07 Dec A more meaningful and present Christmas
As we roll into December, this month brings blogs and vlogs on Christmas and the holiday season. I’ll be talking about tips to make Christmas more meaningful for you and to be more present.
What does Christmas mean to you? Each person is going to have a different answer. For those of you who are Christian, Christmas means celebrating the birth of Jesus. For those of you who are not religious or of another faith, Christmas might mean connecting with family and friends, celebrating the end of a hard and busy year. Your answer to the question is important as it will help you decide what truly matters and therefore what to focus on.
Many things can pull you away from what matters to you, particularly the financial and time pressures of the season. In a consumerist society, you might feel the pressure to buy every single person you know a gift and this might result in you paying off the credit card bill for the gifts well into the next year. Instead, maybe you can suggest to your extended family a Secret Santa, where each person focuses their thought, attention and financial resources on buying just one gift. If you host the Christmas meal, cooking and preparing it all on your own can feel overwhelming and you might find you’re running back and forth to the kitchen the whole time, rather than enjoying the company and being present with your loved ones. Instead, maybe each household can bring a dish.
You might be wondering what ‘being present’ means? Being present is a reference to being in the moment, the here and now; not thinking about the past or worrying about the future. Christmas celebrations might mean coming into contact with a relative we don’t particularly like, triggering memories of the past. You might notice you’re enjoying yourself and then worrying about all those e-mails you’ll have to answer when you return to work or the uncertain economic environment. There may always be these pulls to think about the past or worry about the future. However, if you allow your attention to focus too much on these pulls, the very present of your Christmas celebration will slip away.
So how can you be more present for Christmas? Here are some tips:
- Try to focus on something and observe it using your senses, with curiosity, as if you’ve never noticed it before. For example, it might be your breath or someone talking at the dinner table
- Do what matters at this very moment. This might involve putting your phone away and maybe talking to a relative you haven’t spent much time with over the year. Be curious about them
- If your mind starts saying all sorts of things, thank your mind and refocus your energy and attention on what is important at the time. There is no expectation that the thought is going to go away and you might need to do this several times.
I hope you’ve found these tips helpful. If you find that being present is an ongoing issue for you, not just during Christmas, please contact us at Prosper Health Collective; we can help you better thrive. On behalf of the team at Prosper Health Collective, I wish you a happy and safe Christmas and New Years.
