November Natural News

Posted on November 1, 2019 by dragonspitapothecary

We have now arrived at what many consider the best time of the year. There’s festive music, lots of things to do and lots of plans being made with family and friends. We are becoming busy and seeking out to connect and share time with others. We are exchanging tokens of gratefulness, love and appreciation to one another through meals, time and gifts. It can indeed be a happy time of year shared in love and fun. It can fill our soul with a level of gratitude for all that we have and feel in our lives. It can replenish us in reminder of where we have come in getting to this point in time.

For a lot of us, even when we do have fun things on our calendar, there is also an underlying need for solitude, peace and quiet and time to ourselves. There is a need for distance from things that are not always pleasant and permission to feel what we feel about them. There is a desire to reflect, read, be still and quiet and look from a distance. There are also many of us who have a lot of pain associated with year end holidays and that can quickly rob our joy for seeing fresh ways to make this year different. While we may enjoy the gathering we also enjoy the stillness.

Balancing this spectrum of feelings, needs and desires that comes with this time of year can be difficult. In the healthcare space we see more prescriptions for anti-depressants this time of year than at any other point. Depression, anxiety, sleeplessness and digestion issues can plague our body and hold down our spirit. This comes from many things that are going on in our lives both around us and inside. Our cells are telling us what we need to be healthy and we are burdened with stress and obligations that put these needs lower on our to-do lists. At times, our bodies will just stop and we will feel sick, overwhelmed and burdened making this an even more challenging time of year.

We are filled with our own expectations of what a perfect holiday looks like and how it should feel, look like and be. We are filled with hope for inclusion, comfort, love and things that make us feel special and good. We are also filled with reminders of the past both good and bad that can make us hesitate or even limit us from being open to what is around us now. On top of what we are feeling are traditions passed down to further mold how we think holidays should be. These influence us every single year whether we realize it or not. There can be guilt and obligation that overrun what we need to feed our soul. When you consider all of this it is of little wonder so many of us have a difficult time this time of year.

Keeping it Simple

This month we’re going to explore all the ways holidays can be made more simple as a way to navigate, manage and maybe even find that true peace of the season. By keeping them simple we are sometimes able to better balance the spectrum of complex feelings and expectations of the holidays and have that outlet that we need for things we can’t handle.

Simple doesn’t mean underdone or even doing without.Simplicity can be beautiful, memorable and imprint on us the ability to touch, feel, smell, and hear the joy this season holds. These experiences can help us heal, see things differently and find a way for holidays to take on a new meaning in our lives. Simple doesn’t mean