This time of year……a slippery slope

Christmas is a time when social conditioning is strong.

The human hive mind is on full power, almost reaching a collective madness as the western world goes into hyper-consumerist mode. The focus around one day, a random date that cobbles together religious symbolism and pagan rituals, and in the southern hemisphere at the wrong time of year, dominates our lives and takes over our thinking.

For those of us wanting to live a life informed by yoga and other deep wisdom traditions it could be worth reflecting on how the ‘silly season’ can remind us of what is more likely to give us our peace and happiness.

1.      Being grateful for what we have, not craving for more. Always wanting more, is a major problem of our time. The science writer Michael Easter has written two evidence informed books on this topic I recommend, ‘Scarcity Brain’ and ‘The Comfort Crisis’.

Christmas hypes up the impulse for more, more gifts, more food and alcohol, more cheesy Christmas music, more ‘perfect’ family time, more fun at the office parties. ‘When more is the goal, we never fully arrive. It is insatiable. And that is the problem with always wanting more. Happiness and contentment will always elude us if we are looking for it in the acquisition of more’ Becomingminimalist.com.

Being grateful will make us happier and it is something we can do every day, with even a simple 5-minute practice, not just on one day of the year.

2.      Living a life of simplicity. Living simply but living well, takes the clutter out of our lives, also leading to a clearer, less cluttered mind. It frees up our time and allows us space to get our priorities right. Christmas works against this with the complications of present buying, travel chaos (as we all charge around the country at the same time) and organising.

3.      Make every day extra special, not just one day a year. Why wait for Christmas. Peace, and happiness and love are available to you now.

4.      Set boundaries with your family. There is a saying from the wise yogi Ram Dass that goes, ‘If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.’ As much as we might love our families, man has created a myth that we can pressure cooker family happiness into to this time and somehow believe family dynamics will magically disappear.

5.      Think for yourself. As I mentioned above, Christmas is the hive mind on steroids. Going along with what everybody else is doing makes life seem easier for a while, but ultimately, we pay the price as our own unique path is crushed by the social consensus steamroller. Thinking for ourselves requires courage, and other people don’t like it, it is dangerous as it challenges their comforting story. Be prepared to be called a ‘grinch’ if you challenge Christmas.

6.      Look for happiness, contentment on the inside, not in the external world. This is where all the great spiritual traditions converge. Peace, love and happiness are within you. They won’t come from the trappings of Christmas. Focussing as much on being, not just doing, sounds passive, but in fact will make you a stronger force for good in the world. If you spend Christmas alone, this should be good news, not sad! A quiet day without shopping to spend some time going inwards …yay!

‘You need not depend on any external factor. You have got within yourself an eternal source of security, an eternal source of fullness, an eternal source of joy. That source is within you; that is you yourself’ Acharya Shunya, in her book Sovereign Self

7.      Find your own religion and celebrate that. For some Christmas is still a time when they celebrate the birth of Christianities founder. But it’s hard to deny that our modern religion is consumerism (closely followed by families, and then rugby). If none of these are our spiritual path, then surely, we should make our celebrations of life relevant to what we truly value.

Wishing that you find the love, peace and contentment that is already inside of you, every day of the year.

Warm yogi regards, Jo

Jo Jarden is a certified personal trainer and yoga teacher in Christchurch New Zealand and the founder of Heart and Mind Yoga studio. She has 10 years experience in health promotion in New Zealand and Australia including management and promotion of national chronic disease prevention programs. She now helps people find mental peace, physical vitality and to live purpose, through health coaching, yoga teaching, personal training, workplace yoga and wellness events. 

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Jo JardenHeart and Mind Yoga