Stillness

In the midst of the holiday season and all the hustle and bustle it brings, it is easy to lose track of yourself. From Thanksgiving to New Years life is always a blur for me, filled with shopping lists, parties, deadlines, traveling and visiting family and friends. We are often completely exhausted when January finally rolls around.

It is important to find a little time to meet yourself in all of this. When rushing from store to store or waiting on insanely long holiday lines, notice what you are doing with yourself. Do you hold your breath? Put all your weight on one leg and lock your knees? Carry your bags by pulling your shoulders up to your ears while bracing against the cold? Moan and complain when faced with a line, a delayed flight or having to see relatives or coworkers at parties that you would rather not? Do you ever allow your attention to be on the process you are involved in? Or are the days filled with getting everything on your list done? Do you even enjoy the season?

When we are busy—not only during the Holiday season but generally in life—we often get stuck. But not "stuck" in the sense of being unable to move; we become "stuck" in our efforts to get things done. We end-gain to meet our goals and leave little enjoyment for the process.

I encourage you to find the spaciousness and freedom of the moment. Allow your consciousness to be involved in the process. Make choices in the "how" of your activities and movement.

When you are carrying your bags, notice what the burden of the weight does to you. Do you brace through your arms and lock in all your joints to carry them? Are you locking your jaw as you wait in line? Do you hold your breath when Uncle Chester is going on and on about the improvements he has made to his coin collection since last year?

Remind yourself that you do have a choice in how you experience your life. We translate everything into muscular tension—whether mental, emotional or physical. If you are dreading a visit with family or an office party, you are probably holding on for dear life through your musculature as well. Experiment to see if letting go of some of this tension and allowing yourself to breathe into your back and sides makes the whole experience a bit easier.

When carrying those bags, check out your neck, jaw, wrists and elbows. Can you do a little less to support all that weight? When we support weight by utilizing excess muscular tension in our arms, it can not only exhaust us but also alter our mood, leaving us feeling uneasy and on edge.

"....at the still point, there the dance is, but neither arrest nor
movement. And do not call it fixity…."

Try and catch yourself at the times you are "stuck" in movement, when your consciousness has left the moment and you are rushing around on autopilot. There is so much dynamic in stillness: your heart is beating, you are breathing, your muscles are constantly slightly twitching and re-balancing. Finding a little bit of stillness can be a wonderful balance to the state we allow to become our norm at the Holidays.

"And do not call it fixity." Stillness may feel frozen to us when our normal state has become one of blindly rushing around. Allow yourself a moment to experience the movement of your heart beating and the spaciousness of your lungs contracting and expanding.

Happy Holidays and all the best in the New Year!