How to Find Calm and Reflection During the Holiday Season

The holiday season often drives people, to pack their schedules, frantically search for souvenirs for family and friends, and try to get everything, including their health, under control before the holiday.

But how can you find peace and reflection amidst the hustle and bustle of the pre-holiday season? And how can you do something good for yourself, your body, and thus your entire social environment?

Create Time for Relaxation

If you can’t find time for relaxation naturally, plan it consciously into your daily routine. For example, schedule:

• “Meeting with Myself – 4:30 PM to 5:00 PM” or
• “Deliberate Idleness – Embracing Boredom – 7:30 PM to 8:00 PM”.

Ideally, do this daily or at least 2-3 times a week.

During this half-hour, consciously avoid activities that require specific focus, like thinking about a particular problem or doing exercises with a set goal (such as reaching a certain distance, a location, a number of repetitions, achieving a specific meditative state, or a certain level of mindfulness).

Also, refrain from engaging in activities that direct your attention and thought flow, like reading a book, scrolling through social media, or watching TV.

To achieve a feeling of inner calm, you need a conscious period of “ineffective” existence. Otherwise, we may be as efficient as a machine, but also as uninspired as one 😉 Henning Beck describes this beautifully in his book “Irren ist Nützlich” (Being Wrong is Useful).

What Should You Do During This Half Hour for Yourself? Here Are Simple Suggestions:

• Stand still as if waiting for someone and simply observe people or nature.
• Sit down, have a coffee, and watch the people around you or your own thoughts.
• Watch a candle flame.
• Enjoy food or a drink (it doesn’t have to be something high-calorie).
• Have a light, pleasant conversation (perhaps with a stranger?).
• Indulge in daydreaming, letting thoughts come and go freely 

What Will Happen If You Practice This:

• You will generally move through your daily life more relaxed (less muscle tension and mental strain).
• You will practice the ability to adopt an observer role, which can be beneficial in various everyday situations.
• Increased relaxation can lead to reduced irritability and thus lower sensitivity to pain source .
• Your nervous system can use this seemingly boring time to reflect on important events of the day or from the distant past, organize itself, and ideally find peace.
• You will likely feel that time does not fly by as quickly – as you may feel a bit bored 😉 

Movement Exercises for Relaxation

Movement exercises can also help you find calm. Don’t be too strict with yourself during these exercises. Try not to focus on achieving a specific goal. Just enjoy the exercise and let your thoughts and attention freely wander through your body. I recommend Qi Gong exercises. The slow and gentle movements are easy to perform, calm your breath and mind. While your attention is tied to the monotonous execution of the exercises, it still has plenty of room to wander and engage with yourself or become aware of your body, which ultimately helps in finding peace.

Give It a Try:

Learn How to Train Your Mind with Qi Gong and Find Inner Peace in My Online Course.

Check it out here.