Mindfulness During the Holidays: Stay Present & Reduce Stress This Season

Holiday Overwhelm Got You Questioning How You Will Get Through?

How to Stay Present During the Holidays with Mindfulness

The holidays can feel overwhelming. Between family gatherings, shopping, meal planning, and endless tasks on your to-do list, it's easy to find yourself going through the motions without truly being present. If you've ever caught yourself at a holiday dinner realizing you barely tasted the food or can't remember the conversations you had, you're not alone. But there's a solution: mindfulness.

What Is Mindfulness, Really?

Mindfulness is often misunderstood as something that requires hours of meditation or special training. In reality, mindfulness is simply about being present, focused in the moment, and observing your experience without judgment. During the holidays, this means actively engaging with what you're doing right now—whether that's enjoying food with family, watching the lights, or playing a game together—rather than letting your mind wander to your endless to-do list.

Most of us live with our minds racing. We're juggling multiple thoughts, worries, and plans simultaneously. When we pause, take a breath, and reconnect with the present moment and the people around us, everything shifts. Mindfulness brings us back to what matters.

Why Mindfulness Matters During the Holidays

When you practice mindfulness during the holidays, you get real benefits that extend far beyond feeling calmer in the moment:

Reduced Stress – The more you focus on simply being present in your environment, the lower your stress levels become. You're not adding extra pressure by worrying about what's next or what could go wrong.

Improved Focus – In today's world, we're constantly pulled in multiple directions. Mindfulness helps you concentrate fully on what you're doing, making conversations more meaningful and activities more enjoyable.

Better Relationships – People can tell when your mind is elsewhere, and it affects how they feel spending time with you. When you're truly present and engaged, people enjoy being around you more, and relationships deepen.

Increased Joy – When you're fully present with your loved ones, you actually experience the moments you're creating together. This is where true holiday joy comes from.

3 Mindfulness Practices You Can Start Today

1. Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing is one of the simplest yet most powerful tools you can use. Here's how to do it:

• Take slow, deep breaths, focusing on breathing from your diaphragm (your stomach) rather than your chest

• Keep your shoulders relaxed and down

• If it helps, count your breaths to keep your focus

• When you concentrate on where you're breathing from and how you're holding your body, your mind naturally quiets down and stays in the present moment

You can do this for just 30 seconds before a meal, between conversations, or whenever you feel stress rising.

2. Body Scan

Many of us are disconnected from our bodies. We experience stress and anxiety but can't pinpoint where we feel it physically. A body scan reconnects you to yourself and brings awareness to tension you might not realize you're holding.

To do a body scan:

• Find a comfortable position, sitting or lying down

• Bring your attention to different parts of your body, one at a time

• Notice what's there—warmth, tension, tingling, heaviness—without judging it

• Let your focus shift gradually from your head down through your shoulders, chest, stomach, and limbs

• Simply observe and notice what each part of your body is telling you

This practice helps you understand how stress shows up in your physical body, making you more aware and more present overall.

3. Mindful Movement & Walking

This is perhaps the most enjoyable practice, especially if you're an outdoor person. Mindful movement means paying attention to what your body is doing and why, and engaging all your senses.

For a mindful walk:

• Step outside or even take a walk around your home

• Connect with everything you notice through your senses

• What do you see? Are there colors, shapes, or movement?

• What do you smell? Fresh air, food cooking, flowers?

• What do you hear? Conversation, nature sounds, music?

• What do you feel? Temperature on your skin, ground beneath your feet?

• As you move slowly and deliberately, notice how this naturally slows your breathing and grounds you

Nature is especially grounding, but you can practice mindful movement anywhere. This technique helps you step out of the stress response and back into calm presence.

Your Holiday Mindfulness Challenge

Here's what I'd like you to try: for the next 30 seconds each day between now and the end of the year, practice mindfulness. Just 30 seconds. Connect with something around you or something happening in your body. Notice it without judgment.

Better yet, pick one thing each day that you want to be intentionally mindful and present with. Maybe it's really tasting your holiday meal. Maybe it's fully listening during a conversation with a family member. Maybe it's appreciating the holiday decorations. Choose one focus each day and bring full presence to it.

The Bottom Line

The holiday chaos isn't going away. There will always be more to do, more people to see, more tasks waiting. But you can pause within yourself. You can create moments of presence and calm in the middle of it all. When you do, you'll find that joy returns—not because your circumstances changed, but because you're actually experiencing them.

This holiday season, I challenge you to stop just going through the motions. Be present. Notice. Breathe. Connect. Your holiday experience—and your stress levels—will thank you. For more tips get your Holiday Guide today here.