Learn to let go, feel better and create new traditions for yourself.
Most of us get stressed out during the holidays. There’s so much to do in a short time that seems narrower still when your nerves are frazzled. Many of us are also haunted by memories of Christmas past. Imagine how you’d feel if you could relieve your stress with the stroke of your pen on paper.
Sound too easy? It’s possible. All our stress in held in our cellular memories. It comes up to be healed and can be released through writing. The more you write, the more is revealed and you can just let it all go and be free. You’ll be much happier and probably get more done.
I discovered what was floating around in my cellular memory when I wrote my first novel. I was writing about my family (they give me SO much great material) and I remembered entire conversations from the dinner table that happened 30 years earlier when I was five. These discussions were real. My sister, who’s ten years my elder, validated them for me. “Yeah, that happened,” she’d say. And then, “Where is this all coming from?” Yup. Cellular memory.
You don’t have to work on distant memories either. If the thought of cooking your mother-in-law dinner makes you want to go on a long road trip, write it all out and let it go.
There are many ways you can write yourself free. Here are three of my three favorites:
- Journal it out. Write it all out. Every curse, every whine, every scream or whimper. Get all your negativity on the page. Just keep your hand moving across the page until you release all the fear, anger, resentment etc. It’s great to do this before bed to get it all out of your system and sleep better. You can keep a negativity notebook and burn it when it’s full. Burning is a great ritual that releases the energy even further. No one should ever see this notebook – especially not the people you’re writing about!
- Write a different ending. If there’s something in your life that’s been causing you stress, go back to that time and create a new ending. Put yourself in that situation using your five senses and beyond. Imagine what you’d like to happen and write it in all its sensory glory. The beauty of this is that your mind doesn’t know the difference between something that actually happened and something that didn’t – this becomes your new reality. I love this technique because you can write an ending to something that hasn’t yet happened too. Like that dinner with your in-laws.
- Start with Gratitude. A great practice to relieve stress is to start the day with gratitude. You can spend as little as five minutes jotting down gratitude for the day. What happened yesterday that you’re grateful for? Write it down. What do you want to happen today or next week? Write these things as if they’ve already happened. Think about how you’d feel if you’d already achieved these goals. I love to play this game. Next week you get to go back and see what manifested from your desires. I’ve created new clients, paid writing gigs and trips this way. It works!
Okay, now that you know you can write yourself free of stress, don’t wait! Start now. I wish you all the blessings of a new holiday season. One you created for yourself.