MEDITATIONS ON: The Holidays
The holidays are upon us, another year floated by, yet these times seem and are, somehow more intense than years gone by. Though it may seem superficial there is a greater understanding or experience available to us during this time of the year, as we open into the possibility of alchemy in this present moment.
So how do we find the peace and presence within all the conflict and tension the world has bestowed upon us? What do we do to expand in the celebration of whatever this holiday season is for you?
A long time ago, when I was a young woman, I lived in Hawai’i. A Hawaiian Christmas Day is much like an Aussie one; warm and sunny and not dissimilar to many homes globally, sometimes rife with disagreements and silent unhappiness. I noticed this pressure and after participating in the morning activities, I made it my mission to find my way to the ocean…to expand in the healing waters, feel the warm sand under my feet and to listen to the ticking of the palm fronds, responding to the trade winds. To be honest, no-one ever asked if they could join me, which to my delight meant a lone bicycle ride to the Pacific Ocean and a dive into the refreshing waters. I know it sounds idyllic but this time in solitude and the fecund land was my teacher, my salvation and my earthing.
Without nature in whatever form it was offered to me, I don’t know who I would have been. She (nature) taught me to release and trust. She taught me to listen and to feel. She taught me to embrace and release judgement. Nature received me as I moved towards her and her healing presence.
These days during the height of the Christmas Day palaver, we still make time for a walk; a languid stroll, to feel the earth and listen to the sound of ticking leaves responding to the wind. Maybe if we’re lucky we feel the sea baptizing us back to, or into, a re-energized awareness of ourselves and the care we feel for the earth and maybe each other.
The pressing question remains: what can we do despite the incredibly challenging and relentless upheavals many have experienced this past year and beyond?
Somehow we need to become innocent again, open to the sweetness of the present moment that life offers us. Somehow we must dig deeply into a part of us that delights in the simple, open and the curious.
We can bypass the need for gifts, maybe instead offer an innovation a helping hand or a creative way of showing and offering love in the deeds we do for another, therefore gifting others though our physicality, our soul and our Spirit. Or we can give a gift, perhaps a simple box of chocolates (only the yummiest Loco Love of course), lemons from your garden even a little cutting of rosemary tied with a bright ribbon. All of this will create the same vibration of gratitude and celebration.
To be sure, this is not meant to dismiss the many trials we have experienced or contractr the grief many are still working through, yet we know that through a gentle appreciation of what is, we could begin the healing process or at least build upon the healing already moving through us.
In times where grief has poured over me like hot honey, I have found that the kindness of people has touched me so deeply and brought me to tears of love for them. I have found meditation has aided me and even prayer of deep connection to the Divine has too, and last but not least, the Mother, or nature has broken my heart open, more times than I could recall. This visceral opening to the land has opened my heart as wide as the world and connects me to the all.
Holiday love to you always.
Five actions for the holidays
1. Innocence: Leaving presumptions at the door, be in the nowness, feel the floor under your feet as a part of your daily practice, breathe in consciously at least for a few moments each day during the holiday season, keep it simple, be fresh. Use your senses of touch, smell, sound, seeing and feeling to be non judgmental, which is what is called presence.
2. Curiosity & Wonder: Like innocence, “curiosity & wonder” bring us into the now, with a sweetness that is almost childlike. These actions are there for you to build upon. When you practice both “curiosity and wonder” there is an action of “heart” that occurs. We stop the judgement, the fear and the internal arguments that can separate us from our authentic selves . You can choose this action which brings you to a state of allowing and receiving.
3. Compassion, Kindness, Empathy and Forgiveness: There may be issues with humans when brought together during the holidays, remembering everyone has their own lives that they lead, with emotions, trials and fears. People have gone through so much over the past few years and there is a lot of trauma still being processed. There is a need to tread gently with everyone that you encounter, including yourself. Being aware of others feelings and finding patience around them will translate into a calming awareness for yourself. This will actually allow for a harmonious holiday season for yourself too. Conflicts may be better approached privately and after the holiday season.
4. Deep Listening: Honour yourself. Listen deeply to your needs and support self-care during this season. Time alone may be necessary but respecting other’s needs also need to be recognized. When we deeply listen, as taught by the Vietnamese Monk Thich Nhat Hanh, we can create silence and thus more space. There is a space between the chatter of the world and our reactions.
5. Helpfulness & Humanity: As we access the heart of “Who We Be” deeply connecting to our nature of Spirit that lives within our heart, we seem to naturally immerse in Compassion. We do not need to “do” compassion, we are compassion. Through this immersion, caring and conscious awareness, we gently want to help (without the egoic attachment to being seen as helpful, we just want to silently care) we want to participate in humanity and family.
This helpfulness generated from deep compassion will mend hearts and soothe the energy within the contracted space of these holidays.
Perhaps even this may assist us to further deepen and widen into our authentic Spirit awakening.