Tips for the Holiday Season

Enjoy the holiday season by staying in each moment from the inside out. Here are some tips to help you over the next 2 weeks:

• Be the change you wish to see in your loved one! Live your life at the level of recovery and wellness that you hope others in your family will pursue. Let them find their way. Focus on finding yours!
• Get phone numbers of other people in family recovery to give support to and get support from during the holiday season. If you are enrolled in a BALM® class and there is someone on the calls who you would like to talk to between calls, let us know and we will ask them for permission to exchange phone numbers between the two of you. You can also easily get phone numbers at 12 step support group meetings. Take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to others for support
• Give yourself more, not less, time to take care of yourself during the next two weeks. Some options to consider:
  • Meditate at least 3 times per day for 5 minutes each time
  • Breathe through each moment. Conscious breathing, slowly and deeply, is a powerful tool to bring calm into your life in each moment
  • Take a bubble bath or a long shower and use that time to meditate and relax.
  • Make time for a daily walk or other exercise that will allow you to let go of the season’s stress
  • Make a list of all of the good things about your loved one(s). Remind yourself that no matter how they are acting today, their loving essence is still there. See them as you know they are on the deepest level and enjoy them in the moment! Share these good memories with your loved ones and relax into each moment!
  • Laugh!
  • Make plans to get together with people you get along with and keep the plans!
  • Build time for your own spiritual growth through meetings, meditation, reading, prayer and write that time in stone.
• You matter! Keep your focus on YOU when it comes to figuring out how to be happy. You get to think the thoughts that will bring you happiness or destroy your inner peace. A light yet powerful read on this topic of becoming the owner of your own life is Reinventing Yourself by Steve Chandler.
• Stop taking other people’s behaviors personally! Their behaviors are about where THEY are in their lives. When they say things that are unkind, know that it is not about you. Yes, this is easier said than done. Thus, the need for extreme self-care and inner growth! A great book on that topic is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
• Have fun this holiday season. Stay in the moment and let go of projections and fears of what could happen. All of us have only this moment. Make the most of it by enjoying life and the people around you!