Your Thanksgiving Survival Guide

This time of year can be stressful for a whole BUNCH of reasons, including (but not limited to): (1) challenging relationships with family members (2) Stress of hosting or traveling and (3) Trickiness around our relationship to food. So with the hopes of making things a bit easier, here are some things that might help.

IF YOU HAVE A CHALLENGING FAMILY SITUATION ON YOUR HANDS...

In this video, I share my top three tips to help you make it through the meal/night/weekend: 1. Feel Everything 2. Find the Pleasure and 3. Draw Boundaries. What would you add to the list?

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IF YOU ARE STRESSED ABOUT TRAVELING OR HOSTING:

This is one of my favorite meditations (guided by my friend Lodro) for otherwise stressful times - like cooking, traveling or commuting. PS: Yesterday, I had to walk through the underground tunnel that connects the A train to the 1 train in NYC -- the length of one city avenue. I get extremely claustrophobic in tunnels, and that is the WORST one in NYC - it smells, it's small, it's packed and it's my nightmare. But I was in a rush and it had to be done. How did I survive? I did this practice. My nervous system relaxed, and I genuinely felt my heart expand to all these humans, shuffling around underground, on their way somewhere, just like me. Listen and let me know what you think:

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IF YOU ARE STRESSED ABOUT FOOD:

I have done a deep dive into intuitive eating this past year and it has been transformative. I think I'll devote a whole newsletter to it soon, but for now, check out this primer: https://www.npr.org/2019/05/23/726236988/trust-your-gut-a-beginners-guide-to-intuitive-eating or these books: https://www.intuitiveeating.org/our-books/ or Evelyn Tribole, one of the founders of this method, on Dan Harris' podcast, Ten Percent Happier. And a short primer on mindful eating from my website: https://www.sefirawellness.com/resources/blog-post-title-four-xcwhm​

ONE FINAL WORD

You don't have to force yourself to feel grateful, or any which way. My invitation to you is to try - as best as you can - to stay present. To feel what is happening. To attune yourself to pleasure. To ease up the comparisons and expectations and "shoulds." To take care of yourself, and not abandon yourself, no matter what. That is my plan, anyway! I'll report back, and you do the same. <3

I am sending you all my love, now and and always,

Yael

Yael Shy is the CEO and Founder of Sefira Wellness with over two decades of supporting others in uncovering their inherent worth and capacity for deep joy through mindfulness. She is the author of the award-winning book What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017) and teaches at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service. You can find her on Instagram at @yaelshy1.

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