🕯 10 Tips to find Joy during the Holidays while Grieving

If you're anything like I was during my first (and even second or third) holiday season without my late husband, you might be STRESSING about the fast approaching festivities. 😰

As overwhelming as the holidays can be (even without grief), I've learned some tips & tools to help ease the chaos and find joy, alongside your grief!

So here are my 10 tips to help you prepare and find peace & joy this holiday season ⬇️

🤷🏼‍♀️ Own that the holidays will be hard

Pretending that you are ok (when you’re really not) creates misalignment and more suffering. You’ll actually feel better by accepting that grief will be amplified during this time of year, then focus on finding ways to support yourself.

💆🏼‍♀️ Plan ahead for grief & self-care Schedule "ME-TIME."

Literally go into your calendar and carve out time for working out, for crying, for a walk in nature … for whatever you need to put your oxygen mask on first. This also means making space for grief -- to feel your emotions and release them. Once you fill your cup, you can focus on holiday preparations and family fun.

🙏 Ritualize your grief

Instead of getting randomly triggered at festivities or gatherings, try proactively entering the pain. Create a ritual or practice like setting aside 10 minutes before bed, lighting a candle, turning on sad music and allowing yourself to cry. This will help you process and feel your emotions, so that you can release them -- lessening the likelihood of them creeping up on you later.

🙅‍♀️ Get good at saying NO!

Get selective about which holiday activities you choose to partake in, and then say NO to others. Try not to overbook yourself (this leads to overwhelm and burnout) and only participate in ones that feel significant and/or supportive to you. This means letting go of others' disappointment when you chose not to attend.

🆘 Ask for help

If you don't have the energy or willpower to do the wrapping, decorating and merrymaking -- then ask someone to help! Friends or family are likely willing to lend a hand, or hire a task rabbit or teenage neighbor who wants to make a buck.

🤝 Find your tribe

Find your safe space for grief! Talk to other grievers who are navigating a loss during the holidays so that you can get real about you struggles and not feel like you're bringing down the party. It's helpful to have a space solely dedicated to grief, so that you could feel joy, love and magic of the holidays.

✨ Honor your deceased loved one

Don't ignore the empty seat at the table. Acknowledge your person's absence and talk about them! Make them feel a part of the holidays by preparing their favorite dish, honoring an old tradition, or reminiscing about old memories. Activities like these may seem challenging at first, but ultimately they help you connect with your deceased through the love instead of pain.

🌓 Learn how to hold duality

Your grief doesn't diminish your merriment. Nor does your merriment diminish your grief. You don't have to choose one feeling over the other, Instead try to hold both. You can access joy, gratitude, love and light alongside the sadness, loss, heaviness and darkness of grief.

✨ Find your own JOY!

Some of the holiday traditions that you once brought you joy, might not any more. A crowded party or making the perfect holiday card might seem really insignificant to you now, so brainstorm new traditions that could bring you more meaning and light!

You have changed since your loss… thus so have the holidays. 🙏

Which of these tips will you start with?

If you want to apply these tips (and more) so that you can find joy this holiday season and beyond, I invite you to book a FREE 30-min Discovery Call with me. 

👉 BOOK HERE 

This is a time for me to learn about your struggles, goals and any obstacles standing in the way of you reaching them. There is no pressure to commit to working with me, simply to explore if our energies align. 

I look forward to "meeting" you! 

Love & light,

Emily