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3 Ways to Find Your Calm in the Chaos of the Holidays

PART 1 By Beth Pfitzenmaier, MS, LCAS, RYT-200

The holiday season brings up a wide range of feelings that could include joy, stress, grief, anxiety, excitement, and/or hope. Whether you love this time of year or dread it, we can all relate to getting swept up in the chaos, getting pulled in lots of directions, and needing some extra self-care.  

These three exercises can help move you towards your calm, clear center and to a place of ease and balance. 

As you experiment with these 3 exercises, it may be helpful to check in with yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually prior to doing the exercise and again after you’ve done it for a few minutes. This will give you a clear sense of what stayed the same and what changed as a direct result from your choice to do something different. 

We will share Part 2 next week where you will be guided to take your new sense of calm, centered, clear focus and put it into action. 

See if you can observe, notice, or be curious from a place of gentleness and kindness as opposed to expectation or judgment.  

When you “check in with yourself,” it’s important to note that there are a few ways to do this:

• Maybe this looks like scanning your body to notice areas of tension or ease, becoming aware of what thoughts are present in your mind, asking yourself what you’re feeling, and noticing how connected or disconnected you feel from a source greater than yourself.  
• It may look like spending a few minutes journaling.  
• It could be sitting still and quiet for a few minutes to notice what you notice; not looking for anything in particular, but just seeing what pops up. See if you can observe, notice, or be curious from a place of gentleness and kindness as opposed to expectation or judgment.  

These three exercises can help move you towards your calm, clear center and to a place of ease and balance. 

You are invited to experiment with these, modify or adjust and find what works for you. Try these out in different situations to find what feels the most beneficial.  

1 Practice Steady Breathing 

• Allow your inhale and exhale to be equal in length, strength, sound, and effort; allow your breath to be deep, even, smooth, seamless, and silent. 
• Find a comfortable seat and breathe this way through your nose with eyes open or closed for 1-3 minutes. 
• To make this extra relaxing, calming, or soothing, breathe into your belly so it rises on the inhale and softens on the exhale. 

2 Experiment with Self-Holding  

If you’re in public and feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious you can practice self-holding discreetly by placing one hand on your heart or belly.

• Place one hand palm down on the center of your belly and the other on center of your chest. Breathe in and out gently and effortlessly through your nose and close your eyes if that feels okay. Become aware of any warmth or movement you can feel under your hands. Send yourself love, compassion, grace, serenity, ease, patience, gentleness—whatever resonates with you. Hold this hand position for a few minutes and notice what you notice.  
• You can also do this at night when you’re trying to fall asleep—in this case you’ll lower your upper arms so they’re flat on the bed and this may mean that your hands will be on the sides of your torso instead of in the center. This is okay. Stay like this as long as feels helpful. 
• If you’re in public and feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious you can do it discreetly by placing one hand on your heart or belly for a bit. 

3 Play with Grounding 

When caught up in the swirl or chaos of big feelings, expectations, or events take a few moments to be still and quiet. Think of it like allowing the snow to settle in the snow globe. 

• When caught up in the swirl or chaos of big feelings, expectations, or events take a few moments to be still and quiet. This could be in the form of prayer, meditation, journaling, or simply sitting in stillness and noticing what you notice. Think of it like allowing the snow to settle in the snow globe. 
• Spend some time in nature—feel the sun or breeze, notice the trees or sky, watch the animals move around. 
• Another grounding technique to try is to feel your feet on the earth; doesn’t matter whether you are inside or outside or whether you have shoes on or not. Press your feet down and sense or imagine that you can plant them into the soil (even if you’re inside, connect with the sense of the earth below the building). If you like this imagery or visualization you can take it to the next level by imagining or sensing that you have roots coming out from the soles of your feet and burrowing down into the earth. Allow yourself to feel connected, rooted, supported.  

More Resources

Look for Part 2 next week, where you will be guided to take your new sense of calm, centered, clear focus and put it into action. 

To learn more about breathing exercises, check out this blog.  Learn more about SouthLight’s Adult Outpatient Services here. Visit our Resources page for mental health and substance use resources.

About Beth:  

I value authenticity, courage, growth, and connection. I am the Program Director of the Adult Outpatient Services and use my values on a daily basis as I work alongside others to ensure we are providing the best care possible. I recently completed yoga teacher training and am now a certified yoga teacher. I look forward to being able to more fully incorporate yoga into my work with the people I serve.