We have a returning guest: Chantal Vanhagen, who came to the podcast in EP 24 to talk about toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing.

Chantal's Mum died earlier this year as did a very dear friend of hers and I thought having a discussion with her around how grief can be exacerbated around Christmas would be a good idea. The first Christmas (if you celebrate Christmas obviously - feel free to use any other family gatherings in your own tradition) after a loved one has died can be the hardest time because you cannot help remembering that last Christmas that person was with you.

Christmas can magnify feelings like no other celebration. If you are happy, then you are probably likely to feel happier as you are surrounded by loved ones, but if you are not, particularly if you are dealing with the messy process of grief, then it's going to be a challenge.

But it's not just for people who have lost loved ones, you could be grieving not having had children and insensitive relatives might rub it in your face. Or, like Bridget Jones, you could be single in your thirties and feel like the odd one.

Grief hit me unexpectedly this Christmas as I witnessed the staff of a restaurant decorating a Christmas tree and unprocessed grief around the fact that my ex-husband never allowed me to decorate our Christmas tree in the twenty years we were together, depriving me of the joy of doing that with our two children when they were little. The grief was real and I sat and journaled on it.

Whatever your reason for grieving, Chantal and I offer lived experience, share stories and tips on how to cope with it. We also give tips for people who know people who are grieving and who might not know how to best support them.

To find out more about Chantal, find her on Facebook at Soothing conversations with Chantal.

In today's episode, I want to share six ways you can be kinder to the planet this Christmas. As with everything, what matters is progress not perfection. This was emphasised to me as I felt like an imposter joining the Green party in October as I am not vegan, not even vegetarian and I drive my son to college every day. Sometimes we don't do anything because we are not doing it perfectly and we think it's not going to make any difference. That is not true. Every small thing we do can make a huge difference, especially if everyone did.

There are six areas where you can make changes that will be kinder to the planet over Christmas:

1. Christmas tree
2. Presents
3. Wrapping
4. Lights (electricity)
5. Cards
6. Food

I encourage you to listen to the podcast for inspiration over what can be easily done to massively reduce your carbon footprint over Christmas, which is, for the average UK person, twenty two times bigger. We are talking a footprint of 500 Kg of CO2e per person whereas it is only 22 Kg on a regular day. Christmas sadly increases our waste massively through packaging, unwanted gifts and food waste. A staggering 5 million meals are wasted over Christmas.

The title of this episode is also a nudge to the fact I joined the UK Green party in October so it will definitely be the Greenest Christmas Ever for me. It is not the first time I talk about politics on the podcast. I have done so already in EP 43 Should you be involved in politics as a spiritual seeker. The reason it's important for me to mention this on a spiritual podcast is that I feel angelic energy around the leader of the Green party, Jack Polanski. So if you live in the UK and have not had a chance to hear this man talk, I encourage you to watch this YouTube video to get stared. He has restored my faith in politicians which says a lot given I had been disengaged from politics for nearly 45 years.

I have done an episode before on Spirituality and Politics that I encourage you to watch.

At the end of the episode I shared my three newsletters:

1. My business newsletter is for anyone who is an entrepreneur or works in a managerial position in corporate or for experts. If you sign up for it, you will receive a link to join my free one card readings in zoom. The next one is on the 18th of December at 1:30 pm UK time. I also do a weekly energy reading that you can find on Youtube where I pull a card from my Healing Burnout with the Angels brand new oracle deck. You can sign up with this link.
2. My author newsletter is for anyone who wants to know when my next book is out, learn about the behind the scenes of an author but also get notified when podcast episodes are released. When you sign up, you receive a free ebook called the Simple way to ask the Universe for help. You can sign up with this link.
3. My brand new energy newsletter will see you receiving energy tips every week as well as the link to join my free five-day challenge in January called Get Your Energy Back. You can sign up with this link.

I was in London the weekend of the 22nd of November and I went to see the Christmas lights on Regent Street. This made me wonder if people believe that angels only come to visit around Christmas time. This episode is the result of that thought.

Is it a yes or a no? In the episode I answer that question in depth. The short answer is yes and no.

Yes the angels definitely visit us around Christmas because that is when we think of them the most. It is our thoughts that call angels in. As we talk about angels, sing about them and feature them on cards, wrapping paper, etc, they are going to draw closer. The same is true of dark entities, so there is your warning.

In the episode, I list the top five Christmas films that feature angels but also talk about the series called Supernatural because coincidently, a few days before I decided to do this episode, an angel appeared for the first time in the series.

I also mention how hard Christmas can be when we don't feel jolly and especially when we have lost a loved one the year leading up to Christmas. Sometimes it can be hard for many years. Grief doesn't have a set deadline.

I also answered no to the question because they are not around us only around Christmas and I invite you to think about them often.

Previous episodes that talk about angels:

EP 18: Can lawyers be angels in disguise?

EP 47: How to work with angels?

EP 78: Five obstacles between you and your angels

EP 93: Angel numbers

If you would like to work with me and the angels, why not book a discovery call to see what we can do for you.