Last week I did my final talk of 2014 up in the Bay Area. I talked about finding breathing room during this holiday season, which is—inevitably—one of the most difficult times of the year to really experience space and grace and breath and presence. (Ugghhhh.)

I basically talked about all the insane ways I make myself nuts, all the adversarial stunts I try to pull, and how we might all want to consider doing things differently. I hope I shared some useful stuff, but the thing that everyone wanted to talk to me about afterward was this:

I told them that one of the ways we can be hospitable to ourselves this holiday season is to . . . you’re gonna love this . . . freakin’ go to the bathroom.

In a room full of women, this statement more than any other I made, got the most nods and comments and—even—tears.

Because we all know what it’s like to have to pee. Really bad. But you subconsciously bargain with yourself because it feels like there just isn’t time to pee. I’ll finish folding the laundry, then I’ll go. I’ll get the lunches packed, then I’ll go. I’ll unload the dishwasher, then I’ll go.

Having to pee. Man, what a nuisance.

And the next thing you know, you’re panicked, hopping around your house, because you’re bladder is about to explode all over the kitchen floor.

We talk about this in My Group. My dear friend Erica is a dancer and a “body person.” You know, one of those people who is really in touch with taking care of her body. She says, “Go pee when you have to pee.”

Somehow, this is like the most revolutionary thing I’ve ever heard.

The real secret here is, of course, the reality that we override our body’s signals, needs, and cues so often that it just becomes habit to ignore what our body’s trying to tell us. Eat. Sleep. Sit down. Move. Stretch. Breathe. Pee.

This is like Breathing Room 101, but let me tell you I’m the gal who needs Breathing Room for Dummies because I know all this stuff and then I just flat out forget it. And I’m literally doing the river dance around the house trying to stay one step ahead of the pee.

The real truth is that no one, especially me, benefits from being in the presence of frantic lunatic gotta-go Leeana.

So, here we are, one week until Christmas, and I’m gonna go ahead and put myself on my Christmas list. My gift to me is the gift of pee.

A group of ladies in the Bay Area is joining me in this pledge. How ‘bout you?

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Leeana