We need this more than we know, and so to help us find our centre in the middle of all this Holiday Madness is Seth Mohan, Yoga and Fitness Expert.

Where to begin to find peace this holiday season:

The Holidays can be a hectic time both mentally and physically and it’s important to find small mindful moments. And they can be found throughout the day.

• Brushing teeth morning and night offer an opportunity to check in with the breath and ground yourself into the body.
• Mealtimes provide space to take a moment for gratitude for the nourishment and abundance in our lives.

Breathing techniques to use throughout the day: 

For when anxiety or stress gets activated and it’s called Box breathing. If the sympathetic nervous system (flight/fight response) gets triggered, you can use this technique to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and feel calmer.

Physical movements to center yourself:

Let’s do the Twist! Think of twists as an aperitif – a pre-meal exercise. Twists are a great way to detox the organs by bringing in a fresh supply of blood and toning the organs by stretching the fascia that surrounds them.

Now the Holidays involve a lot of Eating, and we are not going to curb eating, so this is to aid with that. Vajrasana is one of the only yoga poses that’s recommended after a meal, think of this is as a digestif. Sitting on your shins in Vajrayana promotes healthy digestion by restricting blood to our lower body abs rerouting it to our stomach and intestines.

Vajrasana Pose

Other ways to help you find your center:

1. Walking

Getting outside during the holidays is a great way to change up the scenery but also is a great way to get the blood flowing through the body. Our calf muscle, specifically the soleus is like a heart for the legs and when we walk this muscle contracts and pumps blood up the legs to the heart where it can get a fresh supply of oxygen.

2. Cold showers

I know this sounds uncomfortable, but this is a real bio-hack. Ending showers with cold water exposure closes the skin’s pores which promotes healthier skin, it also costs your energy, and in fact, research has shown that it aids in fat loss by converting our white fat cells, (which we store) to brown fat cells (that we burn) for energy.