When the holidays don’t match the picture in your head, the gap can feel like grief. This year brought fevers, cancellations, and a quiet house that amplified old patterns of shutdown. I share what helped me move through the heaviness with care: naming the dorsal state of the nervous system, choosing breathwork over busyness, protecting sleep, and inviting small, real moments of connection with my kids when plans fell apart.

You’ll hear how I traded perfection for presence and found meaning in simple rituals—wrapping gifts to a breathing cadence, building Legos side by side, taking a short nature walk to collect leaves for a flower press. We talk about practicing regulation first so repair can land, and how to navigate loneliness without abandoning yourself. I open up about the tension between holiday “shoulds” and values, why expectations quietly fuel burnout, and how to design family time around energy and capacity rather than tradition for tradition’s sake.

We also explore a family breathwork session that gave us a shared rhythm when words felt like too much, plus a vision board exercise that revealed the life I’m already creating and the calm I want more of next year. If you’re managing depression, navigating overwhelm, or simply craving a slower season, you’ll find practical, nervous system-informed tools you can use today: regulate, relate, then reason; breathe, rest, invite. Press play to reimagine holidays that honor your bandwidth and build genuine connection.

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.