Happy Holidays!

This is a time of year that many experience as frenzied and stressful, though it doesn't have to be that way. With intention and attention, it can be rich in simple joys, presence, and blessing. How? Here are just a few of the ways.

Simple joy can be awakened by shifting our attention and giving thanks for the many blessings that grace our lives, no matter how tiny (and thus easily overlooked) or great, and setting the intention to be 'blessing embodied'.

In a year where we may wish to shift from hyper-consumption to graceful pleasures that are easier on the wallet and Mother Earth, we can shift our attention to gifts that cost little, are Earth-friendly, and have great impact. Some gifts cost nothing: The gift of our undivided attention, or presence, for example, can be a great gift to people who often feel unseen or unheard much of the time.

And the stresses of modern life can be shifted -- alchemized -- by a practice of reciprocal blessing: speaking and sending blessings to the people in our lives, people we may not even know, animals, and the Earth, and to situations and people by whom we might feel frustrated or vexed.

Reciprocal blessing is such a powerful practice for transforming energy and experience! Try it. It's as simple as saying and praying, "May all beings be blessed. May all beings be well. May all have their needs met joyfully and gracefully. May the spirit of peace awaken in all hearts. May we all be guided by the wisdom of our hearts."

It can also be directed more specifically, in similar ways, in situations where we feel angry or frustrated: "May so-and-so be well. May s/he be blessed with all that makes for a healthy, joyful life." As we breathe and speak or silently repeat these blessings, we'll feel the very energy in our bodies shift, and our thoughts along with it.

As many of us know, practices of blessing and gratitude bring us back into our hearts from the busy, often critical habits of the thinking mind. It brings us into our center, where we find real security that transcends fleeting circumstances.

During the holiday season, as we end one calendar year and begin a new one, play with some of these practices -- experiment -- and watch your experience and demeanor shift. And watch how it affects those around you.

This issue also features links to the Heartful Prosperity eGuide -- see what one recent reader says about it -- and to other articles to help connect you with the Spirit of the Season and a fresh momentum into the new year.

To schedule a mentor-coaching session or series, or a consultation, to help you weave new, inspiration-boosting practices into your current routine -- and enliven new potentials in your experience -- send us an email. We'd be delighted to speak with you!

Wishing You Joyful Blessings and Good Juju,
Jamie Walters, Author, Mentor-Guide, and Founder, Ivy Sea

Heartful Prosperity: Core Practices for Thriving

"Powerful. I was on fire after reading this eBook!" ~ C.W., Canada

Inspiration and real-world practices for heartful prosperity - staying focused and cultivating resourcefulness and positive momentum regardless of what's going on around you.

Learn more about the Heartful Prosperity eGuide.

Schedule a Consultation and Shift Your Momentum

I have several openings for new clients in these times of change and possibility. Here are a few of the topics we often explore and empower together:

** Pulled By Vision: Dropping the Fear, Embracing the Possibilities

** Co-Creativity: Empowering Your Creative Vision and Desired Experience

** Energy & Perception - Cultivating Your Calm, Clarity & Vision Amidst the Chaos

** Embodying the Divine Feminine: Awakening Muse, Grace & Miracle Consciousness

In times of challenge and doubt, your vision, intuition, inspiration, clarity of purpose, and heart-aligned motivation need to be stronger than ever.

Send us an email at info 'at' ivysea 'dot' com, or call 415 - 752 - 6317, to explore and schedule a consultation.

Feature Article: Giving the gift of full presence

As I was sitting in a local park two years ago, enjoying the unusual late-November sunshine in San Francisco, a 30-something fellow on an adjacent bench suddenly started speaking of his growing frustration with the stress of the holiday. His comments haved stayed with me.

He told me that he really enjoyed Thanksgiving, because it was about getting together with family and friends, enjoying one another's company and conversation, and having fun preparing and sharing a meal.

He then continued on, saying "I've really started to hate Christmas, with its emphasis on corporate marketing, consuming, and 'never enough'." He told me that while he enjoyed Thanksgiving, he almost immediately started to feel stress about the demands and expectations attached to Christmas. He had more to say, but the gist was that one holiday focused on togetherness, giving and sharing; while another focused on buying, consuming, and 'never enough.'

At around the same time, Pope Benedict, speaking in Rome, also decried the fervent consumerism of the season and how it has for too long overshadowed the deeper meaning of the season.

Whatever holidays you celebrate at this time of the year, and however you observe or celebrate them, there is a choice between deeper meaning and enjoyment, and stress, pressure, and consumption-focus.

One powerful gift that we can offer to others is the gift of our full presence -- being fully present with and for another. Deeply listening, looking for and receiving the very best within them, and being open-hearted and kind. Very often we're scattered, stressed and truly not present at all. Even though our body might be in the same room, our hearts and minds are elsewhere. So the gift of full presence can be an amazing gift!

When we're fully present, we connect with the sacred within ourselves and reflect that to another, honoring their sacredness. If someone has prepared a meal, we're present to it, savoring it, honoring the time and effort that it's taken, and the gift to us that it is. If someone shares a story, we listen fully, receiving that part of them, and honoring them by seeing and hearing them.

Intend to give the gift of presence this holiday season. Slow down, and follow the advice to 'be where you are' and be there fully. It's a practice, and given the busy 'multi-tasker' norm for many of us, it's a challenging practice. And yet the gift of it is beyond measure. Full presence is a rich gift, indeed, and one that feels fantastic to give!

Until next time...

Need a thought-and-inspiration partner to help identify limiting stories and create a more vibrant one, or shifting your perception and momentum in more desirable directions?

Send us an email at info 'at' ivysea 'dot' com, or give a call to 415 - 752 6317. We'd be delighted to co-create and thought-partner with you.

Wishing you very well.

Sincerely,
Jamie S. Walters
Founder, Ivy Sea
Creatrix and Publisher, Ivy Sea Online & the Sophia's Children Blog
Author, Big Vision, Small Business (Berrett-Koehler Publishers)