Christmas can be a mixed bag. There is bustle, expectation and expense but there is also cheer, good will and hope. It means time with family and friends, an opportunity to recap on the year past and to speculate about the year to come. The objective of this short piece is to invite you to practice skills in ‘savouring’ so that whatever the holiday season brings you may at least be present for it.

Share. Cultivate the habit of sharing pleasant experiences with others. So that the significance is not lost, explain to them how much and why you value the experiences.
Be Active About Memory Making. Take mental photographs or even physical souvenirs of nice things that happen over the Christmas break. You might even take a conscious breath in the moment or experiment with smiling to yourself. (NB. If you notice anyone else smiling to self without any obvious cause refer them immediately to an approved mental health facility.)
Congratulate Yourself. If you or someone in your family achieved a goal this year, recognise what has happened. Acknowledge the effort that went into achieving the goal and remember how long it took to achieve it and the effort that was required.
Sharpen Your Focus. Practice focusing on particular aspects of an experience, like closing your eyes and listening to sounds around you or noticing the smell of your Christmas dinner before you tuck in.
Lose Yourself in the Moment. Allow yourself to become totally immersed in an experience in the remaining weeks of 2014. Not thinking about it but noticing what it feels like in your body and even emotionally to be present in that moment. To really ground yourself, engage your senses by tasting, feeling texture and temperature, smelling, seeing and listening.

Practice these skills so that whether the magical moments you share with your family and friends are frequent or few, they shall at least not be forgotten.