Calm in the Chaos

You might be starting to sense a theme as we enter into the thick of holiday season – mindset.

Yesterday’s post was all about physical activity during the holidays with a twist – identify the barriers that are getting in the way of reaching your physical activity goals. Next week’s post will be focused on mindset during the holidays. And today I have at brief guest post all about mindfulness during the holidays.

You mindset is kinda, sorta, totally important if you want to have an amazing holiday season.

This guest post is a preview of a full blog post by Dr. Maureen Magauran, a holistic psychiatrist. She has practiced for over 20 years and does one-on-one work and just started with online courses. She is hosting an AMAZING holiday workshop I’ll talk about at the end (including a way to win a free entry!)

Mindfulness: The Antidote to Holiday Stress

Two definitions of mindfulness.

Definition 1: Jon Kabat Zinn, the founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction, defines mindfulness as “The awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.”

The emphasis is on concentrating on each moment, as opposed to sleep-walking through your day without much awareness. You can purposely bring your attention to things happening around you.

Definition 2: As seen in spiritual circles, mindfulness is keeping your attention alive in the present moment. This focuses on a sense of awakening rather than being on automatic pilot.

We all know what it’s like to go blindly through the day, without giving tasks much conscious thought.

The Best Holiday Recipe – Just Add Mindfulness

The ultimate goal of mindfulness, especially in terms of a spiritual approach, is freedom from the minds’ grasping to control things and make things a certain way. When you’re less reactive, there is more space to be present and choose how you want the moment to feel.

This holiday season, as you spend time with family, intentionally take the time to notice small details around you or in other people. You can share these observations with others, such as telling your host how beautiful the flowers are on the table, while taking the time to savor each bite of the Thanksgiving turkey.

And when you get distracted or feel emotional, you can use mindfulness to bring you back to the present moment. As you better get to know yourself and your patterns of behavior, you can choose if you want to engage in certain things such as arguments or self-criticism, or not.

To read the full post, head over to her blog here:

Want to get started with mindfulness?

Of course you do! Learn easy to use mindfulness and therapy-based techniques to feel calm, clear and centered so you can enjoy this holiday season and be present with your loved ones. All about being present and mindful this holiday season. The workshop is a flexible 1 week long, running from 12/9-12/15.

During the workshop you’ll get the following:

1. Three webinars
   1. How to be present and how to set a holiday intention you can remember and stick with, including guided intention meditation.
   2. How to create Moments of Meaning and how to handle emotions that come up around the holiday.
   3. How to overcome over-commitment and guilt and how to readjust your expectations so you can receive what you want during the holidays.
2. Follow-up emails from Dr. Maureen, highlighting techniques and practices covered during the webinars, plus special downloadable tools and materials.
3. Access to Dr. Maureen Magauran for one week via a special private Facebook group. Dr. Maureen will reply to comments daily, helping to address issues and provide guidance and tips.

The workshop is $47, which is a steal when you think about getting this kind of training and one-on-one time with a skilled physician! If you sign up by 12/2 you can save $10. Click here to learn more and sign up!

(BTW – I don’t get any money for this. I’m promoting it because I think it is such a valuable skill set to help you thrive this holiday season and beyond as you begin to plan for 2020)

Want to win a free entry to the workshop?

I’ve partnered with Dr. Maureen to give away 1 free entry. How to win:

1. Join my Nourished and Content facebook group
2. Add any friends or family you think would benefit from the group
3. For every person who joins and lists your name on the entry questions as the reference, you’ll get an entry to win!
4. I will draw a winner during my facebook live inside my group on 12/5

Easy as pie 🥧