The stretch between mid-November and early January is often filled with themed celebrations and travel, alongside disrupted routines and more social energy than many of us burn through all year. And even though the season is meant to be fun, the pace can leave almost anyone feeling a bit overstimulated.

We spoke with mental health experts who shared several small, restorative shifts that can help your nervous system settle down and ease the transition from holiday chaos back to everyday life. Here’s to a new year that feels steadier, calmer, and more grounded.

Manage Your Expectations

There are multiple aspects of the holiday season that make it a perfect storm for stress. “First, it is the end of the year, so we are already usually taking an internal temperature of how the year went,” says Katie Carhart, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Align and Empower Therapy. “Then, holidays themselves come with such high expectations. Many of us have these lofty visions of what holidays looked like as kids. We long for that feeling again, but it’s unrealistic because we are now the magic-makers, which comes with a ton of pressure.”

So how do you handle all that internal judgment? “Be realistic with what the holidays look like,” says Carhart. “If holidays each year feel disappointing, it’s likely because you’re going in with very high expectations. Just know that holidays come with a mix of feelings (wistfulness, nostalgia, sadness, joy, etc.). All of your holiday feelings are OK! You’re human, they are normal, and you’re allowed to have them.”

Prioritize Self-Care

The holidays are typically spent with extended family, but that extra exposure requires balance and planning. The added strain of trying to coordinate with multiple people can lead you to neglect routine self-care. “On a basic level, don’t forget to eat well, hydrate, sleep, and move your body,” Carhart says. “It can be so easy to get caught up in all the holiday activities that your own physical well-being takes a back seat.”

Once you have restored your foundation, you can (and should!) focus on regulating the nervous system. “I teach a simple breath practice called the 4–6 Breath: Inhale for four, exhale for six, repeated 10 times,” says Djuan D. Short, LCSW, a licensed trauma-informed therapist and founder of the Dahlia Rose Wellness Center. “It activates the vagus nerve and helps calm the body. As I often remind clients: “Your breath affects your emotions. Your emotions affect your breath.”

Stay Present with Yourself

Presence both through and after the holidays matters, and tapping into it daily can be as simple as becoming a neutral observer. “Observing your thoughts without judgment, even for a few minutes, helps bring you back to yourself,” says Short. “I remind clients: ‘You are not your thoughts and emotions. You have them, but they can be changed and reprogrammed.’” Staying present in this way helps anchor you, even when the post-holiday rush tries to pull your attention in every direction.

Use Your Feelings as a Guide

Even when you’re staying present without judgment, that doesn’t mean you need to push your feelings aside. “Feelings give us important information about what is most aligned for us,” says Carhart. “If you’re feeling sad, are you feeling wistful for something specific? Is there something you can plan into your post-holiday that would help connect to what you’re missing?”

Carhart says to tend to the varied feelings that might come up :

• Grief for loved ones no longer with you for the holidays can be met with taking some time to honor them and your feelings.
• Frustration or overwhelm can be managed by evaluating what’s on your plate and how you can change that moving forward.

“Instead of getting stuck in the feeling or judging the feeling, get curious about it,” says Carhart. Sit with it to determine what the emotion is trying to tell you, and use the feelings as a guide to make better decisions in the future to help you feel less burned out and resentful.

Short agrees with this sentiment on a spiritual level and invites her clients to choose intentions instead of resolutions. “Naming a feeling—like ease, joy, or alignment—and letting your post-holiday decisions support that state is far more sustainable than rigid goals,” says Short. “Pay attention to your thoughts and words. Let them flow and be open to changing your mind when necessary.”

Set Emotional and Physical Boundaries

Once you’ve steadied your emotions and identified what they’re asking of you, it becomes easier to set healthier emotional and physical boundaries. “What matters to you matters. Don’t let other things push out the things that mean the most to you,” says Carhart.

“I share with my clients to be mindful of exchanging energy with people and how it can impact them later,” says Short. “Whether it is through prayer, a hot shower, or sitting in silence, I encourage people to consciously release what is not theirs to carry.” Once your internal boundaries feel steadier, the next step is setting physical ones: name your limits, set expectations upfront, and stick to them in real time.

Try Journaling

Writing is a wonderful tool for post-holiday recovery, and you don’t even need a fancy journal to get the job done (though it wouldn’t hurt). Short says she encourages journaling with prompts like: “Where did I abandon myself last month?” or “What do I need more of this week?” Write whatever comes up to help yourself open up to the new possibilities and insights. “Self-inquiry brings subconscious patterns to light and restores a sense of personal agency after weeks of emotional performance,” Short adds.

Reset Your Fitness Routine

Recovery should be all-encompassing, but for the physical side, start with moving more slowly. “Instead of jumping into intense fitness routines, I recommend restorative yoga or gentle movement that encourages grounding,” says Short. “Slow stretches and body-based breathwork can release tension in the shoulders, jaw, and gut—all common places where stress, especially holiday stress, tends to get stored.”

Give Yourself Micro-Breaks

Finally, don’t underestimate the very real power of micro-breaks. (These small pauses may feel insignificant, but they add up quickly.) “Ten minutes without a screen or a task, several times a day, helps recalibrate focus and reduce cortisol levels,” says Short. One of her favorite mantras is a simple one: “Breaks give us the pause we need.”

8 Ways to Reset After The Holidays, According to Therapists by Lauren Thomann | Real Simple