The thing that is really hard, and really amazing,
is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.—Anna Quindlen

After hosting HTC10, I’ve been hunkered down in front of the fireplace studying with a cuppa tea and snoring pugs nearby.

Four years of grad school followed by 3,000 hours over two and a half years has led me to this final part on my psychotherapy journey: the social work licensing exam. You know, no pressure!

As I spend the next week immersed in study guides and rewriting concepts onto my pink legal pads, I’d appreciate any good vibes you can send. Standardized tests make me a little less than tranquil.

Considering this time of the year is filled with so many activities, obligations, and requests, I wanted to share a few tips to infuse your holiday hustle with ease.

During our recent (and very first) Facebook Live Event, I focused on Holiday Tranquility and below you’ll find a smattering of the suggestions:

  • List everything on your mind: groceries, gifts, cards, decorations
  • Review the list for your MITs (Most Important Tasks) and cross off what isn’t a must, see choices
  • Make self-care a priority: sleep, exercise, water, healthy food
  • Breathe deeply and place your hand over your heart to calm the nervous system
  • Stack like with like tasks
  • Reflect on your year
  • Watch for triggers: over-doing, perfectionism, loneliness, unrealistic expectations, feeling trapped, overeating/drinking, negative comments
  • Unplug
  • Embrace simple pleasures: read, sit fireside, sip hot cocoa
  • Help others: volunteer, donate, reach out
  • Travel lightly
  • Get outside
  • Practice mindful eating and drinking
  • Try monochrome decorations = easier and artsy
  • Gift DIY/consumables (in 2013 I ran a four-part series with DIY ideas): bath salts, lavender body oil, jam, sugar scrub, dried potpourri, simmering potpourri, homemade granola, soap, embroidered handkerchiefs, candles
  • Stick with a routine
  • Consider the meaning of the holidays
  • Abandon old customs that don’t resonate

May your holidays be filled with meaning, deep breaths, and ease. Thank you for being such a joyful part of mine! Bisous. x

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