Every year it arrives, like clockwork. We start feeling bad. Off-center. A little more anxious. Tired. Irritable. The feeling of wanting to crawl into a hole, wait it all out.

The question can be heard far and wide: Am I getting sick? I think I’m getting sick…

Nope it’s not the flu. It’s not the name of a new band, unfortunately.

Though it is a familiar tune.

It’s the Holiday Funk.

It starts with our what we are most anticipating or dreading right now. Maybe it’s:

-Going to the grocery.

-Cooking, when we don’t like cooking.

-Eating a big meal that doesn’t make us feel very good.

-Celebrating a holiday, the origins of which we have conflicted feelings around.

-Over-extending our selves to accommodate plans and other people’s changes.

-Being around people we don’t like, but we love.

Which brings up:

-Old habits of socialized obligation and guilt.

-Old conditioning/beliefs from our family of origin we thought we had healed.

-Old habits of thought. These are the leftovers of former conditioning that we indeed HAVE healed but, because familiar traditions and people are around, re-circulate like a song we can’t get out of our heads.

A pop-up app sent me the text message: Can’t we just fast-forward to Friday (past the holidays)?

Yes, we are all feeling it. Feeling bad around the holiday season is something we can pretty much count on. You are not alone in feeling like crap. You are not alone in falling into old habits of thought. You are not alone in seeing that you still have a thimble full of old conditioning to yet address and release, which family (because they introduced it to you) brings up.

Plus, understand energy. Family members don’t just arrive with pie – they bring their own funky funk, too!

You are also not alone in feeling the collective energy around the holidays. It can feel: anxious, sad, depressed, low energy…even like you might be getting sick. So many people are conflicted around this time of year, and that’s what makes the dis-resonant energy feel so BIG.

Accepting that all of this is true can make it all okay. If we hold this broader perspective then our holiday can be meaningful – two positive Sagittarius qualities we can incorporate into holiday.

Sagittarius New Moon Intuitive Energy Practice: Your Guardian Angel

What would allow you to release what is holding you back from relaxing into, enjoying, this time? Is it a belief that things should be different? Is it a habit of overextension, fueled by obligation? These are the shadows of Sagittarius: A belief is holding us prisoner. We have habits of overextension.

Here’s a practice for that:

First, wherever you are right now… it is understandable and okay. When old familiar stuff comes up for me, when I am feeling sub-optimal and sub-par as I typically do around the holidays, I can be a little edgy or harder with myself, as though I should be better at this. Shoulds never help. The cardinal rule of healing is that it cannot occur without self-love, total non-judgment and total self-acceptance. First, offer yourself a generous helping of compassion and kindness, please.

Then ground, root and center. Take a deep breath.

I don’t have to… (_fill in the blank_)

…Be there for others who I think need me (they don’t; they need to be there for their self).

…Push past my limits.

…Ignore my boundaries.

…Listen to this person’s ego story/wounding and dump my healing energy and time into it.

…Keep responding to another’s energy instead of listening to my own.

…Do anything that feels unnatural, bad, to me.

…(Your words, here)

Which “I don’t have to…” resonates for you? Take a few minutes breathing into it, and wait for a subtle release. If beliefs and old conditioning come up that argue otherwise, breathe into that, too.

Once freed, you will likely feel a lift, that wonderful Sagittarius feeling of FREEDOM. It’s like being let out of a cage. Then, you will discover that what naturally arises is what you truly want.

I want to… (_)

I want to have a cup of tea.

I want to listen to my favorite holiday song.

I want to enjoy the cheerful feeling occurring in this particular moment.

I want to give this sad family member a hug.

I want to take a break, take some time for myself.

I want to devote myself to the seasonal traditions I love.

I want…(Your words here)

Your “have to” comes from your Ego conditioning but your “I want” arises from your Soul. It feels good. It feels right. It feels true. Which also means it is good not just for you -but everyone.

Your “I want” is free from the shackles of conditioning and belief… the kind of which can only ever keep you tethered to overriding your deeper intuition, that gem of inner listening.

Your “I want” is your guardian angel for the season. You cannot feel bad when you are in your own energy, doing and being who you want to be. It is the best holiday immunity- protecting you against real (colds, illness) and perceived contagions. When you are in your “I want” you have the greatest protective force possible, the power of aligning with your Divinity, your most authentic self!