Gut Check – Relieving Stress and Turning the Corner on the Year
This time of year can be brutal. While it can be exhilarating, it can also take quite a toll on our bodies. Herein I outline some of the trouble spots for us at this time and suggest a way to keep our tensions balanced. We are of course an organism balanced by both tension and relaxation. If we are too stressed, we cannot move adroitly in the world. I few are too relaxed, we cannot perform either. The trick is to find balance between the two. This can be a especially challenging as we come to the end of the year.

The holiday season ramps up the intensity in our schedules. Suddenly, we find there is so much to do that we run out of time. That is stressful all by itself. So many of us are experiencing extremes. We vacillate from a peaceful moment over a bowl of soup or a cup of tea with a dear friend to the deep grief of learning of another friend’s passing. We span the feelings of enjoying a favored movie or story of the season to the sorrow of knowing we will no longer be sharing it with a loved one that passed some time earlier in the year. The holiday season can be such a bittersweet affair.

We have so much to do getting ready for holiday festivities, and we also have much to complete by the end of the year. Perhaps you are going through a checklist of goals you intended to complete for the year. You might be making sure to pay all your bills by the last day of the year in order to include those expenses on your tax return. You could also be contemplating what you want to accomplish next year.

We feel the stress of the season in our gut. You might notice a tightening in your stomach area. You may notice that you hold your abdomen in and do not seem to relax these muscles except when you finally get into bed at night. We might also feel the pressure of the times in our jaw, where many of us hold tension, We clamp down on our teeth, as if it might help us better navigate the day. When I notice this in myself, I often wonder how much energy I am expending in vain. Such tension only wears away at my precious energy reserves that much faster. It can even lead to headaches if not kept in check.

We are turning the corner on the old year and into the new. So many of us go about making a list of goals for the New Year. My experience is that goals are handy, but not all they are cracked up to be. What really determines completing a list of intentions for the coming year is our commitment to completing them. With this in mind, I am more careful than I used to be when it comes to setting an agenda for a new year. I make sure that I not only have the time to carry out the intention, but I also have the drive to ensure that I keep working on it until it is completed. I also try to remember to keep my schedule and list of intentions flexible enough that the Universe can come in and make Its adjustments. It’s going to anyway, so I might as well include It.

We feel the stress of the season in our gut. You might notice a tightening in your stomach area. You may notice that you hold your abdomen in and do not seem to relax these muscles except when you finally get into bed at night. We might also feel the pressure of the times in our jaw, where many of us hold tension, We clamp down on our teeth, as if it might help us better navigate the day. When I notice this in myself, I often wonder how much energy I am expending in vain. Such tension only wears away at my precious energy reserves that much faster. It can even lead to headaches if not kept in check.

Our accelerated schedules at the end of the year challenge us. We might lay asleep at night thinking of all that we have yet to accomplish. We may be so consumed with busyness that we are unable to relax enough at night to sleep soundly or for as long as we are used to. Try breathing only through the left nostril for 11 minutes before going to bed. As you inhale, feel yourself take in the nourishing air. As you exhale, imagine that you are letting go of a piece of the day. You will find that this short exercise is a wonderful way to prepare your mind, body, and soul for bed. You have calmed the ruminations of your mind, allowed your body to gently relax breath by breath, and become present as the watcher to your thoughts and emotions. You have allowed the tensions of the day to gently unravel themselves. You gut and jaw muscles will respond by relaxing in kind. We drop our worries and let them go for the night. What a sweet prescription for sleep.

Finishing the year and beginning new one can seem like a tall order when we lose our ability to stay present. We are preoccupied with what we did earlier in the year and projecting into the new year. We may feel disappointed that we haven’t completed all we had hoped for this year. We may fear the changes we anticipate coming to us. We are everywhere but in the present. We can miss the richness of what is happening in the here and now as we attend gatherings with family and friends. Make it a practice to stay consciously present as much as you can. Listen deeply and whole-heartedly to conversations with your loved ones.

So, the key to surviving the stress inherent as we turn the corner on the year is to remember to breathe consciously and to keep ourselves present.

May you find the joy in this time of year and grow from the challenges. Wherever you find yourself, may you meet yourself with acceptance and compassion.

Gently in love,
Elizabeth

New Year's Eve 2018