We are often so busy at this time of year that we can’t do what we’d really like to do: appreciate one another, give thanks, celebrate. Instead, we’ve got a long to-do list, our usual routines are disrupted, and we get less sleep than usual. It’s a perfect recipe for boosted stress levels. So here are three suggestions to help keep you on an even keel over the holidays:
“I tap into creativity by looking through the window of my studio at the blooming flowers, and fluttering butterflies! I marvel at their freedom in flight and the predictability of the seasonal cycles, and I delve into an art journal with the same uninhibited ways nature models for me.”Val V. “I like to find inspiration in nature. Then I paint, either watercolor florals or even design mandalas on flat river rocks…I also love to take photographs of trees in the fall at sunrise, capturing the bold bright colors....
It is also a primary aspect of mindfulness. Curiosity allows us to begin to turn toward the entirety of experience, moving us from avoidance to approach, including that which we don’t like. I would argue curiosity and kindness are the antidotes to judgment and other harsh evaluations we may direct toward ourselves or others and it is a quality that can be developed. Curiosity can be used as a way to inquire into our experience—the joyful and painful alike....
Gone are the days of a one-size-fits-all philosophy when it came to hair styling. Recent innovations in styling technologies have made choosing the best blow dryer for your hair almost like a bespoke process. Companies are taking into consideration each person’s specific hair type and even lifestyle leanings. Are you a low-maintenance gal that’s wash-and-wear with frizzy hair? Or are you all about that perfectly diffused curl and are willing to spend top dollar?...
Of all our communication skills, listening is the one most called upon—and neglected. Philosopher Martin Heidegger identified it as a key to maintaining meaningful relationships with family, friends, and even colleagues. But what is listening? Often we hear something and before we know it we’ve labeled, categorized, and shelved it. At its core, listening is really just taking time instead to experience what we’re hearing in the moment. I recently had a conversation with one of my mindfulness students about why he had taken my class....
