It’s the Little Things: 5 Ways to Navigate the Holidays Well In 2020

November 05, 2020 at 10:48AM

Wise words from long-time contributor Sophie Jaffe, the grounded yogi, radical transparency advocate and superfood chef it seems wellness was made from. We love our community, especially here in L.A. where we’re based and, in a weird week like the one following Election Day 2020 we’re looking to serve up all the sanity we can. Here’s Sophie…

2020 has been a wild one for this mama of three! It’s been a crazy ride of emotions with my little ones, reminding them it’s okay to feel their feelings and simply be. As we approach the holidays a little differently this year, I’m reminded that what is most important is honoring my own needs, celebrating simple moments and joys, and finding gratitude in it all. 

We can choose to sink into the heaviness of this year or we can choose to celebrate how far we’ve come and all our transformations and expansions. We can choose to get creative and create positive ways to connect with extended friends and family we’re used to seeing over the holidays, keep our spirits up even if we’ve lost family members, and most importantly, keep immunity high through all the celebrations.

I know friends who have lost their jobs, had to move to a smaller homes with their families, many kids who can’t go back to school, and families who haven’t seen each other month after month. I know there will be a silver lining to all of this. I know as a society and as humans, we will prevail and rise up and be stronger than ever.

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What I’m most concerned with now is people letting fear and stress get to the best of them. Fear and anxiety are nasty diseases. When we’re living in these low vibrational states our immune system is weakened, our quality of sleep is down, and we begin to lose connection with our intuition.

I’m sharing ways to help keep you in joyful spirits through the holidays and support your well-being. I want our family to focus on being happy and connected all year, as many days as possible, and as many times as feel right.

5 Ways to Navigate the Holidays in 2020

1 | Celebrate the small beautiful moments of the holidays.

Intentionally finding the small, little joys in life during such a dark time has been a true life-saver over the past year. Instead of focusing on things I can’t control, I’m feeling gratitude towards all that I have the ability to do. As hard as it will be to skip our huge, traditional holiday gatherings this year, I’ve rewired my brain to be grateful for the extra time and memories with my chosen family that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

More intimate gatherings mean more intimate connections. Invite in more playtime, more dancing, and more laughter! Finding simple pleasures like baking holiday desserts with superfoods, more self-care, more yoga, and playtime with my kiddos and holiday traditions can make ALL the difference.

2 | Make your nourishment a priority.

It can be difficult to maintain healthy eating habits during the holidays, especially when your stress levels are off the charts. To make sure your body is receiving all of the nourishment it needs to keep you free from sickness and GLOWING, make it a daily ritual to whip up an energizing smoothie filled with fruits & veggies, Philosophie superfoods, and coconut water or nut mylks. Then, celebrate the season with grounding lattes.

I love making a pumpkin spice latte with our FALL VIBES blend made with ashwagandha which is amazing for anxiety and mood; tocos for nourishing your skin, hair & nails and also good for digestion; creamy coconut milk powder, pumpkin pie spices for your pumpkiny flavor delight.

3 | Shake the low vibes off your body.

Release stress and re-energize by staying active! Choose whatever sport or activity that you look forward o doing and then make time for it amidst the chaos. You don’t have to allocate an hour or two for each workout — keep it short and sweet with a short yoga flow, a night walk around the block (perfect for scoping out all the holiday lights), at-home workouts or EFT! EFT [emotional freedom technique] is amazing for relieving stress and tension in the body. Tapping therapy is based on the combined principles of ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology. During tapping, I focus on negative emotions or physical sensations, which helps to calm the nervous system, rewire the brain to respond in healthier ways, and restore the body’s balance of energy.

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I love to intuitively move and feel into my body where it needs physical release. Even just rolling out your mat and moving intuitively will do the trick! Join my intuitive virtual yoga classes and tap into the best strongest version of who you are.

4 | More kindness for our community and neighbors.

We are experiencing a WHOLE RANGE of emotions and feelings right now from moment to moment.

How can we be more accepting of our neighbors?

How can we create less judgment overall?

How can we open our hearts more during this time?

The holidays are tender times for many people so any way we can send some extra love and kindness to people in need or our community will help so much. Donate and shop small businesses this year – they need any extra love they can get! Donate food, money and goods where you can and send out love wherever you go!

5 | Turn your home into a holiday haven.

Maintain a welcoming, soothing environment at home and bring the holiday spirit indoors. I love bringing in seasonal plants and fruits into my home to celebrate the holidays. This year you can get in the holiday spirit by going full out with decorations in your home and involve your kiddos!

Gather beautiful candles and keep the energy in your space uplifting and welcoming by cleansing the air whenever you can with a spritz of Chrysalis Water (I spray this on myself when I need an instant uplift).

Focus on spending time with your family and sending love via letters in the mail, zoom calls or phone calls to extended friends and family, lighting candles, snuggling in pajamas all day and watching movies and setting intentions for the new year ahead.

Let us all show up exactly as we are for those we love most during these holiday times. It can be challenging in so many ways for us all, ask your loved ones how they are doing even if they appear “fine.” Let us all hold one another and lift to rise.

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