Two holiday practices to help you ditch the overwhelm and reconnect with the sacredness of the season
If you’re craving less overwhelm and more connection with what you consider sacred this holiday season I invite you to listen in to today’s post…
I’m sharing two holiday practices I think you are going to LOVE that will help you track your energy and create sacred space for what matters most to you this winter holiday season.
Listen along here…
Hello Dear Intuitive One,
My household is completely ditching the yearly holiday obligations this year. Gone are the cooking and baking for hours, spending more hours driving up and down 1-5 for family holiday dinners and the overwhelm of needing to do more to make our home “company ready”.
This year, we’ve given ourselves permission to do something different.
Maybe you already know this about me, but I’m a big lover of winter holidays. I love the lights sparkling in the darkness, the snow, the time with people and animals I love and I even love holiday movies, the good and the really bad ones. But what I don’t love is the busyness - the fullness of it all. As an introvert and an empath, year after year it leaves me burned out and feeling less connected with the sacred.
Image: A photo of Miss Kitty, a black and white cat (who I swear is smiling in this photo!) when she first joined our family on Christmas Eve back in 2016 In this photo she is seeing and hearing the sounds and sight of a chirping bird cat toy for the VERY first time!
The holidays (including time for the bad holiday movies) for me are all about creating time for the sacred. Sacred time to reconnect, reflect and restore from the long year in the restorative darkness that winter brings.
Yet when this time of year is too full and too busy, time to actually enjoy this sacred space is often the last thing on the To Do list. It gets lost in the fullness of it all. I don’t know about you but, when I feel obligated to bake, I forget to weave in my love spells for hope and health. When I feel obligated to make things perfect, I forget that sacredness isn’t easily found in “company ready” perfection.
Rather, sacredness is found in the micro-moments of being present with what is— and that’s when ordinary life becomes magic
Image: Photo of our solstice tree which is decorated simply with white lights, found sticks covered in forest moss, clear glass balls, a few glass crystals, handmade beaded ornaments and a polar bear ornament.
This year we are doing less.
Choosing the things that we feel we have the bandwidth to be able to be fully present for and politely declining the rest. We are switching out those 9 hour long drives on I-5 with hikes with local friends through the snowy hills - at a pace fit for our old lady dog friend Whiskey. Rushed baking is getting switched out for those delicious baked-in-love spells for hope and health.
And our little solstice tree was put up with the most simple deco - from only that which I found in the very first box of holiday décor I opened from the stash of holiday boxes in the basement.
Let’s tune Inward
Holiday practice #1: An energy level check-in
This year, I invite you to reinvite what you consider sacred back into your holidays. Perhaps choose one or two things not to do, so you have space to enjoy the sacred that is. I invite you to take moments everyday to listen to your gut for a yes or no when you think about your December calendar.
As you listen in, notice if you can sense your breath moving when you’re thinking about doing that extra thing… if you can feel your breath moving calmly and fluidly… that may be a solid “yes you have time and energy for this”. And if your breath is frozen and held tight….? That may be a solid “No, there is no energy for this”.
Image: Photo of the “Sacred Space” Oracle card from The Reclaiming Center Oracle which is now available for sale in my shop. The card has a simple image of a green wreath and reads, “ When during my day am I craving more sacred space? How can I shift my intention to prioritize and create this needed space for myself?”
Let’s tune Inward
Holiday practice #2: Creating sacred space this winter holiday
At the heart of creating sacred space is being present and noticing the sacred in everything that is already all around us. It’s about ditching the scattered and heady and doing things with clear and focused intent. It’s also about connecting deeply with my allies and guides in the here and now, right within my own heart-center.
Following the prompt from the Sacred Space card from The Reclaiming Center Oracle (link) I invite you to tune-in for a moment and ask yourself these questions…
What is sacred space to you?
When during your day are you craving more sacred space?
And how can you use your intention to prioritize and create this needed sacred space for yourself?
Thanks for tuning in with me today,
XO
Joanna
A holiday gift for you…
Four extra reminders to help you stay connected
with your center this holiday season
Image: A photo of The Reclaiming Center Oracle tied with twine next to a white cut of tea with cinnamon sticks. You can buy this deck in my shop by following this link
With the busyness of everything-holiday in the coming weeks, I’ve created weekly reminders to help you be mindful to slow down and carve out sacred space and time to tune back inward to your center.
I’ll be posting these reminders every Monday until Jan 2nd using The Reclaiming Center Oracle on Instagram. You’ll find me and these easy to digest reminders to recenter and connect with the sacred at using the little yellow button below.
