“Breathe” Through the Frenzy of the Holidays

Today is Christmas and the 9th day of Santa’s tips for celebrating the holidays.  It’s entitled, “Breathe”  – Yogi Santa (image below) encourages you to relax and breathe in the midst of the frenzy and festivities of the season.  (And while you say you don’t have time, taking a yoga class or two will help you with the whole breathing thing)

Santa’s Tips for Celebrating Christmas- #8- Give To Others

#8 of Be Brave. Lose the Beige’s tips for celebrating Christmas is – Give to Others- Let generosity be your guide during this holiday season. (That does not necessarily mean, however, overindulging your children)

#7 of Santa’s 12 Tips for Celebrating Christmas- Eat Forbidden Foods

#7 of Be Brave. Lose the Beige’s Tips for Celebrating Christmas is “Eat Forbidden Foods”  – We diet all year long.  Christmas calls for a vacation from dieting.   And don’t feel guilty.  (OK, so just don’t eat the whole pie)

Day 6 of Santa’s 12 Tips for Celebrating Christmas- Sing Holiday Songs

Day 6 of Be Brave. Lose the Beige’s tips for celebrating Christmas is “Sing Holiday Songs”   – After all, aren’t carols some of the only songs we know by heart?   Singing tinsel tunes puts everyone in a better frame of mind.

Day #5 of Santa’s 12 Tips for Celebrating Christmas- “Enjoy Other’s Traditions”

#5 of Santa’s Tips for Celebrating Christmas – Enjoy Others’ Traditions.  There is Chanukah, Ramadan, and Boxing Day.  Christmas isn’t the only celebration occurring during this season.   

Santa’s Tips for Celebrating Christmas- Tip #4 “Go on Vacation”

Number #4 in Santa’s Tips for Celebrating Christmas is-  Go on Vacation  – Ok, so this idea may be far from traditional, but sometimes you might just need to use the holiday season as an opportunity to take a much needed vacation.   Even if Christmas is about family, sometimes one needs a break from family.  Going away provides just such an excuse.

Santa’s Tips for Celebrating Christmas- Do Traditional Things

This is day 3 of Santa’s 12 Tips for Celebrating Christmas.  Tip for the day- Do Traditional Things- Trim a “real tree” not an artificial one.  It helps make the holiday more authentic.  It can be a bit of a pain wrestling the tree into its stand and making sure it stays upright.  Real trees certainly have their share of imperfections, but they can serve as a reminder that things aren’t supposed to be perfect.  Besides, they smell so good.

 

Santa’s Tip #8 for Celebrating the Holidays- “Give to Others”

#8 in my “Santa’s 12 tips for Celebrating an Ideal Christmas” series is, “Give to Others”. The sculpture (see below) features Santa Claus distributing presents from his gift bag. Santa’s tip- let generosity be your guide during this holiday season.

Santa’s Tip for Celebrating Christmas- “Sing Holiday Songs”

Day 6 in “Santa’s 12 Tips for Celebrating an Ideal Christmas” is, “Sing Holiday Songs” (see image below for a visual on this tip). This whimsical sculpture features Santa, head thrown back, warbling a favorite Christmas carol.

This series is about “ideally living” during the holidays. Nostalgia is an element of ideally living. Regardless of whether your childhood was a happy one, there were those moments of excited anticipation as you counted down the days until Santa’s arrival. You can recapture some of those sweet memories by singing familiar favorites like “Jingle Bells” or “Joy to the World”. Go ahead, lose the grown up in you, with all those pesky responsibilities, throw your head back, and with all that childhood gusto, sing “Oh Christmas Tree” at the top of your lungs. (It will make you feel much better about the season.)

Santa’s Tips for Celebrating Christmas- “Enjoy Other’s Traditions”

DAY 5 in “Santa’s 12 Tips for Celebrating an Ideal Christmas” series is, “Enjoy Others’ Traditions”.  We manage to get fairly narcissistic in this country about our holidays, particularly as it relates to Christmas.  December is host to other holidays, including Chanukah, Kwanza and even Boxing Day.  A little participation and recognition of someone else’s tradition will go a long way toward making this an ideal holiday for you.  Be like Santa in the image below as he lights a menorah in observance of Chanukah. Very enriching!