Christmas Love It, Loathe It, Or Panic
Written by: Karen Peddie, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Here we are at the end of November and the shops have turned into Christmas grottos. Christmas music on the radio and adverts in the media. Are you in a mad panic just thinking about it? Or did you start planning in January and have all the presents bought and wrapped by July?
Christmas Past
Even if you have always enjoyed Christmas with family and friends, things change. Children grow up, people pass away, and friends drift apart. 2013 was my first Christmas without my Mum, Dad passed in 2008, my Uncle in 2009 and both my daughter and I found it very difficult. We had gone from 5 people for Christmas dinner to 2. Our extended family included us and tried very hard to make it easier for us but Christmas would never be the same again.
I was grieving, although I didn’t realise that at the time. I thought I was coping but I had all these emotions I didn’t know how to deal with. Such overwhelming sadness, fear, panic, anxiety, loneliness, anger and worst of all…guilt. Christmas should be jolly and fun, but all I wanted to do was cry. The physical, aching pain was very real. I wasn’t coping and stressed because I wasn’t coping. I was depressed and anxious and had to increase the antidepressants just to try and function “normally”.
2014 wasn’t much easier, but in 2015 I saw a leaflet to help at a Christmas Dinner for people who would be alone, I volunteered us both! We did this for the next 6 years and it was a lovely day, filled with love and laughter! We met up with our extended family on Christmas night, so we had the best of both worlds! I won’t pretend it was an easy journey but discovering Reiki and Emotional Freedom Technique has changed my life and more importantly, how I feel and think about myself. From my first Reiki taster session to becoming a Reiki Master Teacher, learning EFT and becoming an Accredited Practitioner, I am now more relaxed, balanced, calm and at peace with myself.
Christmas Present
Life goes on and we will always have something or other to deal with. Every thought or emotion we have ever felt is stored within us and can be triggered by something as simple as a smell or a sound. The trouble is… at this time of year, we are surrounded by both! That’s ok if it doesn’t cause a problem, either mentally, physically or emotionally, but if the emotion triggered stops you from doing something or causes you to be physically or mental ill, there is a block in your energy flow caused by a negative emotion. The problem is, we can’t always immediately identify these emotions or where they come from as it often comes from way back in our past, possibly even to childhood. We just know that “something is wrong”.
Christmas Future
Emotional Freedom Techniques or Tapping helped me to uncover the emotions causing my issues. It is a powerful yet simple and easy to use the technique to clear these blocks by changing our negative thoughts into positive ones. We can have as many as 50,000 thoughts each day. If they are mostly negative, we feel sad, depressed, often cynical and reluctant to change. If they are mostly positive thoughts, we feel happy, optimistic and open to new opportunities. We are all unique, we all have different emotions and react in different ways to situations. We need to find what is right for us, we need a balance and EFT can help us find that balance.
So, if you are finding things difficult right now and you want to do something about it, I can help you on the journey to emotional freedom, but you need to take the first step.
Karen Peddie, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Karen is a natural, intuitive Energy Healer who uses Reiki, Emotional Freedom Techniques, and Meditation to help her clients improve their health and well-being. She works with them to identify and heal the root cause of any dis-ease which could be blocking the flow of energy either physically, mentally, or emotionally. As someone who suffered from anxiety, stress, and depression for many years, Karen's experience makes her a genuine, empathetic therapist who creates a safe, calm space in which to start the healing process
