Feeling anxious this holiday season? Consider ‘who’ within you is having this experience.

The holiday season is a time of joy, celebration and for many people, a lot of anxiety. When we add in the complication of rising Covid numbers, it adds an additional layer of complexity.

How do you manage anxiety if it creeps into your holiday preparations?

If you’ve exercised, meditated or spent time in nature and you’re still feeling anxious, how do you handle it?

The most prevalent anxiety coaching advises that the sensations you feel aren’t dangerous. If you remind yourself that your nervous stomach, shortness of breath and jitters are ‘just sensations’, you’re encouraged to go on with your day.

I understand the reasoning behind this advice and even some of the benefits but to me, it falls short.

Anxiety isn’t just a chemical imbalance which causes unwanted symptoms. 

In my experience, when an adult is anxious, there’s almost always a parallel anxiety within his/her child-self, or inner child.

The holidays bring many memories and triggers from the past. For example, if you had a mother who pressured herself to deliver a perfect Christmas, you may feel reverberations of that pressure, even though it’s not happening now.

If you were disappointed at Christmas as a child, you may be anticipating disappointment that’s disproportionate to the present day events.

Within whatever we’re feeling, it’s worth getting still and inquiring about the added layer of inner child material that may be bleeding into the present.

When we acknowledge our inner child’s experience, we can meet him/her with the care and presence he/she may not have received. 

An example of this inner dialogue may be, “I see you’re feeling tense with all the chaos of holiday preparations. I see how much you need calm and quiet and how disruptive it feels to be in so much commotion.”

It may seem preposterous to talk to your child-self, when you’re an adult but this type of dialogue, called resonant self-talk, has produced miraculous results with my anxious clients.

It’s simple to learn and it can truly transform the way you care for yourself when you’re anxious.

Sarah Peyton is an expert on resonant self-talk. If you’d like a simplified version that will help you learn within an hour, join this mini-course, I created which includes step-by-step video instructions, guided meditations and FAQs. It’s only $29.

I’d love you to be kinder to yourself this holiday season.

If I can help you in any way don’t hesitate to reach out.