Simple practices for staying balanced when stress or the holidays pull you off center
With the holidays approaching, I know oh-so well how quickly pressure can build, how ordinary tasks can feel more challenging, and how easily our minds can slip into overdrive. I know this oh-so well, too, what I describe isn’t limited to one season; life gives us plenty of opportunities to feel out of balance. But the holidays add another layer of pressure that can add to the overwhelm we’re already endeavoring to handle. These are the simple practices I’ve learned over the years to bring me back to myself. I hope you find at least one to help you, too.
1. Return to Your Body
Stress pulls attention everywhere and anywhere into the future. Your body brings you back into the present.
Plant your feet on the floor. Feel the weight shift downward. Let your exhale run a little longer than your inhale.
This small change—lengthening the exhale—signals your vagus nerve to shift out of the fear-based fight-or-flight mode. The pressure sensors in your feet send information up through your nervous system that says, “You’re supported. You’re safe.” It’s deceptively simple and profoundly regulating.
2. Look Around the Room
When the mind tightens and loses perspective, widening your visual field breaks the cycle.
Turn your head slowly. Let your eyes land on a few neutral or pleasant objects. Notice a color, a shape, or a texture. This simple act—called orienting—tells the brain that the environment is safe, which eases internal tension. It stops the spiral inward and uses your external surroundings to reset your autonomic system.
3. Use the Breath To Calm
Not all breathing techniques are meant for grounding; some are energizing. When you need to rebalance yourself, choose one of these:
- Inhale for four, exhale for six or eight
- Two small inhales followed by a long sigh (the physiological sigh)
- Even, quiet box breathing (4–4–4–4).
These patterns dial down activation without creating more intensity. They work because the exhale engages the parasympathetic branch of your nervous system—the part that helps you rest and recover. Save the rapid or forceful breathing for when you need energy, not calm.
4. Step Into the Light
A few minutes of natural light can shift your entire state. Walk outside. Let the sun reach your face or hands. Pause there—no multitasking, no rushing.
Light is one of the simplest ways Nature provides to help your system regulate. Sunlight helps reduce cortisol, entrains your circadian rhythm, and signals safety at a deep biological level. There’s no faster external reset.
5. Stand on the Earth
Bare feet on natural ground offer a kind of steadiness nothing else does. Grass, soil, sand, or stone—any of them work. A minute or two is enough to interrupt mental noise and confusion and help you feel anchored again. Your sensory system gets direct information through your feet that quells cognitive overwhelm. Whether it’s the electrical grounding or simply the tactile experience, your nervous system responds… and fast.
6. Use Supportive Touch
Touch is a reliable way to calm the body from the inside out.
Place one hand on your chest and one on your abdomen. Or rest your palms on your thighs for a moment. Self-touch releases oxytocin and activates the parts of your brain that counterbalance stress. It’s a quiet reminder that you are safe, in the now, and you’re not leaving yourself behind. Think of this practice as an anchoring friend.
7. Move Slowly
When everything feels fast, your body benefits from rhythm and pace.
Sway gently. Walk slowly. Rock in a chair if you have one.
Slow movement—even for just a minute—calms the deeper structures of your brain that process rhythm and balance. This is why rocking a baby works. Your nervous system responds to rhythm the same way.
8. Let Water Bring You Back
Water has a grounding effect that works quickly.
Rinse your hands under warm water. Splash cool water on your face. Hold a warm mug and feel the temperature through your palms.
Temperature and touch combined interrupt thought loops faster than almost anything cognitive. Simple sensory anchors like this regulate your system in real time.
9. Step Into the Witness
Stress collapses everything inward. Shifting into observation opens a spaciousness.
Try saying, “Stress is here, and I’m noticing it.” Or, “There is stress here, and I am the one noticing it.”
This shift in language—speaking as the witness rather than from inside the spiral—creates instant spaciousness around the emotion. It doesn’t deny your experience; it gives you room to breathe and reminds you that you are larger than what you’re feeling.
10. Ask a Clear-Sighted Question
When emotions rise, these simple questions can help you reorient:
- What is actually happening right now?
- Where does it show up in my body?
- Can I let it move through without holding it, and… without pushing it down?
These questions restore perspective without pushing anything away. They’re simple, but direct pathways back into awareness, back into the part of you that can observe without being consumed.
A Final Thought on Balance
Grounding isn’t a grand practice; it’s a way to return to balance. A return to your body, to your breath, to the moment in front of you. Any one of these oh-so simple practices can help you find your footing again—whether it’s the holiday rush or an ordinary Tuesday that caught you off guard. If you’d like to explore this more deeply, you can read one of my reflections on slowing down.
