Okay, you’ve done yoga every week this year, well…almost, you’ve tried! You’ve meditated….when you remembered, kept a good diet…any cookies eaten with love are okay in my book! Now, it’s the holidays! And doesn’t this society focus on the craziness and stress of this time of year? If we take care of ourselves and focus on things going calmly, most of them will…but that takes practice and the holidays are here and your Uncle Frank is spouting out negativity like it’s going out of style!

So, here’s what you can do. Remember, it’s their “stuff” not yours. Get up early! I know you are tired, but if you have some alone time for you, it will give you energy and calm that are well worth it! Do a meditation, even for 2 minutes! Do a few yoga poses, stretches, whatever makes you feel good. Make yourself a nice breakfast and eat it on the prettiest plate you have!

Once you get there…..Make every attempt to stay in your good mood. Talk to the people in the room who are positive. Take breaks, go for a walk or at least to the restroom and take some deep breaths, check your neck, shoulders, and jaw…are they tense? Breathe and relax them. Repeat as often as necessary! Write this down on a note card and carry it in your wallet or purse so you can pull it out and remember what to do!

Last, but not least. Be easy on yourself. We are all human, we are not perfect, and if we were, wouldn’t life be pretty boring? The holidays are what great stories are made of, so laugh it off, have fun, and breathe!-Amy Roemer 12-24-09

A friend told me about a wellness weekend she went on with her mother some time ago. They were asked to take a walk in the woods and find an item that they were drawn to and bring it back. When the attendees were gathered together again, they described why they chose their item. She chose bark, and said she was drawn to it because of the thick skin she felt she had to have to get through painful experiences in her life.

I was so inspired, that today while walking through the woods, I decided to see what I was drawn to. First, I saw 3 acorn shells connected together, which could symbolize my strong connection to my 2 brothers, or my husband, daughter, and I. Three represents the trinity, linked to religions and spirituality. I passed the acorn shells, next a few blades of green grass peeking out from under the snow. Survival, strength, endurance! Yet, I passed by the grass as well.

I continued to walk and let my mind observe the bare trees, the white snow, the muddy raccoon tracks coming up from the bit of exposed river. Then, I saw my item! A small stick in the middle of the path. Seemingly more humble than the trinity of acorns or the enduring blades of grass, all the same I knew that it was what I would carry home. I picked up the stick and pondered why I was drawn to it.

The stick, on it’s own, is a stick. On a tree, it is a branch, a limb that grows buds, leaves, bears fruit. It is connected to every part of the tree. The water that the roots sip out of the ground supports the farthest branches, because the branches are part of the tree. If we see a tree with no branches, it is dead, a stump, no longer supporting life.

A stranger is a stick, a person whose connection to family, friends, community, the universe, we do not see. A brother is a branch, a person connected by family, to friends, etc…because we can see the whole tree. We are all a branch, all so connected to each other. By every thing we do, our jobs, the children we raise, the things we buy and build, all impacts each person on this earth in some way. Even those who are isolated, like Thoreau in his Walden Pond years, make an impact. He was living alone in the woods, removed from family and friends, yet he still burned wood, consumed plants, animals, and water, and created. We all are creators. In his isolation he created work that has impacted more people than those who work among the masses!

So, you are connected to me and I to you, the old six degrees of separation are existing all the time, you may look like a stick, but you are a branch, and integral part of the tree of life that is existing on this earth and beyond. -Amy Roemer 12-18-09

What are you choosing today? We really are in control over so much of what happens to us. We choose how we react to every situation. The other day I was standing in line with many other holiday shoppers with full carts. I had been in line for about 5 minutes, with several people gathering behind me, when the cashier turned off her light and said “I’m closed.” There was only one other cashier open with a long line of customers waiting. The woman behind me said “That is so RUDE!” and stormed off to the back of the other line. Meanwhile, I hadn’t even time to start to the next line, when a man from the other line said “You can go in front of me.”

The woman behind me chose to be upset by the line closing. She chose to be victimized by the situation, and therefore chose to be at the end of the line. I can imagine she told the story to her friends when she got home. “You won’t believe what happened to me at the store today! What a nightmare!”

I chose to accept the situation, was about to calmly go to the end of the other line, hadn’t a thought that the cashier was being rude. So, as I was not choosing to be a victim, I attracted a positive situation. I got in line ahead of the kind man, and got on with my day and had a nice story to tell about the polite guy at the store.

The stories we tell attract the stories to come. So, the ripple effect of what we choose today goes throughout our life. Choose to have a great day, with great experiences. It will take some practice. Notice how you feel every time you choose not to be victimized, then when you chose to have a good moment, a good day, a good week, a good life!-Amy Roemer December 14, 2009