Christmas… a time of unparalleled joy, glee and goodwill.

Indeed.

Be this as it may, the holidays can also be a tricky time to maintain our healthy habits, sanity, and personal equilibrium — what with all the rich food, family pressure, and uprooting of our routines. And then to add insult to injury, this year has been, um, weird. And though you may be weary of the weirdness — and trust me, I am so at the end of my tether — we must dig down to find joy in order to enjoy the season.

Who’s with me?

If we want to feel joy, we have to feel well. Feeling well often starts with mindfulness. Now, if you’ve been travelin’ with Veggie Magnifique for a while, you know I talk about mindfulness often. This is simply because the practice of being mindful has made such a huge, indisputable difference in my life.

Because of practicing mindfulness in my mornings, my days start off on the right foot. Because of mindfulness in human interactions, I am cultivating more and more patience. Because of mindfulness when eating, I experience so much less digestive discomfort. (Expert tip: Eating plants helps here, too.)

So how do we cultivate more mindfulness? Well, I share several tips in the video, but first, a word about self-care…

In order to be healthy and joyful in the coming days and weeks, it’s also crucial that we take care of ourselves. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of just thinking about others, and it’s a very generous aim… but if you’re running on empty or not feeling your best, you’re of little use to anyone else.

This is also why the tips in today’s video go beyond telling you what to eat. Instead, I tackle topics such as how to manage stress, the importance of breakfast, and plus I share a practice to help you handle complicated emotions… and we all have ‘em.

And, before you get scared and run the other way, let me just say right up front that I don’t advocate for completely abstaining from your mom’s fudge. No. I’m sharing tips that’ll hopefully help you have your cake and eat it too, without blowing up the scale or feeling awful. (Because you know I’ll be having a big, fat fudgey vegan cake on my Christmas birthday.)

There is balance to be struck, and some celebratin’ to do. So let’s get into the video…

****Did you know we just hit 6,000 subscribers on YouTube? I’m elated. If you’re subscribed, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support for Veggie Magnifique and my channel. It’s been a hard year all around — including for me and Veggie Magnifique… but hitting this milestone as 2020 draws to a close, has me flying high. Thank you, friends.

So there you have it! My top tips to help you smoothly sail through this week and the end of the year, hopefully with a spring in your step. If you enjoyed this post and video, leaving me a note and telling me would be the best birthday gift evaaaaaaa.

Happy Christmas to you and yours!