KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

Re-Imagining the Holidays: 6 Ways to Resist Overabundance and Create Gratitude, by Sara Wiseman

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Are you dreading it, already?

You know…the whole shopping-gifting-cooking-cleaning-eating-drinking socializing-relatives-traveling season just ahead?

From Thanksgiving to New Year's, many of us get trapped in a cycle of overabundance—the state of having too much. As in: more than we can use. More than we can process. The cup not just full, but overflowing.

It's gotten worse in recent years, starting with Christmas decorations that go on display at Halloween to the frenzy of Black Friday. We've become a culture of excess and a society of waste, moving from the next new thing to the next…without ever taking the time to enjoy any of it. We have so much, and it's arriving so fast that we can't use or even experience it all.

This overabundance—having more than we really need—creates stress, lowers vibration, and zaps energy from mind, body and spirit.

Now, I'm all for abundance! I'm certainly not one to pass up on anything that brings pleasure or beauty or connection to my life. But when we become trapped in the cycle of overabundance—the endless circle of want, get, want, get—our lives fall out of balance.

Six Ways Overabundance Causes Holiday Stress
During the holidays, overabundance shows up in different forms. It's not just eating rich foods or excessive gifts, as you'd expect, but less obvious ways as well, including: too much socializing, complex family relationships, rigid tradition, and low vibration group thought.

Here are six areas where overabundance can create stress in your life:

1. 1. Overabundance of Food
      Rich, sweet, fatty holiday food lowers your physical vibration, which affects mind and spirit, too. If you work in an office or with a group of people, it's hard to escape the sweets in the break room! Alcohol from frequent social events adds to this mix. Don't worry about weight gain—instead, be focused on the energetic signature of the food you eat. Is it processed? Will it make you feel good? Does your body really want it? Pay attention, and don't let the season of indulgence lower your vibration.
   2. Overabundance of Gifts
      The cycle of shopping, buying, wrapping, giving, and receiving can be very stressful, even if budget is not a concern. The sheer energetic reality of involving ourselves with objects, or "stuff," can be overwhelming, especially when we understand that every object has its own frequency, vibration, or energetic signature depending on where it came from, how it was made, who made it, and so forth…this is a lot of new energy to add to your reality!Consider your energy as you decide how or if you will give and receive gifts this year. Consider your energy if you decide to do without, do less, or give experiences or to charity instead. Once you break the gift cycle, you will be surprised how free you feel.
   3. Overabundance of Socializing
      Office parties, school events, the annual party you've gone to every year for ten years…All of this has a certain clamor of "must attend" attached to it, when in reality, you can change plans, opt out, or do something different. Don't rely on what you've always done—you're a new person now, and you may want to try something different. Reassess every year.Introverts especially may need a lot of private time during this season; give yourself the gift of quiet and solitude.
   4. Overabundance of Family Relationships
      There's that saying: you can't go home again. And yet every holiday season, most of us continue to swim up river to our birthing place. Many times, the wounds, past hurts, and misunderstandings are still there. And because we're so busy during the holidays, we don't have time to work on our relationships with our family members. Understand that family karma is complex, and the stress of the holidays makes it more so. Be gentle with yourself and others. Have an exit strategy if things go awry. If it's just too much, opt out and try again another time.
   5. Overabundance of Tradition
      Just because you've always done it a certain way doesn't mean you have to do it that way now. This might include: going to a certain event, party, gathering, or church service; wearing certain clothes; decorating a certain way; eating certain foods; being with certain people; and so on. Break free from the rigid traditions your family has "always done" and see what else the Universe might have up its sleeve for you and yours!
   6. Overabundance of Group Thought
      Understand the power of group thought or collective soul to affect your mood. We've all seen what fear-based beliefs can do to collective thought: hate, violence, financial ruin, and war are all products of low-vibration thinking. During the holidays, mindless consumption is the culprit: everyone is stressing out on want, get, want, get. This creates enormous stress, and when this is done in the collective, everyone feels it. During this time, connect to your own higher self, God/One/All/Divine/Source, frequently and deeply. Use Thanksgiving and Solstice as markers for the season—times when you can easily dip into gratitude and joy.

The Joy of Doing it Differently: Releasing Worn Out Traditions, Creating New Experiences
For years, I traveled north for Christmas—packed up my partner, kids, dog, and a car full of gift-wrapped presents and hustled the I-5 corridor from Portland to Seattle.

The trip was no over-the-river-and-through-the-woods…everything about it was stressful! Traffic on Christmas Eve was difficult, at best. We were cooped up and restless in my mom's tiny one-bedroom condo. And we were stuck in the city, instead of out in the nature we loved. And yet, I gritted my teeth and did this trip for twenty-nine years because it was my family tradition.

Until last year, the Universe stepped in and simply said, "no."

Early that fall, I'd had two (successful) surgeries for cancer. But I was still in recovery, and by the time the holidays rolled around, the Universe started informing me, at first gently and then persistently, that I wasn't up for the trip.

What? Not go to Seattle? Not do the family trip? Really? Yet every time I asked for guidance, the answer came back loud and clear: No. Not this time. And so, after a very long family discussion, we opted out.

For the first time ever, we stayed home in Oregon for the holidays. We cooked a little food, and opened a few of gifts—inexpensive, silly things. We decorated our tree. We slept in late, and took long winter walks in the woods, and at night we bundled up in blankets on the porch and watched the winter stars move across the sky.

It was low-key, it was real, it was absolutely us…and it was one of the best Christmases ever.

Since then, I've let go of all the old ideas about how the holidays "should" be, and begun to recreate them as truly authentic celebrations—genuine expressions of gratitude for this amazing human journey. I've recognized the holidays for what they really are: holy days, outside of any religion, that ask us to go quiet and still as we give thanks for our lives. A beautiful time, filled with deep appreciation and joy.

I'll admit, it wasn't easy. It took a very active releasing of the cycle of overabundance in all its forms—food, gifts, socializing, family, tradition, and group thought—to allow this lovely clarity to shine forth.

In fact, stepping into this way of living authentically can be quite difficult at first—it may require letting go of tradition, from what the mainstream dictates. It might mean something as big as deciding not to visit home during the busy season. Or, it could be as simple as choosing to not indulge in holiday foods, so your body—and you—feel better. Or maybe giving only a few, inexpensive gifts. These decisions are yours to make.

When you allow yourself the freedom to create your holiday your way—not the one dictated by mainstream society, or handed down from your ancestors, but yours alone—everything about the season shifts.

Gratitude, which might have seemed the furthest thing from your mind in that cycle of "must dos" and mainstream stress, becomes alive in you again.

Most importantly, you begin to understand that overabundance isn't actually what you need—after all, you don't really require a cup that's overflowing. You just need a cup that's full.

Ten Ways to Jump-Start a Holiday Filled with Gratitude

1. 1. Travel outside of peak season, if you travel at all. Booking a flight Christmas Day instead of Christmas Eve is an entirely different experience.
   2. Limit gifts to small, inexpensive tokens. Or gift "experiences" instead.
   3. Make a bucket list of what you really love about the holidays: walking in the snow, sleeping in, watching Frosty the Snowman. Do these, and let the rest go.
   4. Graciously decline invites that no longer fit. A simple, "I'm sorry, we can't make it" is all you need.
   5. Sleep, rest, be still. It is winter, after all.
   6. Play cards, catch, dolls…connect with younger ones and your younger self.
   7. Sing.
   8. Revisit the holidays as holy days. Go to church, if that feels right, or a spiritual service in your community. Celebrate the Winter Solstice as an end of darkness and arrival of light.
   9. Give hugs, the best gift of all!
   10. Get emotional, feel it all, and celebrate, in your heart. Life is a miracle.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2013. All rights reserved.

Sometimes when I'm falling asleep or waking up, I get this tingly sensation in my head and chest. It's a pretty overwhelming feeling. Do you know what this is? Is it possible this is not related to astral projection? I have a strong sense that it is somehow my connection to God that I'm feeling. I would appreciate any insights you have into this. Thank you very much!

- Cynthia

Dreamchaser:

The tingling sensations that you are feeling are your chakras balancing and aligning. Whether we are awake or asleep, when our chakras clear and align, we will feel that tingling you describe. We will also feel a very light feeling in those areas of our body.

When you are going to sleep or waking up from sleep, you are at your most vulnerable state, aside from actually being asleep. You are allowing your conscious mind to stop working and your subconscious to take over.

When that happens, you become your true self. You are just a soul at that point. You do not have a body, face, human personality or human traits. You are just your essence.

In those moments, you are connected to "God" or the Source. The only time we become DISCONNECTED from the Source is when we stop using it and acknowledging it. One common way that we humans do that is by thinking we can do everything by ourselves.

Personally, I cannot get through one day without talking to "God." I have to start my day by creating the type of day I want. Then I speak my gratitude for the day when I open my curtains and blinds and look outside. I try very hard to stay connected to that Source all day long.

Gratitude is the EASIEST way to stay connected. If you are grateful for EVERYTHING around you, no matter how small or insignificant it seems, then you are automatically connected.

So in your case, you ARE connected to the Source, but you are also feeling the tingling of your chakras balancing. You can carry that connection to God along with you. The fact that your head and chest chakras are the ones clearing is interesting to me.

The fact that your third eye chakra is the one that is tingling tells me that you are incredibly psychic and "knowing," but you clog it up during the day. It becomes unclogged in sleep. Your solar plexus chakra is where energy from other people and things enters your body. When this clogs, it means you block some of your emotions - both incoming and outgoing. You do not want people to see how you feel, and you do not want to feel some of the emotions of people around you.

Your soul is always looking out for you. It is cleaning, clearing and balancing your chakras while you sleep so you can wake up and try again the next day.

You are working hard in your sleep to undo what your mind has done during the day. Ask God to show you where you are blocking your chakras on a daily basis. Ask for guidance and wisdom on how to clear those blocks so that your love energy can flow freely again.

I wish you consistently clear chakras!

*****

Astrea:

As each person is an individual and experiences things differently, it's difficult to say for certain what this feeling may signify for you. Most likely it's a combination of lots of things that you're getting used to on your spiritual path.

The longer you practice meditation and astral travel, the more you will have all sorts of different experiences. These may be shared by millions of others or all your own. The important thing is what these feelings and physical manifestations of your spiritual journey mean to you.

Whether your feelings are unique or not, if you feel that this is something that is bringing you closer to God, then that's what it is doing. If you feel that you are connecting with the Divine, then that is what is happening. God manifests to each of us in the way we can best accept it, so because you feel this is your way, it IS your way.

Now it's time for you to figure out what to DO with that connection! When you're in that state, study what is going on inside of you. If you've ever taken a journalism class, you can apply the "who, what, where, when, why" rule to your experience.

Does it sound a bit cold and sterile to take something as lovely as this experience and dissect it this way? Even if it does, it's still a great and simple way to get greater understanding about what's going on.

Keep a small notebook close by. Since the WHO is always you, that part is easy. The WHAT is the tingly feeling, and the WHERE is your location when it happens. The WHEN is the first really important thing to discover.

How long have you been lying there when this happens? Is it always the same, or random? Does this only happen at night? You might come up with lots of questions related to "when."

Finally, we get to WHY, and I believe that in time, you will know that answer too. It's certainly possible that this tingly feeling is related to astral projection. Many of us experience that sort of feeling or sensation right before we leave our bodies. Many Fire Signs who astral travel also hear a loud crash like glass breaking when they have that feeling.

Nevertheless, if you think this is your spirit connecting to God as you're falling asleep, I must agree with you. Of course, when we are traveling in the Astral Plane, we are in our spirits, not our bodies, so that automatically brings us closer to God. With time, practice, patience with yourself and God's Love, it won't take you very long to figure it out!

Remember, as you progress, answers to these questions may CHANGE. Stay open and keep asking, and all will be revealed.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.