Naada Guerra on Staying Authentic and Grounded over the Holidays!
Naada Guerra is one of our closest friends and also one of our most trusted and effective healers. We have a session with her every few months to really clear the crap and focus our energies on what we DO want! We asked her how to stay in our best selves this holiday season, below is her response:
15 years ago my family made an agreement that we would no longer buy gifts for each other ever again on Christmas and it was the best choice we ever made. This decision was made one jolly Christmas day at 9pm when all of us found ourselves still seated in the living room going around, one by one, opening a present from our personal pile. We had begun 12 hours earlier that morning with smiles on our faces that slowly faded as the hours passed.
The subtext of competition between my mother and her sister had become so obvious through the mirror of our holiday ritual of present buying that the whole family was literally drowning in it. Who got what? Whose presents symbolized that her side of the family was more successful? Whose children were more loved? Whose husband was more generous?
And then, as the last present was finally opened, it was as if miraculously each of us was instantly reborn anew, resurrected from our consumerism, fresh and unadulterated. Unanimously, we all raised our hands and agreed that we would never EVER do this again! And thus our present-less Christmas began and my pre-holiday stress ended for good.
How perfect it all was because this is what this time of year is about: going into the darkness and emerging into the light. Whether you follow the tradition of Yule, Christmas or Chanukah the teachings are the same. The light dims as we approach the solstice inviting us to get quiet and go inwards and then suddenly the cycle turns and the light begins to grow again day-by-day. The Sun, the Giver of Life, is rebirthed. The Christ is born, arising from the dark of the womb, bringing hope to humanity. The sanctified oil, just enough for one day, keeps the light of the Temple lit for 8 days proving the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over contamination, of spirituality over materialism.
This, my friends, is the time of reconnecting to our Divinity, our Truth, our Soul and to the Miracle of Existence. This is the season of letting go of the superficial shit to find and shine our true inner light. So, while it’s way too easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of everything going on this time of year, flailing to make everyone else happy, I highly recommend making it a priority to take some down time every day before you step into your holiday activities to get real with person nuemero UNO! YOU.
REAL questions to ask yourself this holiday season to stay authentic and grounded within yourself.
What’s YOUR Subtext?
Who are you attempting to prove yourself to, impress or show off to?
What’s YOUR Band-Aid?
Where are you masking your deeper insecurities or wounds by superficial binge behavior, i.e. eating, shopping, drinking or talking too much about yourself?
What’s YOUR Reason For The Season?
Where does consumerism show up in your holiday experience and how can you shift to truly giving from the heart?