Finding Peace & Stillness During the Holidays

With the passing of Thanksgiving, we are entering into the busy holiday season. As we add to our already busy schedules preparations for holiday gatherings, we find stress levels going up. As the stress goes up, we tend to let our meditation practice slide, telling ourselves that we will get back to it when it is more convenient. However, letting our practice slip doesn't help us deal with the increasing stress levels.

​Often, we turn to an unrestrained desire for stimulation to cope. Our consumer culture is built upon a desire for stimulation. This constant chasing after stimulation increases our stress levels. A regular meditation practice helps bring into awareness our underlying attachments to stimulation, which helps to keep it in check. This holiday season, it is in our best interests to keep up our meditation practice and watch out for our tendency to look toward external stimulation as a way to keep us busy, when we would do better to take some time for quiet and stillness. The stress and pressures of the holidays will make it more difficult for us to sit and find quiet. When we do actually sit to practice, we might find our extra busyness creating more challenge to our regular practice due to all the extra stimulation that comes with the season.

Here are some suggestions for helping to manage our desire for stimulation:

• Do walking meditation, yoga, tai chi, qi gong…when sitting meditation is difficult due to increased stimulation.
• The brain intensifies attention in response to novelty. Notice the individual qualities of each breath. Draw in new information by paying attention to details, such as the sensation at different spots on the upper lip.
• Focus on multiple sensations in a large area of your body, such as the chest. Or notice how breathing creates sensations all over your body, such as subtle movements in your hips and head.
• Break each breath into small parts so there’s more to notice. Inhalation, exhalation and the pause between. Or divide each inhalation and exhalation further.
• Open up to feelings of sufficiency and contentment. This both satisfies the need for stimulation and conveys the message that you are full just as you are and don’t need to reach for anything more.
• Neutral feelings are not stimulating, and send the mind off seeking for more. Watch what your mind does with neutral feelings and increase stimulation by gently labeling the feelings “neutral”