Before you peel the apples for your famous apple pie, run to the store to pick up last minute munchies, or vacuum the house (again), this holiday season, make a P.A.C. with yourself.

What’s a P.A.C.? It’s your intention, cue, prompt, wake up call to getting grounded, keeping calm when you are triggered, and remembering what’s really most important over the holidays.

Pause
Arrive
and have Compassion for yourself.

Pause. Literally slow down and get still for a moment. We have to train our brains and bodies to pause a few times a day. Just slowing down does wonders for our nervous system and supports us responding instead of reacting.

Arrive. We have a tendency to “not be here” in this present moment. Our thoughts are usually in worrying about the future or ruminating about the past. You can go to my shop and find this Sacred Pause meditation.  Once you get the basics down of getting grounded, connecting your senses and your breath, and being here in the present moment with mindfulness, you can arrive and do a Sacred Pause for 30 seconds, one minute, three minutes – how ever long you need in order to come back to yourself.

Have Compassion for yourself. The millisecond we start to get stressed (triggered, react), compassion goes out the window. When you pause and arrive with mindfulness, you begin to “tend and befriend” yourself instead of beating yourself up or treating yourself harshly. It’s like turning on the “compassion switch” in your heart, brain and body. Instead of having all those stress hormones running through you, you get the “love hormone” of oxytocin flowing. Put your hand on your heart, say something kind to yourself, and soften (you all know this is one of my favorite all-time words – along with gentleness. Give yourself a dose of gentleness, too!).

Practice this P.A.C. with yourself when you are NOT stressed — before you get on the road to visit family; before you have your nieces and nephews running around your house; before you spend hours at the airport or in traffic. You’ll train your brain to listen to your heart. You’ll train your nervous system to support you in “tending and befriending” yourself. You’ll return to who you really are…and remember what’s really matters over this holiday season.  And the compassion you have for yourself will flow into compassion for others.

Short and sweet post, friends! I hope this practice nourishes you and helps you to come back home to your Self, lighten up, delight in the goodness within yourself and around you this holiday season, and connect more deeply with the dear ones in your life.

** You can go about your day feeling nourished and resourced, with a deep sense of ease.  Yes, it’s possible.  Is it time? Check out <a href=”https://www.lisamccrohan.com/services/compassion-coaching/”>Compassion Coaching</a> to nourish and resource you in your everyday life.