This holiday season may be busy- but it also gives us the opportunity for a deeper experience if we cultivate inner qualities of love, joy, and peace…and share them with others.
Here are 12 suggestions to get you started…
  1.  Share your love –  Keep a notepad handy to write down your appreciation and gratitude for the soul qualities that people in your life express- and thank them when you see them personally, or with a call, an email, or a card.
  2. Give some love to your meditation practice. Create a special altar or refresh your meditation space. Set aside time each day for silent meditation to meet the joy that resides within you. Even 5 or 10 minutes can make a big difference in your life. Don’t just hope for peace or joy in meditation- meet it halfway! Try to approach your practice from the beginning with peace and joy. If you need some help, try a Guided Meditation or Meditation App. If you don’t have meditation practice yet, try the simple technique.
  3.  Use Affirmations to carry inspiration into daily activity. The affirmation “I radiate love and goodwill to soul-friends everywhere” helps expand our sympathies, cultivating love and connection with others. Repeating an affirmation silently throughout the day helps to fill you with a positive outlook, changing your thoughts, your mood- and your interactions with others!
  4.  Before you visit, “Zoom” or “Facetime” with family or friends- take a moment to prepare yourself inwardly to be a channel for blessings during your time together. Take a few deep breaths, fill your heart with love- and try to feel that love flowing through your words, your expressions, and the quality of your voice.
  5.  Cultivate good Satsang – the companionship of those who embody peace and joy. This can be in-person,  through spiritual books, uplifting audio recordings – or online.  Ananda offers many opportunities for satsang during the holidays- in-person and online.  Ananda Worldwide also offers inspiring articles and recordings,
  6.  Each time you wrap a gift – or when you purchase something – pause for a moment to think of the recipient and include your loving prayers for their wellbeing as part of the gift.
  7. Give to something beyond your immediate circle– Join with a group of friends or family and decide together on a charity or cause to donate to­­­­. Send not just money- but also send your prayers.
  8. Consciously bring Spirit into small, often routine activities. Channel your heart’s love into preparing a meal. Chant or sing a favorite song to bring joy and enthusiasm into washing the dishes or cleaning! Make folding the laundry or paying the bills an experience of peace by blessing each one. Don’t wait for formal occasions to experience the sacred. Take every opportunity to turn your life into a sacred experience.
  9. Call on the uplifting power of sound – Try chanting, one of the most powerful techniques for opening the heart and lifting the consciousness.  Enjoy a beautiful Oratorio, or find performances of sacred classics like Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and Handel’s Messiah to attend or listen to online.
  10. Incorporate some longer meditations into your practice. In the stillness of meditation, silently commune with the holy qualities of peace, love, and joy. Feel them first in your heart, then expand that feeling throughout your body and beyond, dissolving any sense of separation. Join us for all or part of Ananda’s traditional  8-hour Christmas Meditation at Ananda Village on December 23.
  11. Pray for your loved ones each day during the holidays- not just for health and well-being- but for their inner joy and spiritual upliftment.
  12. Send out prayers of peace and blessing to the world. Yogananda said, “The instrument is blessed by that which flows through it.” Healing prayers can deepen our experience of empathy, love, and oneness with others. Pray for people in your life, for people in the news, for those with whom you disagree, or for world situations. Try Yogananda’s Peace and Harmony Prayer.

What other ways could you cultivate and share these Divine gifts? Hopefully, these suggestions will spark even more ideas of your own.

May your holidays be filled with Love, Joy, and Peace!