There is nothing as important this holiday season as that you enjoy yourself. Truly - I want you to make an effort to enjoy yourself in each and every moment.

This is a wonderful time of year filled with opportunities to connect with ourselves and others in ways we usually don’t have the chance to. Focus on feeling it all! Use your five senses to increase your awareness of the precious life you have right here, right now.

Your body is the vehicle that allows you to do just that! Don’t let the fear-based wellness agendas of our government and many private businesses steal one ounce of your holiday cheer. They want to tell you that without their guidelines and plans you will become out of control. They’ll tell you your body is out to get you and not to be trusted. That’s nonsense! Your true nature is peace and health. Your body seeks peace and health in every moment so long as you are not distracted from that wisdom by judgment and fear.

It’s a lesson I learned the hard way over many years of dieting and disordered eating. Every year the holidays would bring about an angst that sent me looking for any “strategy” to control my eating and my body. I’d walk into every holiday event with a “plan” to limit my intake, stop eating at certain times, fill up on veggies, etc. only to engage in mindless or binge eating and miss out on the real deliciousness of the gathering. I was giving fear and food all the focus, so of course it consumed me and I consumed it right back! There is so much else that fills us and when we are present with it all evenly the food is just not a big deal. You can eat without guilt, shame and fear tasting every beautiful bite, plus we absorb the love that went into making the food and gratitude to the earth for providing it.

So, this week I encourage you to ignore every piece of information that tries to save you from yourself and simply agree to enjoy the season. Give yourself permission to be, to take exactly what you want and need in every moment from food to rest to fun. Let go of fixing yourself or your health and see how you really don’t need all the diet dogma to live your life fully.

Julie Norman, nicknamed "The Body Image Guru" by clients, guides women to live authentically healthy lives through peaceful body image, intuitive eating and mindful movement. She blends professional nutrition guidance with the wisdom of yoga to help women transform the ways in which they care for and experience their bodies. She is the creator of Body Karma Healing, a yoga-based program intended to help women transform their body image from painful to peaceful. Julie believes healing individual body image pain helps us heal the world! Check out Julie's exclusive offer for MOMTL Members HERE.