Thanksgiving season is near, and with it comes a lot of food and time spent with the family. I am excited and grateful for it. How about you? How does this holiday make you feel? Are you excited about the feasts you will be having? Do you think you can still practice mindfulness during holidays?
In this episode, I will talk to you about becoming more mindful of your actions this holiday season. You will also learn about the best way to deal with some situations during the Thanksgiving feast. I will also share with you why we always turn to food when things go wrong.
Tune in to the full episode and learn how you can become more mindful during holidays and kind to yourself this upcoming holiday season.
Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
- Discover what mindfulness quotient is and why it matters.
- You’ll learn how to practice mindfulness during holidays.
- I will also share some advice on how to start your mindfulness journey.
Related Episode
Episode Highlights
A Recap of the Previous Episode
- We learned about how to go along our mindfulness movement.
- We talked about the mindfulness quotient (MQ) and how to measure it.
- The mindfulness quotient is the non-judgmental, receptive state of mind in which we observe thoughts and feelings without suppressing or denying them.
- We answered several questions to learn where we are in mindfulness.
- We differentiated intelligence quotient (IQ), emotional quotient (EQ), and mindfulness quotient (MQ).
Understanding Mindfulness
- Mindfulness requires us not to over-identify our thoughts and feelings so that we aren’t taken away by negative reactivity.
- To avoid reactivity, you must become more aware of what you’re seeing or feeling while being objective about your emotions.
- Since you use the prefrontal cortex, the observer mind, you see yourself reacting, but you are not doing the action.
- Objectivity and awareness are the keys to having a higher MQ.
Review of Past Episode’s Questions
- What happens to you while getting ready to go to a Thanksgiving party?
- Do you wait until you’re starving before you eat?
- Or do you take care of your hunger so that you will not let your body decide for you?
How Will You React to Your Sister’s Negative Comment About You?
- You will immediately feel angry and think “deadly thoughts” about the commenter while pretending not to care and sipping several glasses of wine.
- You will feel angry, but instead of drinking wine, do you take two extra desserts?
- You will take a deep breath and think about how you control your feelings and that overeating will not make them go away.
- If you pick the first or second choice, you are likely using the wine or dessert to try to feel joyful again, and yet end up regretting your choice the next day.
- Listen to the full episode to learn why the first two do not show mindfulness and how the third answer does.
You Felt Full After Preparing Your Thanksgiving Feast; Will You Still Eat at Dinner?
- You will still eat and even go for seconds since it is the holidays.
- You will not eat so much and still enjoy the feast with your family by taking a couple of bites of some food.
- You drink a few glasses of wine to work up an appetite, then eat mindlessly.
- The first answer is not showing mindfulness because you are doing an activity that you don’t want to do by creating an urge or feeling that you deserve it.
- Tune in to the full episode to find out why each answer shows or does not show mindfulness.
Why Believing in Your Thoughts Matters
- Mindfulness is choosing and believing in the thought that will give you the best results and benefits.
- However, it is essential to note that what we think is not always something we believe in.
- So, if we don’t believe in our thoughts, it won’t work.
- And so, when you’re beginning your mindfulness journey, think about how you are in the process of learning so that you can empower yourself to believe in the thought and make it possible.
Steps Toward Mindfulness
- The journey towards mindfulness during holidays doesn’t always start with a big step, but with baby or turtle steps.
- You start with a little thought that may not be your best thought but is still a better one than what you previously have.
- Think, “maybe I can do that,” instead of saying, “I can’t do that.”
- Think about using “I’m in the process” or “maybe I can” during these holidays to become more mindful.
- The goal is to increase your mindfulness quotient and make it as high or higher than your IQ or EQ.
5 Powerful Quotes
“Mindfulness requires that we not be over-identified, that’s really the best, that we not be over-identified with thoughts and feelings so that we are caught up and swept away by negative reactivity.”
“Your self-control lies within your own mind and what you say.”
“Make decisions that will only be based on your own kindness to yourself — which is eating when you’re hungry, stopping when you’re full, deciding to enjoy a joy food or not.”
“That’s called mindfulness — choosing the thought that will actually give you the best result, and that you actually believe will be helpful for you.”
“If you don’t believe it, it won’t work. So, whatever thought you choose has to be something that you believe.”
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Thanks for listening!
To transforming your life for good,
Dr. Deb
