The holiday season is a time to connect with loved ones and experience joy!
Gatherings, meals, and exchanging gifts are all ways that people around the world connect and celebrate with their loved ones. These are all wonderful external activities to cultivate positive connections, but there are a few internal ways you can further cultivate joyful experiences with loved ones during the holidays.
In this blog, you’ll learn five practical tips to help you enjoy deeper and more joyful connections with those in your life who matter the most. This blog builds on the principles we shared in our previous blog.
Like most things, gaining clarity is one of the first steps to creating the kinds of connections you want to experience.
In everyday life, it’s easy to fall into patterns based on past experiences or behaviors. Even within strong family relationships, there’s often certain patterns or “baggage” that doesn’t tend to lead to joy.
If you enter a social situation without being mindful of where old patterns lie, it can be easy to reawaken past dynamics that you don’t necessarily want to be brought back to the surface. When this happens, it can make it difficult to truly connect in a positive and joyful way.
In Chinese Medicine and Qi Gong, there’s a saying: “Qi flows where the mind goes.” In other words, if you focus your mind on a particular intention, your energy will become aligned with that intention.
If you want to experience positive connections with loved ones during the holidays, it can be helpful to establish that within yourself. As part of that intention, try to set an intention about the emotions you want to experience with your friends or family members. Perhaps you want to experience love, joy, and gratitude during your holiday gatherings.
All relationships do better when gratitude is involved. If you and your family members are experiencing a deep sense of appreciation for one another, it will naturally bring you closer and lead to more joy and love.
Even in deeply loving relationships, it can be easy to become disconnected from your sense of gratitude. Therefore, try to focus on that precious and rewarding feeling!
To cultivate more gratitude, think about the qualities that you appreciate in your loved ones. Of course, you may experience different qualities in different people.
This practice can be as simple as spending five-to-ten minutes intentionally thinking about each of your friends or family members, and acknowledging to yourself what you appreciate about them. To take it a step further, spend a few minutes journaling about your gratitudes.
If you want to make this an activity that you share with your loved ones, try suggesting this brief journaling to your friends or family members. A ten-minute group gratitude journaling practice can be a wonderful way to start off your next holiday gathering.
More than likely, your connections with each friend or family member is unique. With one family member you connect through cooking and cuisine, and with another you may find shared passion through nature and Qi Gong.
When choosing activities or even conversation topics, try to be mindful of what truly brings you closer. Part of this means finding points of shared interest or passion, and part of it may include reflecting on your past experiences with your family members to realize what elements led to the most rewarding and connected experiences. For example, if hikes in nature followed by delicious meals generally leads to joy and connection, that could be a good cue for how to spend your time together.
On the other hand, if the topic of politics consistently reignites an old conflict between Uncle Fred and Aunt Margerie, it might be best to steer clear of that topic, at least until they’ve gone home.
When it comes to cultivating joy within relationships, connecting around shared interests often isn’t enough. Returning to the previous example, discussing politics with a friend who shares your views won’t necessarily make you laugh. More likely, it may lead you both into a feeling of mutual frustration or even anger.
One principle is pretty universal: Having fun and laughing together typically strengthens connections. In addition to choosing shared interests or passions when selecting activities, try to also choose activities that bring about laughter.
One of the best activities to cultivate joy and laughter is games. If you’re able to engage in friendly competition with your loved ones, it can lead to fun times and joyful connections for everyone.
Another wonderful way to connect with your loved ones is through the practice of Qi Gong.
Qi Gong helps you naturally connect to your center and tap into feelings of joy, love, and gratitude. The practice helps you let go of both stress and negative thinking patterns, which creates more space for positive and rewarding relationships.
Qi Gong works by integrating your entire energy system, allowing you to experience a deeper sense of physical, mental, and emotional peace. When you practice with others, this sense of shared peace naturally leads to greater harmony and closeness within your relationships.
If you’re interested in giving Qi Gong a try, check out our Two-Week Qi Gong Trial.
In the free Two-Week Trial, you’ll have a chance to try Qi Gong classes online from the comfort of your own home. All of the classes are taught by master teacher, Lee Holden.
Click on the banner below to learn more about the free trial and discover how Qi Gong can help you experience a deeper sense of peace and joy, both within yourself and within your relationships.
