The Christmas season has a way of sneaking up on us — one moment we’re lighting candles and humming along to carols, and the next we’re buried under to-do lists, tangled lights, and endless obligations.
Many of us enter December with good intentions — to slow down, to savour the season, to be present. But somehow, the pace quickens, and we find ourselves running on autopilot, rushing through what could be moments of joy.
Amy and Emma have collaborated on this month’s newsletter. They offer up a question to us – can we reconsider our choices at this busy time of year? Can we approach the season differently either through being more embodied or by embracing our cultural traditions, how can we find the magic at the heart of the season?
Grab a mug of something mulled and cosy in.
We often think that how we feel at Christmas is dictated by what’s happening around us: the shopping, the cooking, the family dynamics, the travel.
But our state of being — calm, joyful, grounded — begins within us.
Our nervous system plays a huge role in that. When stress builds up (from long days, poor posture, or endless mental strain), our bodies slip into “fight or flight.” Over time, this creates physical tension, fatigue, and that sense of being constantly on edge.
Chiropractic care, massage, and many other gentle wellness practices help restore balance — easing tension in the spine, calming the nervous system, and helping your body shift into a state of rest and presence. When your body is aligned, your mind and emotions often follow.
Amy’s top tips for finding Calm & Joy through the festive season…
Take time for yourself.
Christmas is a time of togetherness, but if you’re feeling overwhelmed it’s ok to step away from the noise, even for a few minutes each day. A short walk, a quiet cup of tea, listening to your favourite music or podcast, or just a few deep breaths can help you reset and reconnect with yourself.Remember — you don’t have to do it all.
Give yourself permission to say no to what drains you. The holidays aren’t a performance — they are an opportunity to nourish yourself through being with the people and moments that matter most to you.
Book an adjustment or massage to calm your nervous system.
Stress shows up physically. A gentle adjustment or massage can release built-up tension, support your body’s natural balance, and help you feel centered and calm through the busyness.Give yourself permission to slow down.
Nature slows in midwinter — and we often forget we’re part of that same rhythm. So many people feel guilty for not being able to keep up with the fast pace of our modern world at this time of year, when it so natural to need more down time. Honour the winter solstice by resting more, reflecting more, and allowing stillness to be a form of self-care.Let in moments of joy!
A child’s laughter, the sparkle of lights, the taste of food cooked with love, the quiet of early morning — these are the moments that make the season meaningful. These moments that bring in light during the darkest point of the year — let yourself feel them fully!
Advent and Christmas – keeping it real the Scandinavian way
Growing Light
As someone who sings, Christmas preparations begin early. When you work with children, churches and community groups, requests to add to the magic of Christmas flood in from July! However, easing into Christmas gently and slowly runs deep – my grandmother was Danish, and from Kindergarten days candles were lit from Martinmas to Candlemas (mid autumn to early spring), increasing in number as days rolled on.
Candles marked celebrations like St Lucy’s Day and Christingle. Sunday by Sunday, as Advent progressed, light grew gradually as candles were lit on rings of evergreen – a symbolic widening of hope and a beautiful reminder that we shift, change and grow slowly over time. And yes, I have real candles on my Christmas tree, usually lit on Twelfth Night – a once-in-a-Christmas-season glow that is truly magic.
The Magic of Christmas
With John Lewis, M&S, and Aldi competing for the best telly ads from October, there’s more pressure to create the perfect Christmas of someone else’s imagining, one ‘just so’ for family and friends, often sending us into a whirlwind of activity, rushing, and generally overextending ourselves in all kinds of ways. By the time Christmas Day arrives we are emotionally and physically exhausted, don’t want to see another mince pie, and often desperate to tear down the tree and ‘get back to normal’ within a few days, without fully embracing the gifts of the season.
For fun, I asked chatGPT what the magic of Christmas was. It ‘thought’ a lot… little digital cogs spinning. Typically poetic, it spat out some words, ‘Lovely question – one that feels more like a small bell that an quiz…’, followed by a few sentences about light in the dark, cultural permission to pause, some interesting lines about childlike wonder, ending with the title ‘Generosity and Repair’… before, ironically, it broke, spitting out a message in red letters, ‘Error in Stream’. I laughed… Is the magic of Christmas too elusive for the mighty computer wizard?
The Nisse candle holder Emma’s Grandmother made for her.
Keeping it Real
Therefore I’m keeping things completely real – as always – because how is an AI Christmas life-enriching? And I encourage you to dip into these reflections emerging from hygge seasons of presence, dark nights, candle glow, nisse, and spicy gingerbread, and see what resonates for you.
For me, the magic of Christmas has never been in ‘thinky things’, except perhaps the thoughtfulness that delivers small kindnesses just when we need them: words that calm when it all get too much, or a reassuring touch when feeling overwhelmed by expectation or excess. So how might we see this mid-winter season as an invitation to engage with the senses, the things of the heart, tenderness, connection and quiet joy?
Preparing heart and home
Slow and gentle preparations evolve throughout a Scandinavian’s Advent and are often sensory, grounding and deeply mindful. As children we’d bake gingerbread with Farmor, the scent of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves filling her house, relaxing the nervous system, signalling warmth and belonging, and evoking memories of Christmases past, long before the arrival of the tree.
Each year a gingerbread house was lovingly created and dramatically revealed, a time accompanied by Andersen’s fairy stories and cosiness by the fire as my sister and I would pick sweet treats one by one. There were handcrafts too: clove-studded orange pomanders, woollen angels, and julehjerte – colourful woven paper hearts – simple reminders of love – and long walks in the woods to gather armfuls of evergreen, frosty cold air and seasonal stillness bringing the body back into itself. In these hygge moments of present connection – with others, self and nature – there is a quiet encouragement to slow, to breath deeper, and remind ourselves that the beauty and magic of Christmas is often simple, close, fragile and alive.
More joy!
This Christmas, are you tempted to fake it, or, in this digital world, will you keep it real? Part of finding joy is being honest about what is, in all its complex messiness, including the tiredness, grief, and limits, giving them space alongside the light. Honouring that doesn’t diminish festivities. When we listen to our body’s need for a slower pace, more rest, balancing busy-ness, or simpler days, we stop performing joy and start living it.
Focus on connectedness: nurture relationships, create meaningful traditions, make heartfelt memories, do less with more presence. My advent hope for you is this: as well as kindling that Christmas magic for those you love, remember you are also important. Tune in to your body. Lead with the senses – work with your energy, and attend to what you need and brings you joy, too.
Emma x
Emma is a credentialed coach working with professional ‘people’, blending Blue Health, mindfulness, applied neuroscience and somatic practice in a holistic way to enhance wellbeing and facilitating truly aligned decision making and change that flows from the heart. Compassion, creativity, courage and connection (self, others and nature), are central to her coaching conversations, which take place in blue space or on zoom.
Find Emma’s website above. Follow her on Instagram @emmajsea or on Facebook Embrace Blue Space.
