by MarBeth Dunn | Mar 5, 2013 | Uncategorized
A while ago, I was introduced to the practice of Ho’oponopono, made fairly mainstream by Dr. Hew Len. Since we are in unprecedented times and experiencing unprecedented things, I wanted to share the principles of this ancient Hawaiian practice with you as a way to ensure you continue to strive to vibrate at a higher level so that what you desire in life becomes your reality. Although describing Ho’oponopono could take several paragraphs, the central tenet is that anything that happens to you or your perceptions of things happening to you, is your own creation and therefore, it is entirely your responsibility. Yes, one hundred percent you with no exceptions.
To be clear, “it’s your responsibility” doesn’t mean it’s your fault. It simply means that 
you are responsible for healing yourself so that you can heal whatever situation or person that appears to you as a problem. If you don’t do this, you’re going to follow a flawed road of logic and one that will lead you to despair.
The road to despair has several steps along the way but it will always bring you to a place where you feel powerless to control your situation, which is really never true. Even if what you experience is something you can’t change (death of a loved one, loss of a job) you can always change your mindset, and that will ultimately change your outcomes.
Here’s what this path looks like: You don’t take any responsibility for where you currently are in your life/job/relationship (or you resentfully take a tiny bit of responsibility but that’s all). That causes you to blame other people or outside circumstances, and that means you can fall into victim mode with complete permission from yourself. After all, it’s those people and things out there that are the problem, not you! Once you embrace your victim status, you become powerless to do anything to change the situation, and therefore, you don’t have to try to change anything. You then become stuck, believing you can’t do anything about where you are. Yay! Go you! You can just sit and enjoy the misery now.
Enacting change can happen much faster than you realize if instead of following the above sequence, you quickly acknowledge your part in everything. It’s just a matter of perspective, accepting responsibility and deciding to do something about it. My friend “Mary” did a really great job of doing this after she hit bottom, hard. Growing up with two alcoholic parents, she quit high school, ran away and got pregnant, got married and experienced the struggle of life for quite some time. It was only when she took responsibility for herself that her life began to change. Yes, she had a difficult home environment and that wasn’t her fault, but she made many poor choices that she and only she chose to make and that eventually led to her life of struggle. Once she accepted what was, and shifted her perspective, her life began to improve quickly. She left the bad relationship and met and married a wonderful man. Eventually, they became successful business owners, bought their dream house and raised two happy and healthy children. It wasn’t until Mary stopped blaming her parents and her past though, that better things started to happen. The same can happen for you.
I read somewhere recently that you can tell you’re growing spiritually when you realize how hard it is to change yourself and how little chance you have of changing anybody else. Be on the lookout for people who seem to speak a language of complete responsibility. You’ll notice that they seem to have pretty happy lives. Why? Because if the problem is you, then the solution is also you and you actually have a chance to make some changes. If anybody or anything else is the problem, you’ve lost control, as well as the battle to create what you want out of life. You’ll just be settling for whatever defaults come your way. Don’t do that.
Choose responsibility, choose power and choose joy!
© 2013 MarBeth Dunn – All rights reserved
by MarBeth Dunn | Feb 28, 2013 | Uncategorized
“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” Have you heard that quote? If you’ve experienced a situation where you are harboring resentment, you probably know just how true this is.
Resentment is just a form of unforgiveness, and not forgiving others is one of the worst ways you can mentally abuse yourself. When someone hurts you, it’s natural to feel sad or angry, and it’s also pretty normal to not want to forgive. You may have even felt anger or resentment towards someone you don’t know that well. Although this person may have done nothing directly to you, it’s still important to forgive them because your perception IS that they have done something to you.
We are so much greater than our bodies; we are 99.999% energy and potential, and it’s important to see from a higher perspective. The reality is when you’re upset or angry with someone, it’s never for the reason you think. What’s generally happening is that you’re identifying an aspect of yourself in this person and you are angry at yourself. Let me share an example.
Sally (not her real name) was frustrated with the lack of success of her business. She felt stuck in a variety of ways. Her friend “Mary” was building a thriving business, which bothered Sally to no end! Sally was inexplicably and secretly angry at Mary all the time. She silently said unkind things about Mary and how she ran her business. She believed Mary didn’t deserve her success. One day, realizing that her thoughts were unproductive, Sally decided to have an honest conversation with Mary. She stopped justifying her anger and defending her reason to be righteously indignant, and decided to feel what she was really feeling. Much to her shock, she discovered that she wasn’t really angry at Mary at all. Sally, was furious with herself for not doing what she knew needed to be done in her OWN business. Jealous because Mary was growing while she felt herself stagnating, Sally envied Mary’s discipline, her growing business, and her courage to put herself out into the public arena, opening herself to judgment and possible ridicule. Sally learned after listening to her heart, that she wanted to be just like Mary! Although painful to realize, Sally decided to own her feelings, “forgive” Mary for what she was “doing” and most importantly, forgive herself for not living up to her own potential. It didn’t take long after this act of forgiveness, that Sally’s business took a dramatic upward swing. Clients and opportunities started flowing, her bank account grew and she was encouraged to stay in the space of inspired action and gratitude. Today, Sally admires Mary and finds her to be a very inspiring business woman.
Every day, people show up in your life and they never fail to reflect some aspect of you. Since you may not want to see yourself that way, you project what you don’t like about yourself onto another person and make it all about them. It’s time to forgive. Holding onto judgments about people and events disturbs your peace, keeps you stuck and ensures that you vibrate at a very low level. Rise above it and extend grace and mercy to yourself and those in your emotional line of fire. Certainly, if you are in any kind of physical, mental or emotional abusive situation, you need to remove yourself. That’s something completely different.
It’s time to do some soul searching, drop into your heart, forgive and let go. It will clear your path to joy and abundance!
© 2013 – MarBeth Dunn. All Rights Reserved
by MarBeth Dunn | Feb 21, 2013 | Uncategorized
Have you noticed that nothing will move you forward faster than focusing on what you desire?
It’s as if everything else fades away and all you can see is that “one thing”. You have deep clarity on your vision or a goal, and you are committed to seeing it manifest. The magic recipe calls for holding the vision of what you desire. Period.
There is a caveat. Focus is very powerful. Holding a vision of what you wish to avoid will 
attract it! Another common mistake is focusing on “how” your dream will be realized, rather than on “why” you want it. It’s easy to get off track by creating anxiety around how it will happen; getting caught up in the details. That can make you forget why getting something done was so important in the first place. Keeping your intention on the why, will help you be more motivated to see something happen and naturally stay focused.
Several years ago, I was scheduled to teach a Law of Attraction seminar, and the day before, only two people were enrolled! Dismayed, I told myself that if I couldn’t sign up at least 10 people, I’d better change businesses. I had no idea how I was going to make that happen but I did know the “why”. I had an important message to share. Rather than focus on how I was going to enroll them, I simply saw in my mind’s eye, a seminar with ten people excited to work with me. I saw and felt it as if it had already happened. Sure enough, I showed up the next day to find ten happy, eager people. The how is never as important as the why. Stay focused on your why and watch magic start to happen.
I’ve found that one of the biggest barriers to focus is the inability to release resistance. You may have noticed that when you are trying to focus on something in particular, everything else around you suddenly becomes a priority. Phone calls you didn’t want to make, household chores you didn’t want to do, everything but the one thing you are supposed to be doing, seems to need your immediate attention. This is simply procrastination and all procrastination is internal resistance. To release resistance, ask yourself what the benefits are to achieving what you’ve been avoiding. It may help to write down 10 or 15 benefits. Reminding yourself of the benefits of reaching your goal may be enough to offset any resistance you’re feeling, so you can get back into action. You can also re-frame any negative thoughts or feelings you’re having in the positive and with “I Am” statements. Allow yourself to see and feel what you want to happen as if it has already happened. Our subconscious can’t tell the difference between a dream and an actual event when we are feeling; it just knows that we are experiencing something that is making us feel really good. Raise your vibration even further through appreciation and gratitude for having already attained your goal. The higher you raise your vibrational frequency, the faster you will draw in what you desire.
The power of focus is undeniable. Focus on getting focused and watch the magic begin. The power is already inside of you!
© 2013 MarBeth Dunn – All rights reserved.
by MarBeth Dunn | Feb 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
Did you know that we are in a period of great awakenings?
We’re moving into a new age of heightened awareness and enlightenment, with Feminine Energy leading the way. With the pendulum swinging back from the past few thousand years of masculine power, more and more people are awakening from the old paradigm, allowing their intuition and other feminine powers to resurface!
With awakening, comes a different kind of power and there has never been a better time to 
fully step into yours; a power that is supported and impacted by the Universe!
While it is significant that the Divine Feminine is leading the way into a new way of being, this isn’t an article about women’s liberation! It is of note, however, that the women’s lib movement, back in the late 1960’s and into the 1970’s was an important wake-call to attract people’s attention and herald this new age. The power of the Divine Feminine, isn’t loud and forceful, rather, it is intuitive and harmonious. The Divine Feminine moves us from a spirit of competition into one of collaboration. I have, in fact, noticed more and more people and businesses embracing this non-competitive, yet highly effective strategy with great success.
In case you’re not convinced that collaboration creates a powerful environment, let’s take a look at our physical bodies:
All the cells in our body work together or collaborate to keep us healthy and operating efficiently. If you have ever studied any kind of cellular science, you know that not only do the cells in our bodies collaborate so that we are the physical wonders that we are; they energetically and passionately collaborate to keep out unwanted and harmful invaders! Since everything can be broken down to a cellular level, the very core of who we are is ninety-nine percent energy and one percent matter, which means we are essential nothing but energy and potential! The Divine Feminine embraces collaboration, intuition and drops us from our heads to our hearts, which means that decisions are made on a very deep, profound level, creating powerful outcomes!
Thus, the access to the Divine Feminine power is right within your heart! Living from your heart, you are powerful beyond measure, since you are connected to the Creator, God, Source, the Universe, Spirit, (whatever you feel comfortable calling It!) with access to all the light, love and energy of our Source. This Divine power is not overbearing or aggressive. On the contrary, it is a power to make choices and decisions based on love and intuition. This is the shift that we have all been experiencing and it is powerful indeed.
The best part is that when both the masculine and feminine within each of us work together and we are aligned in our hearts with Spirit, we are truly powerful in ways that are great and good. We have power in our thoughts, or conscious mind (masculine), that combined with the power of our hearts and intuition, creates a harmonious blend of the best of both worlds working together for your greater good. Now, that’s powerful!
2013 is a powerful year, in a powerful time, and we have the fortunate advantage to be living, working, loving and giving. Now is the perfect time to be the person you’ve always wanted to be – the person you were always meant to be. Embrace your power now!
© 2013 MarBeth Dunn – all rights reserved
by MarBeth Dunn | Feb 10, 2013 | Uncategorized
One of my friends asked me over lunch why I thought most people aren’t happy. “We’re guaranteed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, she said, sipping her tea, “Yet I’ve seen great numbers of people blocking their happiness without even realizing it.” I shared with her that in my practice, I’ve noticed that some of the primary bars to happiness are “hidden losses”, events from the present or past, people may not even be aware of. These losses can impact people more than you 
would imagine, affecting health, wealth, relationships and every aspect of life.
How do you know whether “hidden losses” are sabotaging your happiness?
Your body loves you, and will always let you know when something isn’t right, so you can address it. The first indicators that you may be experiencing hidden loss can be physical. You may notice a clenching in your solar plexus, tension, aches, pains and ailments. It can be challenging to feel happy when your body is urgently and forcefully telling you something is wrong. Are you experiencing erratic sleep patterns? (sleeping too much or not enough), high blood pressure or weight loss or gain? There’s really no shortage of what can happen when your body is trying to communicate with you that something is off. So take some time and tune in to what your body is telling you. Find a quiet place so you can hear the message.
Since hidden losses can be events that haven’t fully healed, it’s not unusual for people to think these events are no longer an issue, if they believe they’ve already released them. When not completely healed, however, the emotions associated with these events can take a large toll on your quest for happiness.
The loss of a loved one or a relationship, a loss of income or job/career or a move that required relocation, causing changes in your environment and relationships, can be events that you may not have dealt with, and healed fully. Other losses can include physical disability or illness, empty nest, loss of your self-respect, personal power, self-esteem, youth or beauty. These common examples of hidden, emotional loss can affect you, and when not addressed, may impede your happiness.
Here is a 3 step way to release your hidden losses:
Meditate on (or remember) the event and see what comes up for you. Does it still carry a charge or feel uncomfortable?
Once you’ve remembered and acknowledged your loss, ask yourself whether you’re ready to let go. It may sound strange but sometimes, you may just not be ready, and that’s okay.
If you you are ready to let it go, allow yourself to feel your feelings. Where are you holding this emotional energy in your body? Is there a heaviness in your chest? A knot in your solar plexus? A tightness in your throat? Feeling your feelings completely allows you to heal them, releasing the discomfort and charge.
Happiness is yours for the asking. Do the work to identify and then close the door on your past and hidden losses, so you can experience a joy filled life like never before!
Is it time for you to make 2013 your breakout year? If you answered yes, I invite you to experience a complimentary Joy Readiness Assessment Consultation with me. Simply click here to find out more: http://bit.ly/V7Zoqg. (my calendar is limited… please complete the survey to qualify!)
© 2013 MarBeth Dunn – All rights reserved.
by MarBeth Dunn | Jan 29, 2013 | Uncategorized
I was going through some old family photos yesterday with my cousin Joe. He’s been researching and chronicling our family genealogy for years, so he was thrilled as I was to explore the two, filled to the brim boxes of old family photos from my back closet. These photos hadn’t seen the light of day in many years, and I was so surprised to see love in so many of them. Seeing with new eyes, that had not seen until now what had been there all along, I’m so grateful for the growth, and compassion that enabled my new perspective. I stayed up long into the night, dividing the photos to share with my girls and other family members.
I fell asleep thinking about our beloved family pet, a miniature red poodle with a heart so vast and love-filled, that a warm feeling washes over me at the thought of her. She lives far away with my daughter, and I don’t see her as often now as I would wish. I’ve had so many pets, dogs, cats birds, and even a red howler monkey when I lived in Haiti, yet she is the one who touches me deeply. She opened my heart with her openness, and sweet, unconditional love. I awoke with her on my mind this morning as well, and I remembered that there is no distance with love. I’m sure that she’s feeling my love as I think about her.
As I passed the boxes of photos this morning, I smelled my Mom’s perfume wafting around me. It followed me into my office as I began writing, and again, I receive her message that love has no distance. It transcends even death. Life is eternal. Death is just a change of form, transition into another dimension. The love never dies.
© 2013 MarBeth Dunn – all rights reserved
by MarBeth Dunn | Jan 27, 2013 | Uncategorized
“Happy talk… Keep talking happy talk. Talk about things you’d like to do…”
Remember that song from South Pacific? You couldn’t listen to it and not feel happy! Have you noticed that happy people generally do talk ‘happy talk’?
Studies have shown that not only do happy people enjoy life more, they tend to get more of what 
most people say would MAKE them happy. Have you noticed how certain people seem to live charmed lives? They (for the most part) always have the good jobs, loving friends, supportive family members, nice places to live and a variety of other lifestyle items that would appear to bring them happiness. “Well, of course they’re happy,” you might say to yourself. “With all of that, why wouldn’t they be happy?”
Ah, but there is the secret ingredient to creating happiness that you may not realize: Happy people aren’t happy BECAUSE they’re successful, have good relationships, and abundant lives, they are successful, have good relationships and abundant lives because they are HAPPY. Get happy first and everything else shows up. Make no mistake, happiness is a choice. It does not depend on getting a job, having more money, living in a different place. After all, wherever you go, there you are.
Every wonder what happy people have in common? Cultivate these characteristics to create more happiness in your life!
First and foremost, happy people choose to have and keep a positive attitude. They don’t dwell on the negative or constantly talk about everything that’s wrong in their lives. They are not “stuck in their story” and they focus on what’s good in their life, not on what’s bad.
Happy people live by design. They choose to stay empowered, create a plan, know where they’re going and focus on what could be, rather than what is. Don’t underestimate the power of living in the emotion of “as if”. Staying happy is all about the feeling. A new car doesn’t make you happy, the feeling the car gives you does. See the difference?
Another trait of happy people is they hang out with other happy people! It may sound unsympathetic but happy people won’t tolerate negativity, including negative people in their lives for very long. They know it will only bring them down.
Spend some time with happy people and you’ll notice they don’t stay rattled for long. They accept what is, change what they can and don’t worry or complain about what they can’t change. This means they’re not constantly fighting an uphill battle, feeling disempowered over things beyond their control. Economy? Weather? Crazy drivers? Not worth the energy. Move on.
Happy people are spiritual, have a relationship with a Higher Power. It is a deeply essential component of their lives. They trust in a greater good and have a sense that things are as they should be. This isn’t about deferring accountability or responsibility, it’s an understanding and acceptance that there is an order to things that is beyond our human understanding and that’s okay.
I have a friend whose house burned down several years ago. She was sincerely grateful that she, her husband and brand new baby made it out of the house alive, AND her wedding dress and album weren’t turned to ash (although everything else was). Did she have moments of grief and loss? Sure, but she didn’t dwell on it and didn’t walk around in depression and despair. She was truly happy that the worst possible thing didn’t happen and she still had two important mementos with meaning. It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that for the most part, she has had, and continues to have, a very happy life. She chooses attitude, not circumstances to dictate her journey.
Happiness is the result of a deeper emotion, joy, which comes from the recesses of your heart. Feel the joy, choose happiness and watch how your life unfolds.
© 2013 MarBeth Dunn – all rights reserved
by MarBeth Dunn | Jan 21, 2013 | Uncategorized
“It was like…magic.” We’ve all heard that phrase, maybe even said it a few times, and there is something so wonderful about things that seem magical. Have you wished for more magic in your life and wonder how can you get it or get more of it?
It’s really not so hard to live a magical life. Although people may explain it in many different ways, the way to get more magic into 
your life is quite simple: you must be aligned with and connected to Spirit. When you are aligned and connected, things become much clearer and everything seems to fall into place seamlessly and without effort. Why is that? Because your alignment with Spirit insures that you are on point for living your purpose, and being connected means you’re receiving everything you need to achieve it. Living in alignment and living out your purpose will take you to the place where you have a magical, fulfilled life. When you are aligned with Spirit, you are vibrating at a high level, and by the Law of Attraction will effortlessly attract everything you desire to live your purpose.
Ultimately, living on purpose is what will get you up every day with a fire in your belly and a passion to start the day and stay in your day. This has, in recent years, been described as your “why” or the reason you do what you do every day. Interestingly enough, that reason is never just about the work you’re doing as it’s so much bigger than that. When your why is strong, it’s in all probability because you are in alignment with Spirit, in that sweet spot, where things seem to happen naturally and easily. You will also feel more joy about the work you’re doing. You’re in “flow”, which is how author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes it in his book by the same name. Hours can pass and you’re blissfully unaware of time flying by because you are singularly focused, singularly driven and completely in love with what you’re doing and the invisible support that’s around you. You are in perfect alignment.
Conversely, it doesn’t take much mis-alignment to have it greatly impact your business or life. I was talking to a friend the other day as she described to me how she just felt a little “off” in her business. She explained that she felt like the game at Cracker Barrel, where you put the golf tees in the wooden triangle but it never has all the holes filled. “I feel like I’ve got 97% of those tees in the triangle but the 3% that are missing is just enough to make me feel like things aren’t right. I don’t have the enthusiasm for my business that I normally do.” After further conversation, we discovered that she hadn’t been writing enough; something she loves to do but has not been her main line of work (although it is a part of it). I suggested she not change anything except start carving out more time to write and create her own material. From there, she could reevaluate. The relief was palpable. Writing is a passion that needed to be included for her life vision to work 100%!
I’ve noticed that being in alignment is very much like being pregnant, you’re either are, or you’re not. “Almost” in alignment is still out of alignment, as my friend could sense, and out of alignment, even though it may be just the tiniest bit, blocks the flow of everything else. Bringing more magic into your life is possible and very attainable if you take the time to pay attention to the feedback your heart, body and mind are giving you. Listen to them very carefully because the answers are all there, just waiting for you!
© MarBeth Dunn – all rights reserved
by MarBeth Dunn | Dec 29, 2012 | Uncategorized
We are living in a time of great transformation, of global oneness and connectivity, in the new Age of Aquarius. It is a time, as Yogi Bhajan tells us, to “Vibrate the Cosmos, and the Cosmos will clear our way” with our words, as they reflect our true and Divine nature. It is a time to live from our hearts, from love, compassion and authenticity.
I’ve just spoken at the World Parliament on Spirituality in India, ushering in an age of unity and spirituality, filled with great masters, educators, and speakers from around the world. Though the messages were different, the underlying theme was of unity, living from the heart and embodying love.
I’m here with Dr. Yugandhar, creator of the World Parliament on Spirituality with other speakers, including Jacquiline Ripstein, and Harrison Klein
Transformation begins from within. It begins with the simple desire for a new way of being. Envision yourself being as you desire. Imagine you have already embodied it. FEEL the appreciation and gratitude that it has already occurred, and follow your inner guidance that will create it. We are above all else, spiritual beings, and our wisdom is accessed from within, in our heart of hearts.
We are in the Age of Aquarius. The final cusp ended last November, 2011, and as we enter into this new year, I want to share with you some wonderful ways that you can shift into being a more authentic, empowered, spiritual, joyful, you.
You see, the Aquarian age is very different from the Piscean age we just left. The energy is not the same. We must learn new ways to navigate in this new age, because the rules have shifted, along with the energy. For 2000 years, the Piscean age was an age dominated by men rather than women. Our model was based on the left brain, masculine logic of Descartes: “I think, therefore I am”. Our emphasis was on accessing the right information. The great knowledge about our potential and spirituality was secretive, and hidden from the general public. As we come into the new age, however, information is abundant and easily obtained. You can easily find information about anything and anyone.
According to Yogi Bhajan, who brought Kundalini Yoga to the west, the new Aquarian Age is ruled by awareness, information, and energy. In the Aquarian Age there are no secrets! Information is available… it’s everywhere! He says. “Real value will come from truth embodied in practical actions and in the internal caliber and qualities of your mind and heart. The greatest power will be your Word – your consciously projected words. It is the age of I am that I am, where value is placed on living authenticity, and guided by your connection to your inner wisdom.” We access our inner wisdom by trusting our “gut” reactions… our feminine powers of intuition.
This is a change of such magnitude, because we are changing both inside and out. Yogi Bhajan continues,” The mind is changing its sensitivity, its basic frequency and functioning. Our lifestyle is changing its sense of time, space, relatedness, and relevancy.”
This is a time of love and compassion for ourselves and others, and of being our authentic selves. Of recognizing that the other person is you.. Of turning inside to our inner wisdom to discern which information is relevant, of marrying the wisdom of the mind with the wisdom of the heart, so that we see through the eyes of love.
Yogi Bhajan tells us to vibrate the Cosmos. The Cosmos shall clear the path. and we do this through our words. The greatest power will be your Word, your consciously projected words.
We must use our words and thoughts wisely. As A Course in Miracles reminds us, there are no idol thoughts, and we think on the average 70,000 thoughts/day. Thinking disempowering thoughts, disempowers you. Don’t judge your thoughts, just notice them, and notice how you are feeling. Use your emotions to navigate toward thoughts that make you feel better. We are in the time of I Am that I Am. It’s a powerful time, where we create by being… by vibrating the Cosmos with our words. Whatever we attach to the words “I Am” creates our state of being..”I am powerful beyond measure”, “I am living my purpose”, I am happy, joyful and free”. Vibrate the Cosmos with your words and create your new state of being!
Peace, Love & Joy to you in this wonderful new age!
© 2012 by MarBeth Dunn. All rights reserved.
by MarBeth Dunn | Dec 12, 2012 | Uncategorized
Although the holidays can bring a sense of excitement and joy for many people, it can arouse feelings of sadness, stress and loneliness for others. From the hustle and bustle of cooking, shopping, and entertaining, to the social engagements and often unrealistic expectations, “’tis the season” can generate a not so merry and bright feeling in the hearts of many. Fortunately, there 
are things you can do to experience a holiday season that is more joyful, if you choose to do so.
Since our thoughts create our reality, examine your thought patterns during this time. You can choose to have different thoughts and feelings about the holiday season so that you rewrite the stories from your past and start to create new and happier memories.
If triggers or patterns from your past keep you stuck and repeat themselves every year at this time, choose a different way of interacting. Before you simply react (as you have many times before), challenge yourself to see things differently. Ask yourself, “What if I could see this situation from a different vantage point, more objectively or from the other person’s point of view. Pay attention to what you are physically feeling and notice how your body is responding to the stressful or upsetting situation. If possible, get to a place where you can close your eyes and do some deep breathing so you can get into your heart space. From this space, it will be easier to work through your feelings and open yourself to see things with more empathy and compassion.
Recognizing that certain environments and people have triggered your reactions over the years should allow you the freedom to then embrace the fact that you can choose to have a different response this year, or participate for a shorter time.
Another way to ward off the holiday blues is to make sure you practice the art of extreme self-care. What do you need to be happy “normally”? Can give yourself a little extra? More sleep, more time to be alone (or less), more exercise or perhaps a treat, like a facial or a massage, can work wonders. Be very attentive to taking care of you.
If you’re missing your loved ones, the holiday season can be especially lonely. Be gentle with yourself. Don’t stuff your emotions, allow yourself to feel them, even if they’re not comfortable. Be proactive by setting up a support system before the holidays. If you’re feeling down, don’t hesitate to support for yourself by reaching out to others. You are not alone! There are plenty of people feeling the same way you are.
You can also boost your spirits by volunteering or being of service to others. Since giving and receiving are the same, you will feel better about yourself when you reach out to support other people. And, if you find that memories of holidays past generate sadness, why not open yourself to finding new ways to celebrate by creating a different tradition?
Are finances a source of stress or anxiety this time of year? There are many ways you can give a meaningful gift without spending any money at all! The gift of your time by running errands, babysitting or pet sitting, housecleaning etc, might be greatly appreciated by your loved ones. You may be providing them with a solution to a problem that has been causing them stress! These services can add up quickly so if they are short on funds, your gift would be most welcome.
Finally, it’s more important than ever during the holidays to set good boundaries. It’s okay to say no to things that you don’t want to do. Sure, some people may be disappointed but don’t feel guilty about choosing to do what would be the best for you. After all, this is your holiday season too!
Give yourself the the gift of the extra time, attention and love you need and deserve this season so you can be relaxed and joyful… and enjoy your holidays!
© 2012 MarBeth Dunn. All rights reserved.
