Thriving through the holidays: Tips for a well-balanced holiday season

by Cris McCullough & the Mind Key Editor Team

We have all survived a year filled with challenges and now another challenge looms…the holidays!  Before the pandemic, we (and society) were on auto pilot. What if you could thrive, rather than just survive this holiday season? This issue will share our favorite seasonal recipes, traditions and stress relievers, as well as provide insight on the history of the holidays, and offer advice for managing common holiday dilemmas: from gift giving to toxic family. We’ll even be reviewing some of our favorite products and services that we think will help you thrive, or make great gifts for those in your life who are “just surviving.” 

Turn “must do” into “can do” this holiday season

We are constantly challenged with social norms and expectations on how to live, act, and survive—what “must I do” to make everyone else happy. This issue offers advice, guidance and information to help create the holiday season you want, rather than struggling to keep up with the idea of what we think the holidays should be. 

Alternative tips and hacks turn “survive” into “thrive”

We call this our Holiday “Thrival” Guide, in part because the celebrations of the season are as much about your happiness as it is about the happiness you give others. Take time for yourself, free yourself from survival mode and enjoy the season! 

Here’s a preview of some of the articles you’ll find in this issue:

Discover the common thread that unites all of us in a celebration of Light in “When Santa was a Shaman.” Learn a Yoga pose that can bring peace and centeredness to your whole being. or be transported to the peace of high tea with Lindsey Andrews of. Sweet Marie’s Tea Cottage.

Explore alternative, sustainable gift giving at local merchants and how donations can be the gift that keeps on giving. Learn how to care for your health by using bitters as a digestive tonic, and how you can use Mother Nature to craft a cough and flu tonic from scratch.Gather the family together to share heart warming movies and books from our editor’s picks, or bring the kids to the table to create a unique memory book.

We invite you to join us in making this the most memorable holiday season ever.