Pause, Reflect, Plan: A Seasonal Path To Self-Compassion

Holiday peace isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about noticing what’s real, caring for yourself, and choosing timing that supports your nervous system. Old triggers, and past experiences can distort the present. Chart a gentler path through winter: trade harsh resolutions for “changes” that start in February, and use December and January as a sanctuary for reflection, planning, and financial reset.

To anchor calm, we guide a cozy holiday meditation: a fire-lit room, the scent of pine and spice.

 If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a gentler January, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find this space.

Chapters

• 1:50 Gratitude To Listeners And Sponsors
• 2:31 Navigating Holiday Triggers With Presence
• 3:29 Rethinking Resolutions And January Pressure
• 5:07 Seasonal Planning And Gentle Goal Setting
• 6:09 Five-Minute Year-End Journaling Prompts
• 8:14 Stream-Of-Consciousness And Highlights
• 8:34 Cozy Holiday Meditation Setup
• 9:07 Guided Winter Visualization And Closing Wishes
• 12:37 Happy Holidays Farewell

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 1:31

Hello everybody, I'm your host, the gentle yoga warrior of Awaken Conscious Conversations Podcast. And I just want to say wholeheartedly, from the bottom of my heart, a big pre-Christmas thank you to all my wonderful guests that I've had on the show, all my wonderful listeners. Every time you download, write a review, share an episode that makes a massive difference. And a big, big thank you for those who sponsor the show. You do not believe what a difference it makes. So thank you, thank you, thank you. I can see the patterns when I've got negative patterns, when I'm seeing things through the lens of my past experiences rather than the actual reality. I wanted to share that of course we've got all the Christmas and holiday season things going on. I want you to fully enjoy it, find moments of peace, tranquility, and just fully be with yourself, be present. Can be challenging when we're around family, even if we love them, because we're all different personalities, and there's also often a lot of politics in families as well. And sometimes you just think, is this actually the reality, or is this just a trigger from an unmet childhood need? And if that is the case, then sometimes I take a deep breath, I'll write it down, and then if I do have to have some conversations, then I do. But generally, most of the time, it's just kind of me reacting to an unmet childhood thing. What I like to do is start my New Year's changes, I like to call them changes rather than resolutions, at the first of February. I feel that it's the best thing because I've learned over the years that I would go back, especially when I had a full-time office job, I'd go back to work on January and I'd feel like the downward kind of feeling of post-Christmas, and then I'd be skint because of all the Christmas presents that I had to buy. Something would break like a shoe. I'm really picturing painting a morbid picture here, but like a shoe or something I need to go to the dentist, and I and I kind of couldn't, and then I'd start these resolutions of like I'm gonna go to the gym 10 days of 10 days. Oh sorry, there's not 10 days in a week, but seven days of the week, and I'm just gonna eat this and that and and stuff like that. And I was already pretty healthy anyway, so I was just kind of spent the whole of January being pretty miserable, and then as time went by, I I learned that you know, to try and take life in its wholeness, and then I was lucky enough to pivot out of having to work in an office full time and to work part-time on my business, which is a great gift. That don't get me wrong, it's a scary one, and it's kind of you know, kind of like on a roller coaster because you don't have that certainty that one used to have. But I was lucky enough to do that. But even when I wasn't, with time I realized actually, why am I doing this to myself in January? And instead, I would like set one thing that I wanted to achieve in February, and then spend January caring for myself, writing journals and plans for that thing that I wanted to achieve in in February, and I made it something more doable, and then I'd also write a plan for the year, but not saying I have to do these goals, but so I kind of could see what I wanted to achieve for the the year, but doing it in a way that worked with the seasons. Like if you think spring, spring's a time when we're really vibrant and there's a lot of life and energy, and whereas winter is more a time to kind of go inside and journal, and and not that you can't journal in this in the spring, of course, of course you can, but make plans in the winter, and then I always feel like December's a good time for the moments that you do get of peace to kind of just reflect on what you're grateful for for the year and what you've learned, and that's why I thanked you, dear listeners, because I'm grateful for you. Here are some wonderful questions that you can kind of ponder over this December rest what's left of December and into January. I wrote them down here. So I'd put what you can do at this time of year is to get ready for next year. So December journaling is more about reviewing the past year, seeing what you're grateful for. And we're busy, so you can do this. You can set your clock for five minutes, so you can set your alarm for five minutes, and five minutes before you go to bed, or five minutes once you've woken up, or even on your lunch break, whatever you can fit five minutes in, you can start looking and asking yourselves these questions.

SPEAKER_00: 6:29

What was your biggest lesson of the year? How did you change for the better? Is the next question. How did you change for the better in this year?

SPEAKER_01: 6:44

The next question that you can do in your journal is where did you miss the mark but with compassion?

SPEAKER_00: 6:51

So it's not about telling yourself off, so it's like, where did you miss the mark? And how can you change that for the future?

SPEAKER_01: 7:04

And how can you change that for the future? And the final question, because I don't want you to be overwhelmed, is what do you want to achieve for the future? You know, sometimes these questions take time, so maybe what you could do is start with question one and just journal a bit on the first day, and maybe do that question for a week and then go on to the other questions. Of course, I know sometimes I can work really quickly and I could probably get through all these questions, but other times I have blocks. So if you can't think of what to write for your answers, just write stream of consciousness while you just write anything down, and then at the end of the week, you can go over that work with and with a highlighter. This is what I do I highlight the golden bits in it, the bits that are oh, yes, and I find that helps a lot. If you want to do a wonderful meditation, obviously make sure that you are nice and comfortable. So, this is going to be a special, wonderful Christmassy holiday meditation for you, dear listeners, as a thank you, thank you, thank you. Here is your meditation. Top tips for the meditation is either sit nice and cross-legged on the floor with a nice straight back, always nice to sit on a block or a cushion, or that's not available for you. You sit in a chair with the back nice and straight. The important thing is you're not slouching. And if you're doing something that requires concentration, all you need to do is just pause this and you can reconvene the meditation at a time that is good for you. If you're doing the meditation, that's digging. Dear listeners, as you close the eyes, you imagine that you are in a warm fire-lit room, like a Victorian Christmas card scene, and you are sat on the most comfortable chair, cross-legged or with your feet flat on the floor, and as you imagine in this scene, you smell the delicate smells of the holiday season of Christmas that you find of great comfort. Things like the smell of tangerines and nutmeg and cinnamon and everything that makes you feel so wholesome and full of love. And you sit here, and you can smell the pine of the Christmas tree, and you can feel the joy in your heart, the love in your heart. And even if Christmas is a difficult time for you, in this scene, you are held, you are loved, and you feel completely and utterly at peace, and joyfully and wonderfully in your imagination, you rise from your seat and you open the door from this beautiful old house, and in front of you there is the beautiful rolling hills of snow-covered countryside where some evergreens pop up, and there's the beautiful skeletons of the deciduous trees and birches and beautiful things all around the red berries, the holly, the mistletoe, and you just breathe in this cooling nice air, and in the distance there's an old country fence, and on that fence is the robin, and the robin represents a messenger of love from those who may not be here anymore, from those that are here, and from for the love that is with you. And gingerly you walk up to the robin, for you do not wish to scare it, but the robin is friendly, and in your pocket you find some bird seed, and you scatter it loosely on the ground gently, and you watch with love and comfort as that robin starts to take a nibble off the food. And that robin represents the beauty of your soul and the beauty of who you are, and the food that you gave it was the fruits and the wisdom that you have shared, knowingly or unloanly, with people and loved ones throughout the year. And you say thank you to the robin, you thank you to this beautiful Christmassy holiday scene as you come back into your body, back into the moment, knowing that there is a wholesome, humble, and beautiful side of yourself that you can just sit and connect with over this holiday season. So thank you for listening, dear listeners. And if I if I don't if you don't hear from me before, I wish you a happy, happy holidays.