How ironic that our annual rituals devoted to love, giving and receiving are also one of the most stressful times of the year. Overwhelm from too much shopping, too much tension between family members or simply too much doing will frazzle even the most seasoned meditator. When your senses are bombarded and life feels like you?re trapped inside a pinball machine, the one thing you can do to save yourself from holiday stress is to love yourself.

Whenever I feel like I?m frantically trying to keep up with my life, I know that I?ve also lost touch with the pure flame of inner wisdom that guides me to live with presence and awareness. Whenever I feel a fraction of myself, it is time to call back my energy and love myself back into wholeness.

Some people have difficulty with the concept of loving yourself. The act of loving themselves remains a concept, an intellectual idea rather than an embodied meaningful practice. Here are a few things you can do to learn to love yourself and return to wholeness:

? Sit quietly and breathe deep down in your belly. Imagine your thoughts melting away in the soft warm sunshine of a summer?s day.

? Nurture yourself with a hot cup of tea, a blanket and some soft music.

? Take an appreciation walk in nature ? a tree is beautiful in rain, snow or sunshine.

? Let go of the past and the future and look at everything around you as if you?re seeing it for the first time.

? Snuggle up in bed with a hot water bottle and your heart. As your breath slows down and your body relaxes, keep whispering to yourself, ?I love you. Nothing else matters, just that I love you.?

As you slow down and return to simplicity, you will start to feel the love that lives within you?your greatest resource. Dealing with holiday stress is like dealing with any kind of stress or overload. Now is as good a time as any to start looking at how well you are coping with stress. Find out your favorite way to love yourself. Then ask yourself this question: ?How can I bless myself with love everyday for the rest of my life??