'Tis the season for decorating, baking, buying, wrapping, traveling, cooking and shoveling. With all of this busyness going on throughout the season, it's important for us to remember that the holidays are a time for togetherness that deserve our full attention, or as we like to call it in psychology.. mindful participation.

It can be challenging to stop and truly connect with those around you if you're busy thinking about where next to move the Elf on the Shelf or the breakfast casserole you have to prep when you get home. Mindfulness encourages us to focus on the present, to be fully aware and attentive to the here and now. Why? Because no matter how hard you think about it, you can't move that Elf with telekinesis and that casserole can't be made until you're near an oven. If we spend all our current moments thinking about our future endeavors, we will continuously be absent from and miss our lives, which are ultimately made up of the here's and now's. I assure you, the casserole will wait for you. Look around, notice this moment in time, take a breath, and enjoy where you are now. You only have a moment until this moment becomes a memory.

The day after Thanksgiving, I start watching Christmas movies. I have a collection of favorites that I watch over and over, and even use as background noise throughout the season. They all have different lessons and heartwarming messages, but my favorite comes from "The Grinch."

We all know the charming story about the smelly outcast who doesn't want to be a part of the towns' Christmas celebrations. Why? Because these events bring back old memories of rejection and hurt that the Grinch experienced when he was younger and has carried throughout his life However, once he experiences an act of kindness, forgiveness, and inclusion from a little "Who" girl, his life changes forever. The Grinch suddenly realizes that it was not Christmas that he hated, but loneliness he feared. The moment he discovers this about himself (and he did it without a therapist!) his heart warms, grows 3 sizes and he becomes a loving friend to the "Who's".

One person, one moment of kindness, is all it took to change his life. When was the last time you stopped to reflect on who in your life needs your kindness the most? Is it yourself? Your argumentative teenager? Your grumpy, lonely neighbor? Kindness is the true gift of the holidays, holding more weight than the biggest package, and far more value than the perfect gift.

In the closing scene of the 2018 animated version, at the Grinch's first Christmas dinner with the "Who's," the poem reads, "...and the Grinch raised his glass to lead the Who's in a toast, 'To kindness and love, the things we need most.'

Happy Healing. -Jaclyn