The White Mountain Rambler December 2013 | Page 8

by Stacey Doll

The holiday season holds a beautiful image in our mind: decorating the tree while enjoying eggnog, bundling up our children to go sledding in the nearby park, a home warmed by the fire and filled with the aroma of pumpkin pie. But for many of us, the holiday season can also bring stress and tension into our lives. We tend to place higher than normal expectations on ourselves. It is a time when we feel the need to get a lot of things accomplished in a short amount of time while keeping everyone happy and keeping an unwavering appearance of joy and peace.

But what if we loosened our connection to those expectations? What if we developed new habits and traditions during the holiday season that actually nurtured our souls and allowed us to slow down, take it all in, and be exactly what we want to be at any given moment? Sounds blissful, huh? So where do you begin?

winter Om