Zen Peacekeeper Guide to the Holidays

Registration for Zen Holidays 2012 is now closed.
I hope you’ll join me in 2013

The holidays are upon us.

Peace on earth. And goodwill to all. Right?

Or maybe it feels more like stress at home and illwill towards family?

At the holidays – more than ever – you need practices to keep peace with yourself and others.

All we want for Christmas…

…is everything.

You want to enjoy your families over the holidays, but you end up feeling ‘not quite at home’ with the people who you are supposed to be closest to.

You want to lay the table beautifully, buy the fancy wine, give your children ethical, sustainable gifts, and do it all with your hair brushed and your lipstick on straight.

But you end up giving into pleas for the new Barbie, don’t even know which is the fancy wine, and never seem to leave enough time to brush your hair before the guests arrive.

You want to feel generous, maybe even a little bit indulgent, but you end up feeling financially squeezed, maybe even a little bit scared.

This mix of high expectations, financial pressure and family tension puts even the easiest of our relationships under strain. We start wishing the holidays would just be over and done with. And they haven’t even begun yet.

There is another possibility. Take the peaceful path these holidays.

From 23 November to 23 December this year, I’ll be sending notes (and maps) from the peaceful path. Join me for some real peace on earth these holidays.

Peace on earth (and between your ears)

This year I am sharing the practices I use to keep inner and outer peace under pressure, the practices that keep me sane when things around me are going crazy.

In the past I’ve used them to find a sense of peace in the middle of a war zone. These days I use them to juggle running a restaurant, teaching, traveling, meeting writing and radio deadlines, doing live events and running a home.

Like you, at the holidays I want to keep all those things going while also hosting a range of social events, enjoying my family and friends, staying healthy and rested AND having a good time.

I can’t teach you to knit home-made presents. Or lay a beautiful table.

But I can teach you my own holiday practices – what I do, when I do it and how those practices bring peace for myself, and those around me (whether that’s the woman serving me at the supermarket or my family).

What you really want for Christmas…

• a sense of peace and calm in the midst of the madness.
• practices to help you maintain awareness, rest, focus, and creativity.
• special access to what keeps me “zen under fire” at the holidays.

And that’s what you’ll get when you join this Zen and the Art of Peacekeeping Holiday Edition.

What you get: my peace-offerings for you

You’ll get a peace-offering (in the form of an email) from me every day from 23 November to 23 December.

I’ll tell you the truth about the practices that support me to find peace in the midst of chaos (including what happens when I neglect them and how you can learn from my mistakes).

You’ll get videos, audios and written ‘recipes’ for these simple practices (for writing, eating, yoga, walking, sleeping and meditating) to help you keep the peace in all the places peace needs to be kept over the holiday season.

We’ll keep the peace these holidays.

We’ll start with ourselves. We’ll watch the peaceful ripples spread.

And together, we’ll make ‘Peace on Earth’ more than a greeting card line this year.

What people say about Zen Peacekeeper Guide to the Holidays:

“Absolutely wonderful, Marianne. Thank you so much. Warm, simple, strong, effective. You are awesome.” – Emma Alvarez Gibson

Dear Marianne, thank you very much for the daily inspiration that really made a change! I appreciated every one of your e-mails. David Studer

Hi Marianne, thank you so much for such a wonderful class. I feel so fortunate. I received more than I could have ever hoped for. Thank you for sharing your goodness with all of us. I have benefited greatly. Maryann Cooney

These emails are so wonderful, Marianne. Thank you for them. They feel like a soft net underneath my whole month. Kristin Noelle

Hi Marianne, Thank you. I just wanted to say I’ve found the past 30 days so inspiring on lots of different levels. You are a remarkable woman and I found your experience, honesty and lovely way with words so refreshing and thought provoking. I feel like you have opened a door in my mind into a secret garden full of little adventures just waiting to be explored. Betsy

“Thank you Marianne, for this gift. It was just what I needed this afternoon to calm me in the midst of holiday preparations. The loving kindness meditation will be incorporated into my morning practice. You are a loving light in the world.” – Cheryl

Ready to make peace these holidays?