Gratitude Greetings for the Holidays

This time last year I wrote an article about Merry Mindfulness for the Holidays. The concept of Merry Mindfulness came to me the evening before our Sonoma Seva Conscious Business Networking Group meeting in December 2016. My intention was for the meeting to be a holiday theme, whilst still staying conscious and mindful, aligning with the values of the group. So the concept of Merry Mindfulness seemed perfect! You can read the article here.

During the meeting I led a short reflection and meditation to help members tap into their inner wisdom and discover ways that they might stay both merry and mindful during the holiday season. The holidays can be a busy time for some businesses and a very quiet and slow time for other businesses. Whichever is the case, it's important to stay merry and mindful during this holiday season.

This year, as well as staying Merry and Mindful in our businesses and in our lives, I came up with a new holiday theme of Gratitude Greetings. Having just been through the trauma and devastation of the Sonoma county fires 2 months ago, we have all been feeling a lot of gratitude for having our homes, our lives and our community around us. Many people close to us weren't as lucky and lost homes, loved ones, jobs, businesses and more. At this time of the holiday season, it is a wonderful opportunity to spread even more gratitude and begin to live our lives with gratitude every day.

Take a moment to reflect on everyone that has helped you to be who you are today, and give thanks.

Feel grateful for being alive and safe and having the opportunity to help others who may be worse off than you are, wherever you are and whatever might be going on around you.

Feel grateful for having the opportunity to share your gift with others, whatever that might be, inspiring others in some way and making a difference in the world.

We often find happiness and express our gratitude for things outside of ourselves and we believe that these external things are the cause of our happiness, and so we are grateful for them.

Now, reflect and feel grateful for yourself. Yes, thank yourself. Give gratitude to yourself because you are already enough, and you already have all the happiness and abundance within. Feel grateful for who you really are. Your true inner Self.

Being grateful and giving thanks to yourself not only allows you to give gratitude and feel grateful, it also allows you to be open to receiving gratitude as well. We often spend more time giving to others than allowing ourself to receive fully.

Many people feel uncomfortable receiving compliments and brush them off as if they're not really worthy of the compliment. Saying 'thank you' when someone compliments you is a perfect way to practice receiving.

"Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance." - Eckhart Tolle

"Gratitude is what starts the receiving process." - Jim Rohn

I asked each person in the group to share something that they are grateful for in themselves that is helping their business. Not something outside of themselves, but something about themselves or a way they are being that is helping their business, finding gratitude for their true inner self.

A few examples from the group were:

1. Grateful for my serving heart

2. Grateful for my passion to help and mentor people

3. Grateful to say yes with a joyful heart

4. Grateful to be open and non-judgemental wtih clients

5. Grateful to love bringing people together and forming community

The second part of our meeting was an educational part. I decided to talk about the Yoga of Business and help our members discover ways that they could practice more Yoga in their Business, not the downward facing dog kind of yoga, but the deeper meaning of the word Yoga!

Yoga means Union. Take a moment to reflect on ways you can find more union or connection in your business.

Here are a few examples that I shared.

1. Business Partnerships: When we run our own businesses, we often do everything ourself. Perhaps because we don't trust others or we see others as competitors, or we feel that we can't afford to pay someone else. This can work well initially as a business is starting up, but it doesn't allow a business to scale and grow. A great quote by Helen Keller is "Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much". So think about the type of people you might reach out to and partner with in some way.

2. Follow up with Clients: It's too easy to focus on marketing and getting more clients, but we often forget to stay in touch with and connected to our existing clients. They have already bought from us or used our services and so they are likely to come back if we follow up with them from time to time, remind them that we exist and help them to feel connected with us and our business.

3. Give Value Online: Sharing helpful articles about your services or business online will help followers stay connected to you. They'll be regularly reminded about you and they'll follow you more closely if they like the articles and tips you are sharing.

4. Share Your Personal Story: Sharing your personal story of why you started your business, or what inspires you to do what you do is likely to help customers connect with you because they may resonate with your story and may have experienced something similar.

5. Tap Into Your Intuition: Take time each day to meditate, even for a few minutes, and connect with yourself. Ask for answers to problems and listen to your inner wisdom. Along with being grateful to ourself, finding a connection with ourself can be very powerful. Read our article on Meditation Tips for Beginners here.

6. Discover Your Purpose: Connect with your purpose. This could be your purpose in your business or purpose in your life, or maybe they are the same. Not sure how to discover and connect with your purpose? Read our article about Discovering Your Purpose here.

7. Share Holiday Gifts with Clients: Sending a holiday gift to your customers is a great way to find connection in your business during the holiday season. This doesn't need to be a tangible gift or something you bought in a store. Remember, you already have all your gifts within you! Perhaps you wish to share some of your time, or some knowledge or an article about something that may help them in some way.

In the holiday spirit of sharing and giving, I hope you found these tips above helpful and inspiring to tap into your ability to give and receive gratitude, and find a deeper connection, union, Yoga in your business.

And remember to share Gratitude Greetings throughout this holiday season!

If you have any questions or feedback on this article, please leave a comment in the comments section below. I'd love to hear from you!

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With Gratitude Greetings and Happy Holidays!

Sally