Climbing mountains and knowing our 'base-camp' (Christmas Feels)
I love this time of year as there’s a real invitation to be with yourself more – with your family, your joy, your pleasure, your accomplishments, your desires, your intentions.
It can also be full on and we can feel, at times, our energy and time pulled in all sorts of different directions.
Knowing your ‘base-camp’ at this time of year is really important.
Your 'base-camp' are the practices, rituals or routines that feed your inner well of energy, your inner resources. The things that you know that if you're not doing, you feel it physically and mentally - your ability to be present with those around you, to not get overly triggered, to manage feelings of stress, overwhelm or the demands from others, diminishes hugely.
These practices, rituals, routines are things that nourish you, regulate or calm your nervous system and most importantly, are for you, by you.
We’re forever climbing mountains in life that take us away from base-camp. This time of year those mountains can be things like; trying to get things done before you leave work for the holidays, marathon Christmas shopping, spending longer than usual time with extended family, more socialising and parties (and excessive eating and drinking), getting ready to launch a new product in the new year, getting all your performance reviews completed...
Your base-camp is the bare minimum, the little things that, when they get sacrificed or neglected for busyness (or even excitement), have, over time, a big impact:
Your base-camp might be things like:
10 minutes of any kind of meditation
Writing (poetry, stories, letters) or journaling (ideas, feelings, intentions, goals, prayers, plans)
A walk in nature – woods, grass, trees, beach, ocean
Quiet time by yourself (I bang on about this all the time but it’s so, so important for our well-being)
Reading a few pages of book that nourishes you intellectually, emotionally or spiritually
Waking around sunrise and having a coffee or tea by yourself before everyone else gets up
Lighting a candle or incense in the morning (or evening when you get home)
Some kind of body movement (Dance, Yoga, HIIT, Strength training, Qi Gong, Pilates)
Sleep - going to bed before 10.30pm
Creating something with your hands – painting, drawing, crafts, plant potting
Keeping a gratitude diary
Drinking plenty of water
Eating something healthy, organic and nourishing
Part of me feels like this is just repeating stuff we all know, but I also know how easy it is to forget. It's also not about stressing yourself out to do all of these things, it’s picking one or two that you know keep you going in busy times and that brings you back to yourself when you’ve been climbing mountains, big or small.
I recently recorded a 10 minute Whole Body Grounding Meditation, please feel free to use this as part of your base-camp if you wish!
Have a restful and joyful festive break, and if you’re reading this, I’m truly grateful to be connected to you.