I feel like every email in my inbox, and every post I see on social media is about the holidays. Joyful-looking people all dressed in matching red and green sweaters with snowflakes on them, drinking some delicious beverage, eating some special wintry food, and looking really happy.
DO YOU FEEL REALLY HAPPY right now? Are you looking forward to the upcoming holidays?
If your answer is not a resounding, unreserved YES, then this is your time to pause and find the calm between.
The entire month of December can get thrown under the “holidays” bus. You and your family and friends may become too busy to attend routine gatherings, putting off health and well-being routines in exchange for grabbing that extra sale item for gifting or prepping long, complicated recipes that are overindulgent and under-nutritious.
Let this message from me remind you that your health and well-being do not get a month off. Please find ways to support yourself: attend yoga and run the errands afterward, buy the treats and eat them but don’t forget all nutritional awareness. It’s still early in December. Pace yourself and keep in mind that continuing to meditate, use mindfulness practices, move, and eat healthily will increase your chances of truly enjoying meaningful time with loved ones in the middle of the bustle of holiday demands.
I invite you, right now at this exact moment you are reading this, to stop, take three deep breaths, and think about where the joy truly comes from at this time. Most likely, you’re not going to find it on a day on the calendar or in a gift, but in the meaningful interactions with people, you care about that you experience during the special gatherings. I wish you the calm and clarity of mind to find those experiences. Yoga and meditation can help with that.
Throughout the season and beyond, you’ll hear from me about my books releasing on January 26th. I bet most self-help, personal growth, and transformational nonfiction authors don’t write books they hope people don’t need, but I sincerely hope you don’t need to read them.
They are about suicide loss survival. I am sharing my journey of navigating through trauma and grief after my husband died by suicide in 2016 in hopes of helping others who have suffered similar losses to know they are not alone, get answers to the most pressing and stressful questions, and develop practices that will help them heal.
I hope it’s not you, but if it is, or if you know someone who has lost a partner or spouse to suicide or someone who is supporting a survivor of spouse or partner suicide, please connect us. I can help. These books can help.
Writing and producing two (!) books at the same time is quite a challenge. After almost 6 years of struggling with these books, Surviving Spouse or Partner Suicide Loss and Supporting a Survivor of Spouse or Partner Suicide Loss will be available for purchase on January 26, 2023.
I have included my story and the tools and studies I used, including yoga, mindfulness, and meditation, to move through my healing journey. In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing excerpts and readers’ comments so you’ll know more about what’s included in the books and how reading them can be helpful to people who are suffering from this type of loss.
Why include all this information in a blog about the holidays? Because it is an especially difficult time for those of us in grief, and I want to remind you, even if you are not missing someone that you’ve lost to suicide from your holiday table, to include in your hearts all those who are not with you. You may have lost someone to another type of death, or perhaps they are still living, but you’re missing them and hurting because of the death of your relationship. Regardless of the type of loss, keep your heart open to gratitude while you are surrounded by loving friends and family this season. And send love to those who are missing from your table.