Staying Balanced During Holiday Season

Staying Balanced During the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be beautiful – full of celebrations, laughter and moments with people we love. It can also be a lot. Busy calendars, financial pressure, family dynamics and endless to-do lists can leave us feeling more overwhelmed than merry.

This year, we’re inviting you to treat your nervous system like it’s on your holiday planning list too. Rest, regulation and small moments of joy are just as important as the food, gifts and gatherings.

Below, we’ve brought together a few grounded, real-life tools from practitioners we love to help you feel more calm, connected and present through the season.

Nervous System Support with Ish

Ish runs a clinical practice supporting neurodivergent clients and coaches other speech pathologists on creating fulfilling, sustainable careers. Their work centres on nervous system and sensory regulation as the foundation of balance, joy and long-term thriving – especially around busy seasons like Christmas.

Create breathing room in your schedule

Ish recommends building in intentional “slush time” in your calendar – both for work and home.

• Block out buffer time between appointments, errands and events.
• Treat that time as already booked, so you’re less likely to overcommit or squeeze in “just one more thing”.
• Use it for the unexpected (traffic, kid stuff, last-minute tasks) or simply to catch your breath.

If you’re a chronic “yes” person who hates letting people down, this can be a gentle way of protecting your capacity without having to renegotiate every request in the moment.

Notice obligations & expectations

Take a compassionate, honest look at the things you say “yes” to purely out of obligation or expectation.

• Is there a tradition that always leaves you depleted?
• Are you saying yes to events you dread?
• Are you the default organiser, cleaner or emotional support human?

Ish suggests starting small: aim to remove just 5% of those obligation-based yeses. It might be one event, one task, or one role you quietly opt out of. That tiny shift can be the beginning of new boundaries and more joy-filled choices.

Finding Sensory Calm with Richard

Little sensory rituals can completely shift how your day feels. Tiny moments like:

• Lighting a candle while you answer emails or wrap gifts
• Drinking a cup of tea without your phone
• Listening to calming music in the car between stops

These small anchors send a powerful signal to your nervous system: it’s okay to soften here.

2–3 minute calming visualisation (Richard’s top tip)

This can be done in as little as a few minutes – in your parked car, on the couch, even in the bathroom if that’s the only quiet place you have.

• Find a quiet spot where you feel relatively safe and undisturbed.
• Sit comfortably and close your eyes if that feels okay.
• Imagine a peaceful scene: a beach, a forest, a cosy room – anywhere that feels calming for you.
• Engage all your senses: What can you see, hear, smell, feel, taste in this place? The salty air, the rustle of trees, the warmth of sunlight, the feeling of soft grass under your feet.
• Let your body respond: Notice if your jaw, shoulders or belly soften as you stay with this image for a few breaths.

Even 2–3 minutes can create a micro-reset that helps melt away some of the strain and brings you back into yourself.

Morning Grounding with Donna

Donna’s big belief: how you start your morning can completely change how you move through your day – especially in busy seasons.

A simple, nourishing morning routine

Donna often weaves together practices like:

• Journaling
• Meditation or breathwork
• Affirmations
• Grounding (bare feet on the earth, gentle movement, stretching)
• Gratitude
• Visualisation for the day ahead

Her full routine might take 30–40 minutes, but you can create a shorter version in as little as 10 minutes. For example:

• 3 minutes of journaling (What do I need today?)
• 3 minutes of breathing or meditation
• 2 minutes of gratitude (3 things)
• 2 minutes visualising yourself moving through the day with calm and ease

Rethinking Christmas Day

Christmas Day can carry so many “shoulds”: how it should look, what you should serve, how everyone should behave, who you should spend it with. This year, you’re allowed to rewrite some of those rules.

Try something different

Donna shares a few ways people are softening the load:

• Pot luck lunch: Everyone brings a dish. Less pressure on one person, more shared joy.
• Assigned dishes: If you prefer traditional, assign each person a specific contribution (salad, dessert, drinks, etc.).
• Picnic-style gathering: Meet at a park or beach with picnic rugs and shared plates.

If Christmas is at your place, make sure everyone has a job – setting up, plating, serving, washing up. It doesn’t all have to fall on Mum (or the most “capable” person in the room).

Rethinking gifts

Donna’s family does Kris Kringle: names are drawn in November and each person shares a small list of three things they would genuinely love. One thoughtful gift instead of ten rushed ones.

You can also gently suggest:

• Experiences over stuff
• Spending limits everyone agrees to
• Opting out of gifts for adults and only buying for kids

Final thoughts: you’re allowed to make this softer

Staying balanced during the holidays isn’t about controlling everything or never getting stressed. It’s about weaving in enough support, softness and honesty that you don’t abandon yourself in the middle of it all.

You’re allowed to:

• Say no to one thing
• Leave early
• Ask for help
• Choose rest over perfection

However this season looks for you, may it hold more ease, more regulated nervous systems and more moments where you actually feel present in your own life.