5 Ways to Have a More Peaceful Holiday Season By Kate Hanley

For years, the very thought of Christmas and the holiday season shivered me timbers. It meant weight gain, credit card debt, and general unease that I wasn’t having as much meaningful fun as everyone else. Know what I mean? So I’d head in to the season, filled with dread, determined to soldier through.

The problem with this approach is that the holiday season is now so long that it means dreading a full 2 months out of the year. That’s 1/6 of your life. And that’s just not right.

Let this year to be the year you draw a line in the sand and claim the holidays to be what they are intended to be--a restorative and joyful highlight of the year. Here are five ways to make that happen. May your season be merry and bright, just as the carols promise.

Kate Hanley is a mind-body coach, yoga teacher, blogger, and author of The Anywhere, Anytime Chill Guide. Visit her at MsMindbody.com, and to learn more about making the holidays more fulfilling, learn more about her holidayrebootcamp.com.

So…whaddya want?

Get clear on what you want

If you could wave your magic wand and create the ideal holiday season for you and your family, what would it entail? Would you do away with gifts altogether? Would you somehow get out of the annual gathering at your annoying cousin’s house? Take a look at what your capital-W wants for the season are—they are a great clue to what you value about the whole affair.

Getting in touch with your desires gives you something to aim for. If what you want is relaxation, you’ll be emboldened to turn down the numerous requests for school volunteers, or invitations to cookie exchanges. If you know you want to use the holidays as an opportunity to feel more connected to others, it will inspire you to invite your favorite people over for a gathering.

Knowing and moving toward what you want is not selfish. The Latin roots of the word “desire” means “of the Father.” As in, divine. Your deep desires benefit you and those around you in surprisingly meaningful ways.

Create Your Own Personal Forcefield

Set intentions

OK, great, you know what you want out of the holidays. How do you make them a reality? By using intentions – statements that declare your desired outcome for a particular occasion. For example, my intention for this article is to inspire readers to change the way they approach the holidays. Your intention for the company holiday party could be to strengthen your connection to your co-workers, or to meet someone new and broaden your network within the company.

An intention is like a force field – it creates a boundary that keeps distractions from taking over your experience. Without an intention for the holiday party, you’ll be more likely to get sucked in to the champagne punch and mini egg rolls.

Don’t forget your Mother. (Mother Nature, that is.)

Keep it natural

A common complaint about the holidays is their overwhelming focus on consumerism. Look to Mother Nature for your decorations, and you’ll keep yourself grounded and uplifted instead of feeling like you’re drowning in stuff.

There’s the obvious Christmas tree, of course. Other ideas for natural décor include wreaths made of bay leaves, pine boughs, bouquets of holly branches, a glass bowl filled with pinecones for a centerpiece, and a bowl of oranges studded with cloves. Theses attractive ways of celebrating the season also have the benefit of smelling fabulous, costing little, and providing a boost to the spirit. Going outside to gather the raw materials with your kids also makes a lovely holiday ritual. And speaking of rituals…

Embrace the Ceremony

Take comfort in rituals

For any part of the season that happens year after year, view it as what it is – a ritual (and not just an excuse to roll your eyes and think, “Here we go again.”) Rituals are how we mark time, ascribe meaning to our experiences and transcend daily worries. If you could view your annual pilgrimage to grandma’s house as a ritual, how would that change your experience of it?

And if there’s no part of your standard holiday celebrations that you find particularly meaningful, start your own. As Pat Conroy wrote in his book The Lords of Discipline, “The human soul can always use a new tradition. Sometimes we require them.”