A Grateful Season

The holiday season is upon us, which means family, friends, food and finding time to give thanks. This season, recognize your blessings and tell those around you how much they mean to you.

Here are a few simple ways to practice mindfulness, be grateful and make the most of every moment with those you love.

Make Time for Personal Peace: The holidays are often a frenzied time, so start each day with 10 minutes of quiet relaxation. Whether you use your favorite app, journal, or simply sit or lay in a quiet space to gather your thoughts and quiet your mind before the day begins, taking just a few minutes for yourself will ensure you can give your best self to everyone else.

Celebrate Your Roots: While traditional Thanksgiving dinners call for turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie, bring your family’s heritage into this season’s holiday celebrations. From a German-themed Christmas Eve to an Italian-inspired Thanksgiving feast, it’s absolutely fine to break free from tradition and make the holidays your own. I guarantee, the less traditional, the more memorable!!

Make Décor a Family Affair: From Halloween to Christmas, there’s plenty of décor to go around during the holiday season. Instead of taking these large-scale design projects all on your own, make it a family affair. Spend a family dinner coming up with themes and ideas, then pick a weekend for the whole family to design and place all the decorations. Flying solo? Make it a cocktail party theme for a gathering with friends. Either way, each time you see your decorations you will be reminded of the special time spent with friends and/or family.

Share Your Thanks: Many families go around the table at Thanksgiving to briefly share their thanks but this cathartic activity can be a centerpiece of your holiday celebrations. When friends and family arrive for Thanksgiving, hand them each a note card and pen to write down something they are thankful for or a cherished memory from the past year. Collect them all in a basket, then pass the basket around and ask each person to read aloud one of the cards. Taking a special time to give these grateful moments and memories a chance to shine puts the spotlight on gratefulness and creates a conversation around our special moments.

Align Your Body and Mind: With all the fabulous food and tempting cocktails popping up on the table during the holiday season it’s easy to indulge a little too much. That’s why it’s imperative to keep your body moving — and not just your mouth! Make exercise a time to connect with family and friends by arranging a morning run with your neighbors, taking a boot camp class with your friends or making time for a leisurely family walk after dinner.

Pass It On: While you may have much to be grateful for, we have been reminded all too often this year of the suffering in the world. This holiday season, take the time to give of yourself (and encourage your family and friends to do the same). From donating time at a local homeless or animal shelter to potentially making donations to a needy charity in lieu of presents this year, there are plenty of ways to share your good fortune with those who have lost everything.

Most of all, no matter how you celebrate the season, take a moment to be “in the moment,” cherishing your time with friends and family.  Nothing could be more important or worthwhile.

We at Nicole Arnold Interiors wish you and yours a holiday season filled with peace, blessings, love and gratefulness.