The intention of holiday celebrations might be to cultivate love, joy, and gratitude, but those aren’t the only emotions many people experience. They can also create challenges around personal relationships.
Regardless of the holiday challenges you may face, the principles of Qi Gong can help you embrace the season with greater harmony and peace.
In this blog, you’ll learn how to use the principles of Qi Gong to maintain equilibrium and balance during the upcoming holiday festivities.
One common holiday challenge relates to social overwhelm. Although family gatherings can be fun and exciting, they also have the potential to be stressful or anxiety-provoking.
Part of this is because many people have sensitivities or trauma associated with family. These sensitivities can easily be reactivated when old patterns re-emerge. Even something as trivial as a minor disagreement about how to bake a salmon can strike a deep cord if it’s reminiscent of a recurrent power struggle.
In addition to old sensitivities reemerging, many people simply aren’t accustomed to gathering in large groups with friends or family. Having eight, ten, or even more family members at the dinner table can create a lot of commotion. Introverted individuals may be especially overstimulated during holiday gatherings.
So, how can you enjoy holiday gatherings while maintaining peace and harmony within yourself?
According to Chinese Medicine and Qi Gong principles, the answer lies in how you balance internal and external energies.
In Chinese Medicine and Qi Gong, external energy is considered “Yang” and includes any energies outside of yourself. Not surprisingly, when you’re in large groups of people celebrating, you’re surrounded by an abundance of Yang energy.
Any energy within you is considered “Yin.” For example, your thoughts, emotions, and internal energy state are all Yin as opposed to the Yang energy around you.
Chinese Medicine and Qi Gong teach us that Yin and Yang must be balanced for harmony to exist. Since holiday festivities are full of Yang, they can easily overwhelm the Yin energy within yourself, which leads to a difficult imbalance of Yin and Yang. To address this, it’s essential to cultivate your own internal energy so you aren’t overwhelmed by the Yang energy of your external environment.
The first step in maintaining balance is simply being aware of your internal energy. When you engage with others, pay attention to how you feel inside. If you notice that you’re starting to feel depleted or stressed out, try to take a break from the social scene. Take some time to go on a walk, do Qi Gong, or whatever helps you stay connected to yourself.
In addition to social overwhelm, the holidays can also bring up difficult emotions that can be hard to process in large groups.
Anyone who’s had a difficult year knows that emotions often come to a ‘peak’ during the holidays. It’s natural to grieve loved ones who have passed or feel powerful emotions surrounding big life transitions during the holidays.
When such emotions emerge, holding space for your internal experiences is important. If you need to spend some time alone or with just one or two close friends or family members, give that to yourself. Generally, it’s best to hold space for feelings that arise and allow these energies to move through you. In doing so, you’ll be able to transform sadness and pain in a healthy and positive way.
If you feel pressure to socialize beyond what feels comfortable, try to let go of that pressure and stay connected to your true needs. Often, taking space for yourself allows you to reconnect with others from a place of strength and equilibrium.
If you’re interested in learning Qi Gong practices to cultivate internal balance and harmony amid the holiday festivities, be sure to check out one of our free YouTube Qi Gong routines.
In Lee Holden’s Six-Minute Qi Gong for Stress Relief Routine, you’ll discover the stress-reducing benefits of Qi Gong in just a few short minutes.
Practicing Qi Gong helps you cultivate internal balance and harmony. This allows you to face all of life’s experiences with confidence and strength, including the commotion of holiday festivities.
Check out Lee’s Six-Minute Qi Gong Routine today to experience how this practice can help you maintain equilibrium and balance this holiday season.
