Here are some suggestions to spiritualize your Holiday experience and feel more deeply connected to the spirit of the season.

1. If buying gifts for others is what you do, bless each person that will receive a gift of yours, even if it is just a small token of appreciation.

2. Make a small altar with images of Jesus or other Masters of Light. Connect with the inner Christ consciousness these masters exemplify to you and ask to partake of this awareness.

Spiritual awakening is a transformational moment or process much desired by spiritual seekers. People may undergo rigorous training towards that goal or travel to ashrams in India in search for an enlightened teacher. But spiritual awakening can also happen in completely unpredictable ways, when we least expect it. Even seemingly trivial circumstances may give rise to a time of profound change, where all our cherished concepts of reality are shattered in one moment of clarity. A sense of truth emerges that wipes out all beliefs and concepts, giving way to a profound sense of connection and all-encompassing love. Time seems to stand still.

This state can last just a few moments, or weeks and months. Few are able to maintain what is also called a state of grace, or enlightenment, even ascension. The rhythms and ordinariness of life can take over again. But one is never the same after a spiritual awakening. Something inside has undergone a profound and irreversible change, and our attitude about ourselves and all of life has shifted into a different level of awareness.