As the year comes to a close things are heightened as we add managing everything that the season entails to our already brimming lives. On top of the multitude of events on the calendar and mounting to dos of the season, expectations build and undercurrents stir. Inevitably, we find ourselves with our hands full in the midst the holiday hustle facing down a swell of emotions surfacing from within or watching the tides rise in someone we love.
This is, after all, a time of the year when we engage with our families on a level and in a context that is loaded with expectations and interactions that evoke ghosts of the past. Even when feel we are on top of our game, managing our own expectations, have done work to heal, have forgive and/or asked for forgiveness, we find ourselves caught off guard by moments of intensity.
With so much good cheer on offer, it can be tempting to swallow our feelings with a sip of bubbly, spiced cider, creamy eggnog or a sweet treat. Even if you are not tempted as such, it is challenging to take the time or muster the capacity to give emotions the mindful attention that would truly be a precious gift to ourselves and our loved ones.
Yet, harnessing these opportunities when they surface allows us to navigate the season skillfully to mine moments of emotional intensity for the gold hidden within them. Emotions carry with them a wealth of information. When they arise it is a potent opportunity to tend to deep seeded needs, address wounds, draw boundaries, release and evolve. As we expand and grow we encounter new layers of awareness around old wounds and family dynamics that are relevant to where we are in terms of our personal development.
The onus is on us not to blast past these fecund moments that provide opportunity for insight into what really matters and where we need to place our attention to tend to ourselves and others with care and love. By taking the time in this busy season to engage mindfully, we grow in our capacity to shine our full light of love, which is so needed in our world todayTis' the season when taking 20 minutes a day produces the most powerful payoffs. By engaging mindfully we can truly offer compassion for ourselves and the feelings of others in ways that supports the quality of connection we desire to experience.
As my gift to you, I offer this 20 minute guided meditation to support you to ground, clear and listen within to inquire into what emotions are communicating to respond thoughtfully and address underlying needs. Use it to begin or end your busy days centered and aware. Use it to empowering effect when emotions arise to bring yourself to a place of open curiosity.
I offer this because I have experienced so profoundly that tending to our emotions mindfully is the key to shifting patterns that steal our joy, disconnect us from our authentic voice, limit our ability to connect to others in meaningful ways and hold us back from living as we aspire to live.
Blessings to you in this season of darkness emerging into light!