The Art Of Giving For Christmas

The Art Of Giving For Christmas

Christmas is the time for giving, not only to your loved ones but also to yourself.

As busy women, too many of us LOVE giving to others but when it comes to giving to ourselves or receiving from others we are super uncomfortable.

As a new mum, I spend 9o% of my time giving to my son – which I totally love – but I’ve realised I actually find it difficult to ask for help or to even accept the offer of an extra set of hands as I need it.  This is simply due to the fact that I’ve always been an over-caretaker and nurturer and receiving is something that takes work for me. I’m sure a lot of you ladies can relate.

My new motherhood role gave me the opportunity to notice just how uncomfortable I was with receiving so, I chose to take a back step and reflect…

Yoga taught me that with yin, there must be yang.

With darkness there must be light

With masculine there must be feminine and…

With giving there must be RECEIVING.

As a teacher I’ve been really good at encouraging my students, over the years, to balance out their habits of giving with that of receiving, but I had to ask myself “Am I taking my own advice?”

Having had 18 months off from teaching classes I felt myself falling off the wagon with all these principles that I am so passionate about. So, in the last two weeks – with Billy now 8 weeks old – I decided it was time to slowly get back into teaching and to participate in other teacher’s classes (not just a home practice).

I was so excited to roll out my mat and tune into my students needs, or to listen to the inspiration of another teacher, and in that moment I had an epiphany and realised that practicing yoga and teaching yoga is the BEST gift I can give myself.

I know this because I feel so incredibly awesome during and afterwards, plus I get the goose bumps pretty much the whole time and I know, through the teachings of Abraham, this is my inner being saying “Yes please, give me more!”

 

So, yes Christmas is a time for giving thoughtful gifts to your family and friends but it’s also a time for gifting to yourself. Quite often for busy women and mum’s, this gift can simply be time to yourself doing something you love and feeling comfortable with asking someone for help to make this happen.

After my moment of realisation I had clarity on my ‘go to’ self-care activity, the thing I love to do the most to bring me back into alignment – for me personally it is my yoga practice, being active and being a part of a community – what is it for you? This Christmas I invite you to find your ultimate self-care, self-love ritual and work out ways to give this to yourself, even if it’s just baby steps to begin with.

Christmas is also a great time to give back to those in need. At Carra Lee Collective we have set up 3 charity boxes in-store. With every item of CARRA LEE ACTIVE sold $2 is donated to one of these charities and YOU, the customer, get’s to choose. This exercise has significance for me personally and also makes me feel good knowing our donations are helping to look after the less fortunate.

For those of you who are not aware yet, Carra Lee Collective is also helping create a FREE Facebook group called LOVE BODIES where myself and some other key influencers in the health and fitness industry are offering our skills complimentary to help as many women as possible cultivate SELF-LOVE through interaction and wellness education with like-minded ladies all over the world.

 

Click to view Love Bodies on Facebook >

To find out more search “LOVE BODIES” on Facebook and request to join.  As part of the motivation to connect these women, Carra Lee is co-designing an activewear range for this group and the first 100 members to complete the personal challenge nominated in the group will receive a FREE activewear set from us!  Yet another way we here at Carra Lee love to give back to the community.

Love,

Carra Lee xx

 

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