Working out your values and doing your best to let go of perfectionism can help you have the joyous Christmas you really want. And bringing in mindfulness can help us with finding and embracing those little moments of joy over the festive season, as well as managing any stress.
‘Sometimes, when you eat and you’re distracted, you don’t realise you’ve cleared the plate, and then you’re left wanting more,’ says coach and psychotherapist Karin Peeters. ‘We run the same risk at Christmas: we look forward to it, but then get distracted when we’re actually there. And so we don’t feel nourished by it.’
If you find your mind wandering to your worries – fretting about finances, or that work deadline coming up in January – while you’re sitting with your family or watching a festive panto, Peeters recommends a simple breathing exercise to ground you and bring you back to the present. You take a deep breath in, and then breathe out just a little bit longer than the in breath. You notice the silence between your thoughts. ‘The out breath helps us to let go of everything, and then becoming aware of the silence brings the presence,’ explains Peeters. You can do this subtly whenever you feel distracted or anxious rather than being in the moment – see it like a reset.