10 Tips For A StressLESS Holiday Season | S1E044

Hello and welcome to a call for love. I believe the most powerful gift you can offer yourself is to give and receive love more freely. I'm your host Linda Orsini meditation guidance spiritual coach. Everyone has the desire to be seen, heard, respected and loved. The journey to becoming more connected to your greater purpose lies within the ability to live from the deep source of love within you. Let's begin.

Welcome back to call for love. And if this is your first time, then it is no mistake, because a call for love is about living from the deep source of love within you. And this time of the year as we prepare for the holiday season. This is what we want to keep in mind more than anything, because I'll tell you, it is crazy and hectic out there. I don't know about you, but I feel it. In order to prepare for this episode, I made a favorite drink of mine. So I boil the hot water in a pot and I get fresh ginger and I chop it up, I peel off the skin and guess what I peel off the skin with a spoon. I sliced the ginger I let it boil. Then I take it out. I add some lemon and some manuka honey, and some spices like cinnamon, turmeric and cayenne pepper. And I sip it so I have my nice warm drink here to guide you through 10 tips to create a stress less holiday. It's never too late to create more room in your life, more conscientious decision making to notice how things are going. As we get closer and closer to the holidays, you may be finding that you're getting busier and busier. So let's discuss the 10 tips. Number one, if you can plan ahead, plan ahead for anything that's coming up, even if it's the night before, preferably a little sooner than that, but plan ahead. And that might mean marking it in your calendar. For me, marking it in my calendar also means adding reminders, because even if it's in my calendar, sometimes when things get really hectic, I still forget. So those reminders are super, super helpful. Number two is food. I don't know about you, but there are a lot of foodies in my life, people who really think and plan for their food and what they're going to eat. I think this is a really great idea, because you don't want to have a dinner that's coming up and not being prepared. I know that it's very important for our family to create a menu of what we're going to have for the special occasions and there could be more than one special occasion. In fact, I'm hosting a gathering holiday gathering for some friends. And I'm planning ahead I have written out what I want to serve. Now this is an appetizer, it's not a meal. So we're all contributing appetizers, but I do want to know what we're going to have and I want to be able to go into the fridge and know it's there. So I'm going to separate the grocery shopping and the cooking, not doing them both on the same day. For me that becomes a little bit overwhelming. So I like to plan a menu and shop ahead for the ingredients as early as they can as long as they're not perishable. And I'd like to share a little tip here for food. My family loves cookies. So what I often do is I will create a big batch like double or triple the recipe of shortbread, let's say a holiday cookie. And when the dough is ready, I will get clean wrap and I will make the dough into like a little log and roll it in the cling wrap fold up the edges and put it in the freezer. Then when from having company or even if we're lounging in front of the fire at night. I can go out of the freezer, take one of these logs, let it defrost not super long, and then slice them into little circles and then place them onto a cookie sheet and wallah. We have nice warm cookies and who doesn't like a warm cookie. The nice thing about this is you can have two kinds you can have Some that are vegan, where you can have some that are gluten free. Or then you can have the deluxe with all the butter and the sugar that you want. Just an idea. Everyone likes something warm that comes out of the oven, and the smell of it coming out of the oven. And then you don't have to do that prep. So creating cookie dough, wrapping it in like a tube shape. And putting it in your freezer, is one of my favorite tips for preparing for food, especially desserts and treats. Number three, do you create a budget and how much you want to spend because I sometimes can get impulsive. And I get into a store or I get into a mindset that, that looks fantastic. I would really love that. And then there goes the budget. So if you are a person that creates a budget, maybe write it down. Another way is to pay cash. I don't know how many people are paying cash these days. But it's always a great idea, especially if you are on a budget. And the third way to create financial stress less tips for the holidays, my sister says she pays into her credit card before the holiday because there's nothing that really gets you. When it's January, and you get a bill in the mail of all your Christmas or holiday shopping, it becomes really what do they call that Blue Monday or something like that, when you get the bills after the map, and it's a little hard to take. So maybe you want to pay into your credit cards beforehand. I think that's a really great idea. I have done that sometimes. I haven't done it yet this year. But I think it's something that I might consider. Number four, I don't know about you, but life has gotten so much busier these days, the traffic, there is no shutdown. Everyone is living full force, I know that I have some functions to go to. And there's nothing worse than planning what you're going to wear break before you have to go. I suggest that you find two, three, or even four outfits for the holiday season that are ready to go, that they still fit you that they still look great on you. And that you still feel great in, don't wear something that doesn't make you shine that doesn't bring you joy, you want to wear something that lights you up. You don't necessarily need something new. Maybe you need a little accent for that the outfit. But there is a lot going on. Now I know we're invited to many functions, it's nice to be prepared. So create a couple of outfits that you can use during the holiday season that are really going to make you feel good. Number five, let go of perfectionism. It's not going to go perfect. It's not going to go as planned. And I've said this before on a call for love. I don't even know what perfect is. But we create this mindset of how we want things to be. And it's not always the case, things come up. Somebody gets a call, there's traffic and you can get where you're gonna go. There's a snow storm, we live in Canada. So that is a possibility. Really let go of perfectionism. allow things to unfold naturally. Of course you want to plan like I said, number one plan ahead. But then you have to have that wiggle room to let things flow naturally. Number six, can you simplify? Can you simplify all the things that you need to do and just make them a little simple, I'm going to share with you one of my one way I simplify and that is if I'm not feeling it, I do not put out all my decorations. A lot of decorations at some years or others can really overwhelm me. I really try to turn inward to see how many decorations I would like to place around my home. Simplify could mean even your menu it could mean what you're going to wear. It could mean your decorating it could mean how many engagements you say yes to wherever your simplified looks like really honor it. It's okay to simplify. Number seven Can you delegate,

can you delegate some of the items that are on your list to somebody else, it could be somebody in your work place, it could be somebody in your home delegate. And I know that many people are really, really busy. I even know some people that hire a cleaning service to come clean their home. So that takes one thing off their plate. One thing they do not have to worry about, and they can place their energy and time on something else. Number eight, this is a great one. Whatever you do, does it pass the joy test? Is it going to bring you joy, just something that you want to notice, if it's really bringing you down. Or if it's really causing you angst or dread, it's sucking the energy out of you something to notice, maybe that's one thing you can simplify. Number nine, create a list. Create a list of what you want to do for the holidays, and create a list of what you must do. We live in this world where we have responsibilities. So even though I said in number eight, does it bring you joy, there's going to be things that we must do. And then there's going to be things that we want to do. Sometimes we don't really know, these kind of blurred together, find a quiet time, a little bit of space, where you can sit down in your favorite area, drinking your favorite hot beverage because it's cold here, as I said in Canada, so I choose hot at this time here and write down what you want, versus what you must do. For instance, I've wanted to place lights outside my home for years now. There was a time we always decorated our home with lights. And it hasn't happened. It hasn't happened in a couple of years. And that want is just simply that it's a want. It hasn't happened. I'm okay with that. I mean, I would like the little decorations. But is it really even great for the environment anyways to have all those lights on. In any case, that is a want. But a must for me is because of my tradition, my family tradition, I like to have a tree, I like to have a lit tree. And there was a year that I decided I could not even handle a tree. I did not want a tree and we didn't have a tree we had a little Charlie Brown tree that went on the table. And it was okay for that year and my family really didn't mind. But looking back, it was kind of a lunch bag letdown. I must encoding to my mindset have a tree I want to tree and so I am choosing a tree over lights or decorations outside. That is one example of a must versus a want. What do you really want? Versus what must you get done? Another one is maybe extravagant gifts. But must you have extravagant gifts? Can you donate to other people? Could you create more experiences for your family or for those you care about? Can you create more time for those you care about? So wants versus mass wants versus needs. That's something that you want to think about. Finally, that tip, practice self care. Go slow to go far. Know when you need a break. Know when you need to put your feet up. Know when you need a little quiet. Know when you need to say no. And that's really important because when we push ourselves, everyone loses. We get sick. As a school teacher, I think for 20 to 30 years. I was sick every Christmas. Actually. I think I was sick every Christmas. When I met my husband. He says you're sick every Christmas because I would run myself ragged right to that day and think oh well I'll have a break during the holidays. It's not a way to live. Take the time to practice some self care before because then you don't Get ragged and you know who wants a cranky person in their home. Because you're so overwrought with things to do, that maybe you don't even have to do remember those wants versus needs. And really decide how you can practice self care. It does not have to be elaborate. It could be just quiet time, it could be reading your favorite book, it could be a quiet conversation with somebody who you care about. It could be going to bed a little earlier on a certain night of the week, especially if you've been out late the night before. Really compensate for that, notice how much sleep you're getting. We really want to make sure that there's enough rejuvenation for our physical body in order for our mind to function properly. For me, a big treat is taking a book and going to bed a little earlier to read until my eyes get so heavy, I put my book down and close the light. For me that is a real treat. That's a practice of self care. So how can you offer yourself Self care during this holiday season. Holidays can be a really beautiful time, a time that you can share joy, with those that you care about. It's an excuse to get together. And it's an excuse to really celebrate and decorate and live. There's a lot of people in the world now who are really suffering. We can really hold them in our heart. And we can do what we can to help those. This is the bonus one, this is not the 10 it's such a bonus that you might want to wrap your whole holidays in this. How can you give to others? How can you help? How can you support in your time in your thoughts in your intentions? Even financially? How can you support others around you? You know, really ask yourself that if you know somebody with really young kids, and they're having a hard time getting everything done while taking care of their kids, maybe you want to help out there. I know that you know, donating at this time of the year to kids or families that have nothing to receive is a really really precious time. Remember when you give you get back. And that's something that is priceless to give in order to just really fill your heart. So how can you give these are my 10 tips for a stress less holiday. I wonder if you could add to this list. I would love to hear you can share it with me via social media. Or drop me an email Linda Orsini at global wellness education.com I'd love to hear from you. Always wishing you peace, especially at this time of the year. Have fun. But go slow to go far. From my heart to yours. Namaste

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