6 Qualities to Cultivate this Christmas Time
How do you wish to be this Christmas?
Your invitation to reflect, or consider in the lead-up to the festive season is: How do I wish to be this Christmas?
With all the festive activities of preparations, gift-giving, and gatherings, it’s an opportune time to consider the attitudes (or qualities) you wish to demonstrate, and stand for, at this time of year.
Mindfulness is a helpful approach that can guide you in shaping your intentions in this endeavour. By taking a moment to contemplate how you wish to be during Christmas, you can create a more meaningful and joyful experience for yourself, and those around you.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a cognitive (mental) skill that involves being fully present in the moment, without judgement. It encourages awareness (in other words a noticing, or observer stance) of your thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and your surroundings. This can lead to a deeper attunement to yourself and to others. In the lead-up to Christmas, practising mindfulness can help you cultivate a sense of calm awareness, and support you in being intentional in your behaviour. It can also foster an appreciation of what is happening around you, and also within you.
An invitation to reflect on How You Want to Be this week
Day 1 - Cultivate Gratitude: Christmas is synonymous with giving and receiving, and a wonderful time to cultivate gratitude. Today, you could consider the blessings in your life and reflect on the people and experiences you're thankful for. How could you express and share this gratitude with others? Maybe send a text message, make a phone call, leave a little note on a colleague’s desk, your partner’s pillow….
Day 2 - Foster Connection: The festive season offers an opportunity to connect with loved ones. Your invitation today is to mindfully/deliberately consider the relationships in your life. How do you want to be in your interactions with these people who are important to you? Is there a friend or family member you'd like to reach out to and let them know how much they mean to you; or maybe someone you’ve lost touch with who you would like to touch base with, or send Christmas well wishes to?
Day 3 - Find Joy in the Simple Things: Christmas often comes with great expectations and materialistic pressures. Your invitation today is to practise mindfulness by finding joy in simple, everyday moments— this could be the smell of a christmas tree (a real one that is!), maybe the sun shining on you (if you’re in a warm climate this xmas time), or the laughter and celebrations shared with friends, or family. How could you notice and savour a simple pleasure today?
Day 4 - Practice Self-Compassion: During the holiday season, many of us can put immense pressure on ourselves to create the "perfect" Christmas, or try super duper hard to avoid conflict. However, please do remember imperfections are part of what makes us human, and what makes life interesting. Your invitation today is to include the mindful practice of compassion - self-compassion, in accepting your limitations (or your human-ness), and practising compassion toward others by accepting that just like you, they are human too. How do you want to be kinder to yourself today? And, do you want, or need, to consider being kinder to someone today?
Day 5 - Nurture Your Inner Peace: With the influx of commitments, and end of year activities, is it possible for you to take a ‘micro’ moment of stillness to nurture your inner peace? In the spirit of mindfulness. This could be one single breath - with a conscious, deliberate, long and slow inhalation, followed by an equally conscious, deliberate long and slow exhalation; or it may be taking a quiet (read absence of mobile phone and chatter) walk, reconnecting with the elements of the air and light, the earth and sky… for some perspective, and a way to redirect your attention to be less overly focused and a little more broader focus. Your invitation today is to look for, experience, and discover a single moment of calm and stillness.
Day 6 - Embrace the Spirit of Giving: Christmas is a time of giving, and not just of gifts. In the spirit of mindfulness, mindfully consider ways you could be giving, in your community, or to those in need. Whether it is volunteering, random acts of kindness, or donations of food of funds, there are many ways to give. It’s not only financial means, time and resources are equally needed gifts. Your invitation today relates to how you could add to the well-being of others; by a small gesture, or few.
Day 7 - Bringing it all together: Can you keep all, or one, of these 6 days of practice in the foreground? How could you maintain a thread of awareness, to not lose sight of these gifts, and their benefits to both others, and to you, through this festive season and into the new year?
I hope you are inspired to practise gratitude, foster meaningful connections, find the joy in simple things, and to be compassionate with yourself, to nurture your inner peace and embrace the spirit of giving this christmas time.
And as you do this, my wish for you is that you create a meaningful and joyful experience for yourself, that flows out to touch those around you.
If you’re anticipating challenges over the holiday period, or you are experiencing stress, anxiety, depression or any other mental health condition please do reach out to your GP, a counsellor or psychologist. Also know there is help, Australia-wide, with these free helplines:
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Headspace: 1800 650 890
I hope this blog is helpful to you and please know if you’d like support in building your mindfulness practice and inner resourcing, or support in managing the suffering you’re experiencing, please feel free to book a counselling session with me here.