3 Habits to Reduce Holiday Stress and Improve Your Sleep

Dec 6

The holiday season can be a double-edged sword—while it’s a time for joy and celebration, it can also bring heightened stress and sleepless nights.

The added holiday chaos can feel overwhelming for many who already face insomnia or struggle to get restful sleep.

The good news? By adopting a few simple habits, you can ease holiday stress and promote better sleep. These small but significant changes will help you enjoy the season while ensuring you wake up refreshed and ready to take on each day.

Before we jump in, if you’re looking for a deeper guide to improving your sleep naturally, I highly recommend my book, The Deep Blue Sleep: A Roadmap to Fall Asleep and Stay Asleep Naturally.

Habit #1 – Maintain a Balanced Eating Routine

The holidays are often synonymous with indulgence—sweet treats, rich meals, and festive drinks. While it’s tempting to throw your regular eating habits out the window, this can affect your energy levels, mood, and, of course, sleep quality.

Here’s what often happens:

Increased sugar and carbs can lead to energy crashes. (read more about this)
Alcohol, especially close to bedtime, disturbs sleep patterns.
Irregular meal timing and overeating can leave you feeling tired, anxious, and less rested because of the blood sugar swings mentioned above.

What to do:

Start Your Day with Protein: Eat breakfast within an hour of waking, packed with 20–25 grams of protein, healthy carbs, and fats. This stabilizes blood sugar levels, giving you steady energy throughout the day and reducing the temptation to overindulge later.
Stick to Regular Mealtimes: Aim to eat three balanced meals a day, at the same time, throughout December. Having consistent meal timing helps your body regulate hunger and prevents overeating when snacks and desserts are everywhere approaching the holidays.
Mindful Alcohol Consumption: Enjoy the occasional festive drink, but stop at least 3 hours before bed. Please stick to one serving, and hydrate well to minimize its sleep-disrupting effects.

Habit #2 – Manage Holiday Stress,

Before It Manages You

Did you know that 88% of Americans find the winter holidays the most stressful time of the year? From endless to-do lists to financial anxiety and high expectations for the “perfect holiday,” it’s no wonder so many people feel overwhelmed.

This elevated stress often pushes us to overextend ourselves, leaving little time for self-care. It can trigger heightened anxiety, and for those already dealing with insomnia, it may further disrupt sleep.

How to Create Your Calm:

Set Boundaries: Listen to your body and emotions when taking on commitments. Before saying yes to another event, ask yourself “does this (errand/gift exchange/party/happy hour) truly align with my needs?” If not, it’s okay to say no. Protect your energy.
Prioritize What Matters: Not everything needs to be perfect. Focus on what genuinely brings joy. Delegate tasks where possible and release the pressure to do it all.
Create a Daily Wind-Down Ritual: Even 15 minutes of intentional relaxation—like deep breathing, gentle stretching, or journaling—can signal your body to shift from “go mode” to rest. Check out no. 5 in this article.

Habit #3 – Navigate Emotional Ups and Downs with Ease

While the holidays are often portrayed as a time of togetherness, they can trigger complex emotions for many people. Family tensions, unresolved conflicts, or the absence of loved ones can leave you feeling emotionally drained.

These emotional challenges may surface as:

Reliving past trauma or unresolved conflicts.
Experiencing feelings of loneliness or isolation.
Dealing with recurring family dynamics and recurring stress.

When compounded, these emotions can take a toll on your sleep, leading to overthinking, heightened anxiety, and restless nights.

How to Process and Heal:

Acknowledge Your Feelings: Instead of suppressing emotions, allow yourself to feel them fully. Whether it’s sadness, anger, or fear, sit with the emotion for 10–15 minutes. Acknowledge it without judgment, and you’ll find it gradually loses its grip. Check out my favorite feeling wheel for identifying emotions.
Explore Tools for Growth: Letting Go by David Hawkins, M.D., is an excellent resource for releasing emotional tension. Here is a short video that explains how to feel the emotion and then let go of it. Second, Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. is the book that helped me the most in my life to communicate more lovingly with my friends and family, with empathy and clarity. Here is a profound 10-minute video by the late Dr. Rosenberg that exemplifies how NVC works.
Give Yourself the Kindest Gift: This year, gift yourself the time and space to prioritize your well-being. Lean into practices that nurture your mental health, whether mindfulness, therapy or simply moments of solitude.

Prioritize Yourself This Holiday Season

The holidays can be a time of joy, but they don’t have to come at the expense of your sleep or well-being. You can foster a more restful and peaceful season by being intentional about your eating habits, managing stress effectively, and addressing emotional challenges with care.

Remember, you don’t have to do it alone. If your sleep struggles persist, exploring resources like The Deep Blue Sleep book can provide insights and support on your journey to better rest or allow me to support your, either locally in Boulder, CO or via telehealth sessions longdistance.

Wishing you a season filled with comfort, peace, and rejuvenating sleep.

Happy Holidays! 🌙

To explore further support, schedule a free consult for local help in Boulder, CO, or long-distance via telehealth.

Check out my book: The Deep Blue Sleep—A Roadmap to Fall Asleep and Stay Asleep Naturally.

Available in Paperback, E-book, and Audio.