What do you want for yourself this holiday season?
In the conversations I’ve been having, especially with my Body Wisdom course members, I’m hearing that you want less things and more experiences. Your Christmas list isn’t full of the latest gadgets, cashmere sweaters or jewelry. You want connection with family, friends and self.
For weeks, my husband has been asking me what I want for Christmas. I keep reminding him that it’s not just Christmas, it’s also my 50th birthday (on Christmas Eve) and our anniversary (January 2nd). So I went big. I asked for a vacation. We haven’t had a real vacation together since our honeymoon in 2013. Since then, we’ve both opened our own businesses and getting away isn’t as easy as it once was, especially for him. My desire for a vacation isn’t as much about traveling to some exotic location (although that would be really nice) as it is about getting some quality time with him when neither of us are distracted by the day-to-day demands on our time. It’s about connection.
The holidays are the same way. We spend a lot of time fussing over buying gifts for people and making meals and treats for our get-togethers, but when it comes down to it, the holidays are about connection: coming together during a time when we aren’t distracted by the everyday demands on our time.
When it comes to connection – true, authentic, meaningful connection – our society is sorely lacking. Facebook posts and text messages have replaced conversations where we can hear each other’s voices and see each other’s faces. As a result, we not only feel more disconnected from each other, we feel more disconnected from ourselves. After all, we weren’t meant to exist in a vacuum. We were meant to thrive together.
I see evidence of this at the studio all the time. People who never would have met outside the studio form bonds that extend beyond the studio walls. People who have been out of touch with themselves start to gain insights about their health, their wellness, and their desires. How does that happen? It’s quite simple. We put down our phones; we set aside our daily demands and distractions, and we actually connect . . . with our breath, with our bodies, with each other. We start to realize how disconnected we have been. And it doesn’t take long at all.
In fact, it was this revelation, that just a one-hour yoga class once a week can make a big difference, that lead me to become a health coach. As my beginner students came to me one after another and told me how much better they felt, I thought to myself, “There’s so much more I can do for you!”
To that end, this holiday season, I’m offering you a gift: one hour of my undivided attention – one-on-one, in person, over the phone, or by video chat – to discuss what you want for yourself this holiday season and in the coming year. And in case you’re thinking that our conversation will be some sort of sales pitch, I assure you, it is not. The purpose is for me to facilitate a conversation with yourself about what you really need to do for yourself in order to achieve health, wellness, and happiness. Yes, many of the people I meet with enroll in my Body Wisdom course, but some do not. As a point in fact, I offer you this message I received just before Thanksgiving from a woman I met with last May:
“One thing that I have done this year that I am so thankful for and I have you to thank is getting my thyroid more balanced. I feel like that that was a wonderful thing for the longevity of my life. It’s a night and day difference in so many aspects of my life.
I’m sad I can’t attend your classes but I haven’t forgot our little talk. Of all the conversations I have, that one stuck with me.”
So I hope you’ll take me up on my offer – the gift of my time, which I hope will be a gift to yourself.
See you at the studio!
Angela