The stockings are hung, the cookies are iced. The blank greeting cards are piled, along with the bills, and the bows and the good intentions, all morphing, as I type, into glittering balls of guilt and stress. Oh, the mid-December sugarplum crash. 

It happens every year. One of the perks of being a mindful, middle-aged yogini, is that I’ve honed a few tricks and tools to bust the slump before I get too Grinchy. I’m sharing them today as my holiday gift to you.

Do you grocery shop like you're on a mission, with a divide-and-conquer plan of attack? Do you map a zigzag aisle path or strategic perimeter lap? Or, do you let your intuition drive the cart? That sounds counterproductive, right? I thought so, until my gut interrupted a 100-meter mom dash to the milk case.

Lounging on a white sand beach. Pooh Bear with a belly full of honey. Ah, the feeling of contentment. I realized when I think of the term, my vision sways to either picture book fiction or spa-grade fantasy, i.e., scenarios unattainable on a typical Tuesday.

Yet, yoga asks that we seek contentment as a guiding principle for harmony in our day-to-day lives. Contentment isn’t just a vacation event. It’s there, patiently waiting for us to uncover among the bustle and discord of our common days, thoughts and interactions.

So often yoga classes start with the teacher asking students, “Check in with yourself.” We may scan our bodies for knots and pains, note the pace and tenor of our mind’s thought track, and weightiness of our emotions. We don’t always check in with our spirit, and the fluidity of our connection to it. Explore these prompts for a line to your spirit.