We are currently looking for products (and in some cases services) to place in 12 gift bags for Christmas 2011. http://amindfulchristmas.com/
Products must be green (planet friendly to all that call earth home). We need only 1 sample first and as early as this may seem, the Christmas holiday creeps up really fast!
One of our missions is to show people that the Christmas holiday can be green and we don't have to be so wasteful. Once the products are chosen we will need 12 samples for the bags. We will then put the list of what is in the bags up on our website to promote you and your business. We would like to have this complete and up on our website for launch by early September. Please contact me and tell me about what you would like to submit. Thank you! barbara@mindfulpublishing.com
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Friday, December 17, 2010
The Countdown to Christmas
According to Rasmussen Reports, on Tuesday Dec. 14th 2010, a national telephone survey found that 22% of Americans say they have finished their holiday shopping with Christmas less than two weeks away. And 73% have not.
Okay all you Christmas procrastinators, if you had read my book A Mindful Christmas ~ How to Create a Meaningful, Peaceful Christmas you wouldn’t be in this boat!
In the Introduction of my book I pose three powerful questions that help you pull back from the compulsion to go about Christmas as usual! This is a book about being conscious of what it is that you are creating around this holiday. The usual, is usually filled with running around with you hair on fire trying to do it all at the last minute! This is what I term “holiday hysteria”.
Chapter One of my book The Beginning of a Peaceful, Joyous Holiday Season ~ Planning Ahead is a sanity saver!
And while Christmas isn’t about the gifts, most people still feel pressured into buying gifts. When I asked people what their favorite Christmas memory was, not one single person mentioned anything about gifts. It is all about connections and spreading the love!
So even though we are a week away from Christmas, it still isn’t too late to purchase A Mindful Christmas not only for yourself, but as a gift to those you know that go a little overboard or those you know that feel so much pressure around this holiday. Even if you read this book after Christmas, when next Christmas rolls around you will have more peace and a much more meaningful Christmas experience!
Wishing you a Mindful Christmas filled with Love and Meaning!
Barbara
Okay all you Christmas procrastinators, if you had read my book A Mindful Christmas ~ How to Create a Meaningful, Peaceful Christmas you wouldn’t be in this boat!
In the Introduction of my book I pose three powerful questions that help you pull back from the compulsion to go about Christmas as usual! This is a book about being conscious of what it is that you are creating around this holiday. The usual, is usually filled with running around with you hair on fire trying to do it all at the last minute! This is what I term “holiday hysteria”.
Chapter One of my book The Beginning of a Peaceful, Joyous Holiday Season ~ Planning Ahead is a sanity saver!
And while Christmas isn’t about the gifts, most people still feel pressured into buying gifts. When I asked people what their favorite Christmas memory was, not one single person mentioned anything about gifts. It is all about connections and spreading the love!
So even though we are a week away from Christmas, it still isn’t too late to purchase A Mindful Christmas not only for yourself, but as a gift to those you know that go a little overboard or those you know that feel so much pressure around this holiday. Even if you read this book after Christmas, when next Christmas rolls around you will have more peace and a much more meaningful Christmas experience!
Wishing you a Mindful Christmas filled with Love and Meaning!
Barbara
Sunday, December 5, 2010
A Mindful Christmas ~ How to Create a Meaningful, Peaceful Holiday
When writing my book A Mindful Christmas ~ How to Create a Meaningful, Peaceful Holiday, I asked people what they did and didn’t like about Christmas.
Most Americans feel that Christmas day is the most stressful day of the year. The expectations of perfection that we see in movies and advertising have put an enormous amount of pressure on us. We could all have less stress and less anxiety around the Christmas holiday if we stopped celebrating it with mass consumerism and extravagance. Keeping Christmas simple and toned down is possible. All you have to do is commit to keeping it debt free, communicate honestly, and stay true to yourself and your values.
Most people feel that Christmas is too over commercialized, too expensive and causes too much stress. We live in a consumer society and we measure success in terms of how much we have materially. We have come to value things over being. No longer is it enough to keep up with the Jones; we want to run them down! The obsession with possessions is a reflection of spiritual emptiness.
To begin A Mindful Christmas experience, here are three questions worth considering:
What are my intentions?
What can I do without?
What is necessary?
The challenges we face over Christmas can be seen as gifts in and of themselves. The silver lining is the ability to set our priorities straight and to teach ourselves and our children that we need to get back to basics and re-examine our values. A meaningful Christmas doesn’t come from the things we receive but comes from how we live with what we do have. Money isn’t the answer to a meaningful Christmas either. Whether you spend one hundred dollars or ten thousand dollars you may still feel let down by a Christmas that lacked meaning and connection. We have gotten hooked on this holiday for all the wrong reasons. The fact is that things and money don’t guarantee happiness, and they aren’t the source of happiness or fulfillment.
Yet, when some critical disaster strikes, whether it is global or in our own home, we realize what is really important and what matters to us most. Christmas gives us the opportunity to express our deepest values and to put our priorities in perspective.
The over-commercialization and consumerism of Christmas is the main reason that we feel a loss of meaning and a lack of the connectedness we long for. The true meaning has been replaced with holiday hysteria. As a result, many people dread the coming of what could be a joyful and uplifting season. It’s no wonder so many people have diminished feelings, even depression surrounding this holiday with all of the obligations including the expense, the shopping, crowds, parties, and the list goes on. We have let our modern commercial culture take away the message of this holiday. Where is the meaning? Why go through all of this just for one day? Most people feel terribly overwhelmed by this holiday!
Done properly, the Christmas holiday happens in the heart.
Our most cherished memories are about how we felt when we look back on our Christmases. The most important and meaningful Christmases are about connecting with the people we love. Most people don’t even remember the gifts that they received. The memories that we build are much more important!
A Mindful Christmas takes a look at the core traditions surrounding the season from Advent (which starts four weeks before Christmas) through Saint Nicholas’s Day, Christmas Day itself, The Twelve Holy Nights (Twelve Days of Christmas), and leading up to the Feast of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day). Each chapter offers specific and practical ways to simplify, appreciate and to celebrate the real meaning of each essential, and often forgotten, element of the season.
A Mindful Christmas will take you on a journey through the Christmas season. It will help you draw your focus away from the commercial aspects and toward the true meaning of Christmas: love, connections, hope and peace.
A Mindful Christmas is a journey that you will not want to miss!
http://amindfulchristmas.com/
Most Americans feel that Christmas day is the most stressful day of the year. The expectations of perfection that we see in movies and advertising have put an enormous amount of pressure on us. We could all have less stress and less anxiety around the Christmas holiday if we stopped celebrating it with mass consumerism and extravagance. Keeping Christmas simple and toned down is possible. All you have to do is commit to keeping it debt free, communicate honestly, and stay true to yourself and your values.
Most people feel that Christmas is too over commercialized, too expensive and causes too much stress. We live in a consumer society and we measure success in terms of how much we have materially. We have come to value things over being. No longer is it enough to keep up with the Jones; we want to run them down! The obsession with possessions is a reflection of spiritual emptiness.
To begin A Mindful Christmas experience, here are three questions worth considering:
What are my intentions?
What can I do without?
What is necessary?
The challenges we face over Christmas can be seen as gifts in and of themselves. The silver lining is the ability to set our priorities straight and to teach ourselves and our children that we need to get back to basics and re-examine our values. A meaningful Christmas doesn’t come from the things we receive but comes from how we live with what we do have. Money isn’t the answer to a meaningful Christmas either. Whether you spend one hundred dollars or ten thousand dollars you may still feel let down by a Christmas that lacked meaning and connection. We have gotten hooked on this holiday for all the wrong reasons. The fact is that things and money don’t guarantee happiness, and they aren’t the source of happiness or fulfillment.
Yet, when some critical disaster strikes, whether it is global or in our own home, we realize what is really important and what matters to us most. Christmas gives us the opportunity to express our deepest values and to put our priorities in perspective.
The over-commercialization and consumerism of Christmas is the main reason that we feel a loss of meaning and a lack of the connectedness we long for. The true meaning has been replaced with holiday hysteria. As a result, many people dread the coming of what could be a joyful and uplifting season. It’s no wonder so many people have diminished feelings, even depression surrounding this holiday with all of the obligations including the expense, the shopping, crowds, parties, and the list goes on. We have let our modern commercial culture take away the message of this holiday. Where is the meaning? Why go through all of this just for one day? Most people feel terribly overwhelmed by this holiday!
Done properly, the Christmas holiday happens in the heart.
Our most cherished memories are about how we felt when we look back on our Christmases. The most important and meaningful Christmases are about connecting with the people we love. Most people don’t even remember the gifts that they received. The memories that we build are much more important!
A Mindful Christmas takes a look at the core traditions surrounding the season from Advent (which starts four weeks before Christmas) through Saint Nicholas’s Day, Christmas Day itself, The Twelve Holy Nights (Twelve Days of Christmas), and leading up to the Feast of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day). Each chapter offers specific and practical ways to simplify, appreciate and to celebrate the real meaning of each essential, and often forgotten, element of the season.
A Mindful Christmas will take you on a journey through the Christmas season. It will help you draw your focus away from the commercial aspects and toward the true meaning of Christmas: love, connections, hope and peace.
A Mindful Christmas is a journey that you will not want to miss!
http://amindfulchristmas.com/
Friday, December 3, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Advent Begins Tonight
Advent is traditionally celebrated by creating a wreath that lies on a specially prepared table. You can buy a ready-made wreath or you can make your own. I prefer to make my own by taking cuttings from evergreen trees and adding cuttings from some other plants as well, such as holly, thyme branches, eucalyptus, and dried berries.
Four candles (three purple and one pink) are placed around the wreath, which should measure about 10” or so across. You can buy wreath forms and candles made specifically for this purpose at any craft store. You will want to buy plenty of candles since they will be used during the entire four weeks of Advent. Using tall tapers is best. Not only because they last longer, but help prevent any fire hazard by keeping the flame up and away from the greenery. You may also want to buy candles that do not drip wax if you are placing your wreath on a special table that you want protected from any kind of damage.
There are several traditions about the meaning of each candle. Typically the purple candles symbolize prayer and preparation. The pink candle not only marks the second half of Advent, it is the color of joy.
To learn more: http://www.amindfulchristmas.com/
Four candles (three purple and one pink) are placed around the wreath, which should measure about 10” or so across. You can buy wreath forms and candles made specifically for this purpose at any craft store. You will want to buy plenty of candles since they will be used during the entire four weeks of Advent. Using tall tapers is best. Not only because they last longer, but help prevent any fire hazard by keeping the flame up and away from the greenery. You may also want to buy candles that do not drip wax if you are placing your wreath on a special table that you want protected from any kind of damage.
There are several traditions about the meaning of each candle. Typically the purple candles symbolize prayer and preparation. The pink candle not only marks the second half of Advent, it is the color of joy.
To learn more: http://www.amindfulchristmas.com/
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanksgiving
Let us all be mindful of the Native Americans whose land we took in the name of religious freedom and offer to them and their ancestors our deepest and most sincere apology.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Veterans Day
Thank you to ALL that have served our Country honorably.
The purchase of my book A Mindful Christmas ~ How to Create a Meaningful, Peaceful Holiday helps to support Trees for Troops. When you purchase a live tree from a Christmas tree lot or farm you will receive a coupon for 25% off A Mindful Christmas book and 10% will go to support the efforts of the Christmas Spirit Foundation!
The purchase of my book A Mindful Christmas ~ How to Create a Meaningful, Peaceful Holiday helps to support Trees for Troops. When you purchase a live tree from a Christmas tree lot or farm you will receive a coupon for 25% off A Mindful Christmas book and 10% will go to support the efforts of the Christmas Spirit Foundation!
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