Giving Grace 3 Ways To Empower Your Emotional Architecture to Thrive This Holiday – The ambient buzz of clashing chatter and the ring of dueling electronics crowds out clear communication. The odd overwhelm has caused the sounds around me to turn into a sheet of white noise. The tension in my shoulders begins to rise, pulling my ears upward as if gravity failed. I find it blissful, slightly maddening, and still, I enjoy this time of year. It’s the moments in between the holiday chaos that creates clarity, a deep pause, and an existential sigh.
Having watched the leaves steadily turn colors and the storefronts switch from Halloween decorations to twinkling lights. I find myself awestruck by the beauty of the fall harvest season. A time of year where our senses turn inward from the temperament of the weather and shortened days. This season invites us to examine our foundations and nothing challenges our emotional nature more than preparing for the holidays.
Early in my career, I could see the effects that unprocessed emotions had on my clients. As family comes together, so many of us come apart. Back then, it was my job to supply the much-needed escape, a safe haven for the busy, overworked and overwhelmed. Shoulders tensed, low-backs slipped out, necks locked as we braced amidst the rush of the holidays.
Today as an Alignment and Embodiment Guide, I see this time of year from a different perspective. I view the world of physical pain through a lens of body language and emotion. Our pain is a message of the repetitive actions and feelings we carry out into our lives through our actions. I understand even better today the cycles of chronic pain and how our environment can create such internal chaos. Those aches and pains that cropped up in so many of my clients was a form of self-protection, an emotional armor, bracing, and overworking until the body called for a time-out.
Many clients only visited for the season, not because they were miraculously healed but because the internal focus triggering their body to armor up was gone. The aches and pains were caused by a dual embodiment of their past self while preparing for the future. This was a loss of presence during a time of gratitude.
Self-examination and turning inward is part of the natural cycle of this time of year. Adding the pressures of the holidays mixed with expectations, perfectionism, family, and we have a recipe for deep feelings of unloved, unworthy, or simply not enough. Here are a few ways to rise above the Holiday overwhelm.
1: Visit your younger self with appreciation
Keep in mind while visiting family, the dynamics that made you who you are today may come back up in uncomfortable memories or emotions. While the visit is temporary, the drive that pushed you forward in life and the conflict that made you sure of yourself enough to find your own place in the world, happened here. Regardless where you might be currently, that alone is enough to be thankful for the grit of the person you have become. Take stock of the life you desire to create focusing on why you wanted to make a change for yourself. Write it down in a note to yourself, add to the note while you’re with your family and turn your focus to what you have created and appreciation for how far you have come.
2: Own it, and walk confidently into it
I learned a long time ago that a bully can only push you around with those things that we can not accept about ourselves. I found a strange place inside myself that could transmute those pains into steel structures within my foundation and sense of self. Laughter is a necessary medicine. I learned that if you can laugh at your own misfortune that those things hold no power over you. Even our greatest failures become a lesson learned. Allow your weakness to be a catalyst for growth and no one can disempower you. So walk confidently into who you are and own it, whether it’s a classroom, board room, or family dinner, just own it.
3: Prioritize self care, setting the intention that this moment is just for me
It’s easy to get pushed over the edge when you’re already running at maximum. Between our daily lives and the added needs of making a magical holiday season, selfcare care routines seem to tank. Schedule time away to prioritize your needs, curiosities and desires. Create micro-moments of self-indulgence within the preparations of taking care of others. Those small moments will act like an oxygen mask when the ever-growing to-do list tries to consume you.
These micro-moments can look like lighting an aromatherapy candle while working, setting the intention that this moment is just for you. It can be as simple as buying a coffee creamer in a special flavor and taking a few minutes to savor a self-indulgent treat. Weave these small acts into your daily routine and the burnout will turn into ease, fulfilling productivity.
I am not going to make magical promises or claims about what life can be like, “If only you just”……….. What I will say is that we are all unique and that deserves appreciation, grace, and love, and If you try sometimes, you just might find you’ll get what you need.
Unlock the secrets of emotional architecture and embrace the holidays with a renewed sense of grace. Don’t miss out on my Exclusive Elevation Sessions! Follow the QR code to gain access and empower yourself with the tools to thrive during this festive season. https://www.emotionalarchitecture.us/
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