3 Simple Ways to Establish Rhythm After Holidays or Anytime

Welcome to the January 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting:
Recovering from the Holidays

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about how their families get back to normal after the holidays are over.

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All of life has a rhythm, starting with our heartbeat and moving to our breath.

From our time in our mother’s womb, we are drawn to the rhythmic movement of life. There is a natural ebb and flow, moments of calamity and moments of calm. We feel it, in our bodies, hearts and minds, when we are in rhythm and when we are out of it.

Sometimes, our lives feels in charge and impose rhythms on us, but we can also instill rhythm into our lives. Individuals and families fall into rhythms conscious or unconscious influenced by anchors such as work and school hours, mealtimes, and sleep. server hosting ip . The intensity, stimulation and business of the holidays, travel, or visits from family and friends all influence our rhythms. After the disruption, even if we had a joyful time, we feel how our anchors have shifted, and we all feel a bit off.

There are 3 simple ways to establish a rhythm of connection in your family or to reestablish a rhythm after it is lost.

Get back to basics.

This is time to establish anchors by focusing on the things that bring vitality and a grounded sense of peace to your life.  Anchors are best set around family needs and joys, whatever your family values most. Food is a great place to focus. Mealtimes can be powerful anchors to our days as we nourish ourselves and connect with each other. These moments of connection around nourishment can help transition smoothly and calmly to moments of rest. value domain names . Other anchors can be created around reading books, having quiet time, family game time, bathtime, bedtime. If sleep is disrupted, then taking a couple days to make it a priority over errands or keeping house can support the establishment of a healthy rhythm.

Give things time.

It is better to have a short term goal for getting  a rhythm going than an immediate one. While it feels impossible to continue parenting an exhausted child through our own exhaustion, the patience and understanding our children feel as we all shift as a unit little by little make the whole process a loving and connected one. The alternative is to (en)force rhythm, such as bedtime, which can lead to increased battles and emotional disruption. Giving things time also means allowing more time for transitions, such as going to sleep, as you reestablish the rhythm of the day.

Pull out some powerful tools.

When you are most in need of tuning in and calming down, use some helpful “tricks” that work on all humans, big and little.

• A candle flame at a meal or before bed can draw the eye and calm the mind.
• Playing music during key activities like cooking, cleaning, sleep and such can help signal time and transitions more clearly.
• Visual reminders such as charts of chosen rituals or daily activities can help us stay connected to our anchors and keep extras from creeping onto our plate.
• Listening, empathetically, to words and feelings helps everyone feel heard and in touch, making it easier to get through the process of settling into a rhythm.
• Observing your own internal environment, your child and what’s going on around you can help you be proactive and mindful about the rhythm you are trying to establish and what is helping or hindering.

There will always be life moments, happy and not, that call for us to establish rhythm in our lives. Even when it is fun getting off track, we still feel the need for getting back into a groove. It feels good to know that it is possible to move from cacophony to harmony without a whole lot of effort.

In fact, the key to establishing rhythm is simplicity itself: simple needs, simple joys…simply rhythmic.

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Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting this March!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• Pinterest Inspiration for Easier Winter Holidays Shannon, writing at Natural Parents Network, shares inspiration for having more relaxed winter holidays from their Handmade Holidays Pinterest board.
• Seven Recipes for Beans – Post Holiday Cleaning — Destany at They Are All of Me shares her favorite bean recipes that she hopes will help her body recover from overindulging her sweet tooth during the holidays.
• The Recovery in the Change — Laura at Pug in the Kitchen made changes in her life and attitude throughout 2012 and was pleasantly surprised at how those changes impacted her holiday recovery!
• Could this question change your life for ever? — To get your new year off on the right footing, Mrs Green of Little Green Blog is challenging us all to love ourselves with commitment and discipline. She asks you to focus on a simple question which might just bring you back in balance…
• Holiday Recovery — Meegs at A New Day talks about how the holidays can be overwhelming for a toddler, and how she’s helping her 3 year old recover.
• 5 Ways to Detox After the Holidays — Brittany at The Pistachio Project gives a few ways to help you detox and get back on track after the holiday season has passed.
• 3 Simple Ways to Establishing Rhythm After the Holidays or Any Time — Sheila at A Living Family shares 3 simple ways to reestablish a rhythm of connection and calm in your family after holidays, visitors, travel or any time.
• Gemstones For Holiday Hangoverss — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama delves into the power of gemstones as an often overlooked means of dealing with the holiday letdown.
• Getting back to Healthy — Bess at A Warrior Mom talks about the struggle of getting young ones back to eating healthy after several days to weeks of getting more candy and sweets than normal for the holidays and gives some suggestions on how to get them back to eating healthy in the new year.
• Post Christmas Juice Feast — Sam at Love Parenting explains why she has created a new tradition of juice feasting, and how she includes her toddler when detoxing.
• The Java Monkey On My Back — Christy at Eco Journey in the Burbs realizes it is time to kick her cup of Joe habit as a first step toward detoxing.
• Minimalist Holidays — Jorje of Momma Jorje doesn’t find much need for recovery after her minimalist version of the holidays.
• Do something for you — Lauren at Hobo Mama urges you to find a silly and indulgent reward of me-time — and she has hers.
• do we recover? — Kenna at Million Tiny Things wonders what recovery really means in the context of the tragedies of this past holiday season.
• 37 Easy Ways to Save Money — Shannon at GrowingSlower is sharing these money-saving tips to help get your budget back on track after the holidays.
• A Two Year Old’s Resolutions — That Mama Gretchen is putting the holidays behind her with a spin on traditional resolutions — New Year’s goals for her two-year-old! Sound crazy? Read on for an explanation!
• How to Find Balance after the Holidays — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now tells her favorite ways to start a new year with hope and calmness.
• Fresh Awakening — For Luschka at Diary of a First Child, the new year has coincided with a return to restful nights. With sleep, she’s found new directions in life, but while she can’t make too many changes to her life right now, she’s inspired and excited about the future.
• Learning to slow down after a busy Festive Season — Stoneageparent describes the joys and lows of this year’s festive season, as well as her New Year’s resolutions.
• Detoxing’ Your Toddler After the Holidays — Does your family suffer side effects from the holidays? Join Christine from African Babies Don’t Cry to learn how she detoxed herself and her toddler off the treats and festivities of the season.
• Scheduling is OK! — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep explores the possibilities of the — SCHEDULE!!
• We’re Saving their First Christmas for Next Time — Mercedes at Project Procrastinot takes it easy after moving with her husband and new babies to Scotland.
• A Vacation from the World — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children retreats with her family at the end of every year in order to recuperate and enjoy one another.
• On the Road to Recovery — Dionna at Code Name: Mama isn’t just recovering from the holidays, she’s recovering from a lifestyle.
• We Never Left the Grind — Erika Gebhardt compares a typical day pre-holidays and post-holidays.
• Remembering and Recovering from the Holidays (One day at a time) — Emily at S.A.H.M i AM is recovering from holidays slowly–taking one day at a time–while trying to remember all the sweet moments that passed too quickly.
• 5 a Day — To get back on track Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy needed a simple system to help her family learn new values.
• Holiday Detox & Healing: Bieler Broth — Megan at The Boho Mama shares her secret for a gentle, whole-foods-based post-holiday detox: Bieler Broth!
• I’m Mama Not Supermom — After a year filled with changes Angela at EarthMamas World has to remind herself that she does not have to be supermom while recovering from the holiday chaos.