Holiday Slow Down: Holistic Practices for Inner Peace in an Overstimulating Season
Protect your peace. Practice slowing down through the mad dash.
Sensitive Systems Need Deliberate Slow Down Time
The holiday season has a way of pulling us in many directions at once. Plans multiply, emotions run closer to the surface, and the constant buzz of activity (social, sensory, and emotional) can make it hard to stay connected to yourself.
When the body moves against the natural seasonal rhythms of inwardness, reflection, quiet, darkness, and the slow pace of winter – holiday burnout or depression, especially in sensitive systems, can set in early.
This is true even when we look forward to this time of year, because our bodies often tell a different story. Many people, especially highly sensitive and neurodivergent folks, feel the pressure in their nervous systems first: tension in the shoulders, shallow breathing, a sense of being “on” even when we want to rest.
This month in the Nourished Sensitive Collective Membership, we’re drawing from the Plant theme: a reminder to simplify, ground, and return to what nourishes. Plants don’t rush to bloom. They root, they rest, and they grow at the pace their environment allows. We get to do the same.
If we start slowing down now, we can prevent the post-holiday crash and begin the new year feeling nourished and steady.
Gentle Mind-Body Practices to Cultivate Inner Peace Over the Holidays
Below are a few practices to help you soften into Element 1 of the Nine Elements of Nourishment Health Framework: Emotional Health. These practices are designed to support your emotional health and well-being as a sensitive human by helping you create a supportive inner rhythm to nourish you through an otherwise stimulating season.
Practice 1. Recognize how peace feels in your body
Everyone’s version of inner quiet is different. For one person, it might feel like spaciousness in the ribs. For another, it’s a steadying warmth in the belly or a gentle unfurling across the back of the shoulders.
Begin this practice by asking yourself:
How do I know I’m feeling calm?
What sensations tell me I’m settling?
Is there a particular feeling that signals “I’m okay”?
Identifying your personal cues makes it easier to return to them when stress rises.
Practice 2: Use small, steadying practices to support your emotions
You don’t need elaborate rituals to soften tension. Sometimes the simplest actions shift the whole moment.
Try this when you have the space:
Sit down in a comfortable chair, meditation cushion, or yoga mat
Feel the weight of your body in the chair or on the ground
Take one slow breath with your exhale slightly longer
Sip something warm and let the heat anchor you
Notice one physical detail in your environment to bring your attention back to the present
These simple, gentle embodiment practices create micro-moments of regulation, helping you move through the season without losing yourself in the noise.
You can try this practice anytime you’re feeling overstimulated, or just need to step away from the family gathering or busy holiday schedule to breathe.
Practice 3: Move at a pace that belongs to you
A big part of emotional well-being is honoring the tempo your body naturally prefers. Holidays often invite urgency but you’re allowed to move differently.
Consider:
Giving yourself a small pause before saying yes
Letting plans be flexible instead of fixed
Protecting moments of downtime, even if they’re brief
Choosing experiences that feel nourishing over those that feel obligatory
Your rhythm is valid and following it is a form of self-respect.
What brings you peace during the holidays? Share in the comments.
Practice 4: Create moments of spaciousness even when life feels full
Spaciousness isn’t about clearing your whole schedule; it’s about building breath into your days.
A few gentle ideas:
Sit in silence for a minute before heading into a gathering
Take a short walk to reset your senses
Set a calming tone in your home: a candle, soft music, dim lights
Let yourself step away when you feel overstimulated
Small pockets of quiet can make the entire season feel more manageable.
Returning to Element 1: Emotional Health
Each of these practices—feeling into your cues of calm, using small stabilizing rituals, honoring your natural pace, and creating pockets of spaciousness—are rooted in Element 1 of the Nine Elements of Nourishment Framework: Emotional Health.
In sensitive humans, Emotional Health isn’t about eliminating overwhelm or forcing yourself into peace. It’s about building an inner environment that supports you, especially when the outer world wants more, or moves fast.
Emotional health is the gentle art of tending to your internal rhythms so you can move through the season with more steadiness, clarity, and self-compassion.
As sensitive humans, our systems thrive when we slow down deliberately and when we choose presence over pressure, clarity over chaos, and nourishment over obligation.
These simple practices are invitations to return to yourself, again and again, no matter what the day holds.
A Soft Place to Land for Support
If reading this stirred something in you, and if part of you is craving a deeper sense of inner quiet and longing for a space where your sensitivity is honored rather than overwhelmed, there is a place for you to land and breathe deeply.
A Gentle Invitation: Cultivating Inner Peace Over the Holidays
If you’re craving a space to slow down and recalibrate, we’d love to have you join us for a restorative experience designed with sensitivity in mind.
Cultivating Inner Peace Over the Holidays
Date: November 24, 2025
Time: 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM ET
RSVP: https://luma.com/arnjemq4
This Circle offers a calm, supportive environment for highly sensitive and neurodivergent people who want to feel more centered during a season that can be intense or emotionally layered. Together, we’ll explore what peace feels like in your own body, reconnect with your natural timing, and make room for clarity and ease; no matter what’s happening around you.
If you’re longing for a softer way to move through the holidays, this gathering is a beautiful place to begin, and you can save your spot here.
A Note About Access
Sensitive Sanctuary Circles and TNS gathering are open to everyone.
TNSC Members attend for free, with full access to every gathering, invitation, and community space. Guests are warmly welcome to join any circle for $22.
If the cost isn’t accessible for you right now, please reach out to Leah directly at leah@nourishedsensitive.com for a free invitation.
You’re always welcome to come try a circle first.
If you’ve been curious about our events, or want to deepen into the sanctuary we’re building together, you’re warmly invited to upgrade your membership—both to receive all future invitations and to help sustain this gentle, soul-centered community.
What is Sensitive Sanctuary Circle?
Think of Sensitive Sanctuary Circle as a soft pocket of time where nothing is required of you. No fixing, no masking—just come as you are, and snuggle into belonging with your fellow sensitives and NDs.
This space is for highly sensitive and neurodivergent, deep-hearted folks who feel deeply and are learning to honor their nervous systems. We gather for presence, reflection, and gentle belonging. Tears, laughter, silence, and story are all welcome.
What We Do
We keep things simple: a grounding practice, a brief theme + journaling prompt, then open space for sharing or quiet listening. We close with a blessing and an optional card pull.
What to Expect
🌱 Camera on or off—your choice (most keep them on).
🌱 Speaking is optional—share, pass, or use the chat.
🌱 Small, intimate groups (6–12 people).
🌱 Free to move, stretch, fidget, stim, or step away.
🌱 We meet 6:15–7:30pm ET.
Comfort + Care
Cameras encouraged but never required; a quick goodbye in chat if leaving early is appreciated.
No pressure to perform or say the “right thing.”
Gentle structure: grounding → check-ins → closing blessing.
Accessibility-minded: bodies and nervous systems welcome as they are.
Confidentiality held with care; recordings only with group consent.
No prep needed—bring a journal or tea if you’d like.
If you’ve been longing for slower, more genuine connection—or simply a place where you don’t have to hold everything together—Sensitive Sanctuary Circle is for you. 🌿
For details, see the full Sensitive Sanctuary Circle – Participation Agreement
For any questions, you can reach Leah at leah@nourishedsensitive.com.
I’m looking forward to this circle! I bought a wool spinning wheel today and I’m really excited for what it could bring to my winter months. I’ve noticed spinning helps me shift my nervous system and feel more calm. It’s something about the focused simplicity, the sound the wheel makes, the tactile feeling in my hands. See you all Monday night!