a little journey with me…..where we open an early gift of magic, holiday bliss, and insights as to how to have an awesome holiday season…….

Where I live, in Innisfil, Ontario (an hour north of Toronto), the snow has begun to fall and blanket nature’s creation. It looks so peaceful, magical and pretty. There is a quiet softness in the air as big fluffy snowflakes fall from a blue-grey sky. I can feel the holidays and all the magic that comes with it in my body and heart. A comfort, a feeling of coziness floats up within me…..and I know….The Christmas Spirit is among us already!

The holidays can be a time of wonder, beauty, magic and family reconnection. And yet I know that for others it can be a time of stress, pressure, overwhelm, triggers and conflict between family members.

We can shift our perspective and experience of the holidays quite easily….It can become a time of magic and beauty…….it just requires a little refocusing, time for self and time to remember what’s REALLY important in the grand picture of it all.

Here are my top 7 Tips on How to Live Awesome During the Holidays:

1. Simplify your life and your lists. Make the things-to-do easy and manageable. If you have a hundred things to do, break that 100 things into 4….that’s 25 things to do each week…now break that down into 7…..that’s about 2-3 things to do each day. Prioritize what’s most important and order accordingly, and then FOCUS on just THAT task that you’re completing in THAT MOMENT. Don’t allow your thoughts to carry you into the next thing-to-do until you’re completely finished with the task at hand. You’ll actually begin to enjoy what you’re doing because you’re more centered in it.

2. Pause to remember what it's all about. Stop and observe the simple joy and magic that is swirling all around us. Can you see the magic in it all? Sometimes we get caught in the busyness or gift buying of it all that we forget what the holidays are really about. Take a few moments today or tomorrow and write down or think about: “What do the holidays mean to me? Why do I love the holidays?” “How can I create a new tradition around the holidays?” You will begin to rediscover YOUR WHY behind YOUR involvement in the holiday season. Be willing to step outside of the holiday box……

3. Self-care is ESSENTIAL. This is the time of year when things get really busy. It is easy to be swept away in the current of it all. Find time each week for 30-60 minutes of self-care, self-love time. That could be anything: treating yourself to the spa or a healing session; attending a yoga or meditation or dance class; going for a walk; reading a good book; fully enjoying a latte; taking a bath; spending time with your pet; doing something creative; meeting with a loving friend; cozying up to a fireplace. This self-care time is essential to your overall wellbeing and this time will fill up your internal well or batteries. I’ve created a free meditation for the Holidays – click here to download and listen. http://www.taraantler.com/#!meditation/c3nw

4. See the world with the wonder of a child! And you’ll then find JOY in the activities that you’re engaged in! Be a kid! Allow self to have fun, or make something fun, or get creative like we did when we were kids. This brings back the sense of wonder, magic, mystery and playfulness. Our expanded self loves this! We feel better, we feel alive, and our immune system enhances because we are experiencing higher emotions and thoughts. The things will still get done…..and you’ll be doing them from a place of joy instead of frustration or stress. Ask the question, “How can I have more fun in this? How can I make this more fun?” “How can I add a little sparkle and magic to this?” A great activity is baking! Bake with friends, bake with your kids, back to music, get dressed in your best baker’s outfit and dazzle your kitchen with creativity! I love making gingerbread! You can create all sorts of shapes, figures, men, women, and snowmen and you can really get creative and dress them up!!! http://www.chatelaine.com/recipe/kid-friendly/anna-olsons-gingerbread-cookies/ Take a picture of your creation and post it on Facebook and tag me…would LOVE to see what you’re doing to engage your inner child!!! Here’s mine from a few Christmas’s ago in Ireland….we couldn’t find cookie cutters anywhere so we had to use shot glasses and our own steady hand : )

5. Give from the Heart. This holiday season give truly from the heart. When you’re searching for and buying gifts let your heart do the buying. “What do I really want to give?” Maybe your gift goes global and you donate to an organization or animal shelter. Maybe your gift this year is one of healing and life transformation so that we can ALL feel AWESOME together and really live the life we dream of! We can give that gift in many ways: a kind gesture, a random-act-of-kindness, being of service in some way, giving healing gifts (gift certificates are fabulous), or gifting your favourite healing-transformative book (The Healing Manual is one suggestion ; ).

6. Appreciate all of it. Whatever shows up, whatever situations arise, including the cold weather, make a conscious mind flip within self to appreciate all that is showing up. Find 3 things to appreciate about any situation. This will move your emotions, thoughts, heart and energy into a more open, loving, compassionate state where joy exists. This will literally transform your experience of life!

7. Think Abundance. During the holidays some people become stressed over gift-buying and money. To by-pass or move through this perceived barrier start transforming your thoughts and beliefs about money and abundance NOW! Begin with a simple dialog of abundance! Here are some positive power statements to get you started: “Everything is taken care of already.” “Abundance is streaming and flowing through me as easily as my breath moves through me.” “I open to receive new streams of abundance. I receive.” Or my personal favourite, “I am creating a money miracle. Money miracle! Money miracle!”

And to top it off…..my energetic, loving gift to you……I hold the most loving and compassionate space for EACH of YOU! I see you as fully IN-joying the holidays. I see you with smiles of bliss on your face. I see you begin surrounded by loving family and friends who light up your heart. I see you having all the time and abundance in the world for all the things you want to do. I see you totally and completely fulfilled by the experience of life itself. And I see you as feeling 100% AWESOME in your journey of the holidays this year!!!!

Tara