Holiday Traditions: Mixing in a Little New with the Old

Happy Gratitude Day everyone!

As you look to the day ahead, you might find yourself following certain traditions. Perhaps they are ones that you engaged in since you were a kid. Maybe they are ones you've adopted through relationships. Or, you could be following along with traditions that you've seen others engaged in or believe you "should" engage in. I have a suggestion -- why not make some conscious traditions of your own? Create traditions that allow you to be present during the holidays. Here are some suggestions for today:

• Start the day with some yoga and/or meditation. I started the tradition of going to a yoga class (which is something I don't normally do, as I practice at home) on Thanksgiving morning years ago and I absolutely love it. You don't have to go to a full 60 or 90-minute class if time is tight -- try practicing at home for 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of quiet meditation time. The peace and well-being of this brief, 30-minute practice will carry through for the rest of the day. And if you overindulge on Thanksgiving, you'll feel happy that you got in a little bit of movement in the morning.
• Go for a walk after your Thanksgiving meal. Typically, the Thanksgiving feast routine goes like this -- eat until over full then lie on the couch and eventually fall asleep (the ancient yogis recommend this formula for a happy digestive system -- 50% food, 25% air/space, 25% water). I've been on the icky feeling end of a Thanksgiving meal in which I overindulged plenty of times. Nothing feels better than moving around a bit to get the digestive system primed. Don't think about speed walking -- just keep things at a nice, leisurely pace. This is also a great way for you and your fellow celebrants to bond, catch up, share. 
• Dance! Yes, that's right -- move your body to some music. Any type of music will do, as long as your body wants to move when it hears it. Try the song below -- it'll definitely get you up and moving. Moving is a great way to wake-up the body, put you in a good mood, and enhance your feelings of aliveness. A friend of mine loves going to her mother's house early so that she can dance in the kitchen while they prepare the food for the holiday. Her mother loves to take periodic dance breaks while she cooks. Often they end up moving and laughing and have more fun preparing the meal than eating it!

Now that I've offered up a few suggestions, get creative and add some Thanksgiving traditions of your own.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank each and every one of you for reading my blog posts. I'm so grateful that people actually care about and are helped by my rantings and ravings about my passion, yoga. I wish I could sit at a big Thanksgiving table with each and every one of you and tell you how grateful I am to have you in my life. Since I can't, I'll say this with a song -- I love you!

Happy Thanksgiving and Namaste!

Comments

[twitter.com/americandollars]

There are many established techniques of meditation for beginners most consist of sitting comfortably on your bed or floor cushion and focusing on a calming thought or lying on the floor mentally visualising your body or parts of which. Long gone are the days when only hippies would meditate even though many people still do associate meditation with old Buddhist monks wearing orange robes, or perhaps somebody secluding themselves in a far off temple for several years. Well, things have come a long way and beginners learning to meditate will not have to retreat to a secluded temple to get hands on experience, you wont have to visit a cave or grow a beard either. http://www.spiritualarticle.com

[Tina]

Awesome! I love that song, thanks for sharing :)

Tina

[Mike]

I just discovered your blog. Great blog!

[Sofia]

I discovered your blog recently and am glad I did. Nice posts on Thanksgiving!

[Hannah Elsebø]

Great tips... Happy Thanksgiving Diane.