Pause in the Holy Days

Here we are again—stepping into the season of sacred celebration.
Do you experience this time as Holy Days… or Holi-craze?
For most women, it’s a little of both.

The “most magical time of the year,” the one that’s supposed to bring joy, often brings pressure, guilt, exhaustion, and stress instead. So pause for a moment and ask yourself:

What do I really want this holiday season—peace, connection, and joy… or stress, overwhelm, and resentment?

No brainer, right?

One thing I know to be true: peace, connection, and joy don’t just magically happen in our busy world. This state of being requires awareness, intention, and a bit of planning.

So may I invite you to reframe your role?

Instead of being the one who makes it all happen, imagine yourself as the one who sets the tone.

Your calm, grounded energy creates the real magic—not the perfect meal or the Martha Stewart decorations.

Here are three invitations to help you reframe your role this season:

1. Shift from Holiday Hero to Creative Conductor (with help from the Elves!)

Instead of taking on every single task, delegate—delegate—delegate. Cooking, wrapping, organizing, cleaning. Become the conductor, not the entire orchestra. This simple shift lightens your load and creates shared experiences with your loved ones.

2. From Project Planner to Presence Creator

You don’t have to plan every outing or orchestrate every moment. Your presence, your steadiness, your laughter—that’s what becomes the memory. By modeling slowing down and savoring the moment, you invite deeper connection and genuine joy.

3. From Emotional Caretaker to Calm Anchor

Managing everyone else’s emotions is not your job. Instead, ground yourself, tend to your own self-care, breathe, and show up with openness. Let others feel what they feel while you stay centered. This keeps your nervous system—and the emotional tone of the house—calm and steady.

When you reimagine your role this way, you shift from doing it all to being in the moment—peaceful, grounded, and present. This is the energy everyone remembers most (including you).

To help you balance all your doing with key moments of Being.  I've added a new 30-minute Yoga Practice -  Align Your Knees plus a very doable Meditation - Sneaky Pause - to drop you into the present any place, anytime. 

 May you create what you truly want for the holidays. The choice is yours. 

YOGA | Align Your Knees

If you’ve lived an active life (or you’re healing an old injury), this practice is for you. In this session, I’ll guide you through simple, effective movements to strengthen the muscles that protect the knees—especially the quads, glutes, and outer hips—while teaching alignment cues that help reduce strain on the joint.

  PRACTICE HERE   

 

MEDITATION | Sneaky Pause

For moments when life is full and attention gets scattered—sneak in a personal pause relaxing into the moment.

Try this:

1. Notice a lull in the action.
   A pause, a transition, a quiet second between moments.

2. Gently pause and draw in your breath.
   Feel the sensation at your nostrils.
   Hear the sound of the inhale.
   Notice where the breath travels—near the windpipe, expanding the chest, lifting the heart.

3. Rest for a moment in this fullness.
   Simply notice what’s alive inside of you right now.

4. Slowly exhale.
   Let yourself soften and settle into all that surrounds you.

5. Awaken your senses.
     Take 3 more full, deep breaths.  Better yet, gift yourself 10.
   Notice all that you feel, hear, smell, see, and taste — immerse in the present field around you.

6. On the final exhale, release the breath completely.
   Connect with what is most true, nourishing, and rewarding…
   then gently move on with your day. Enjoy