When the Year Winds Down, but Your Nervous System Doesn’t
When December rolls around, you might expect yourself to feel calmer. The year is winding down, work is slowing, and everyone seems to be posting pictures of cozy blankets and steaming mugs. And yet, for many people, this is the month when their nervous system revs higher than ever. Instead of sinking into rest, they feel wired, tense, overstimulated, or strangely on edge. If that’s you, there’s nothing wrong with you; it actually means your body is trying to look out for you, but is stuck in overdrive.
If you’ve spent most of the year pushing through stress, managing uncertainty, navigating tricky family dynamics, or performing at a high level, your body adapts to that pace. It learns that being “on” is necessary for survival. Which is helpful in the moment you need an extra spike of energy to finish your emails, but not so much when you’re trying to let yourself enjoy a day off. Life finally quieting down doesn’t automatically tell your system you’re safe. In fact, for some people, stillness can feel unfamiliar, scary, or uncertain. Your mind may say “I should be relaxing,” but your body responds with tension, racing thoughts, or a buzzing undercurrent that makes true rest feel out of reach.
This is often why people describe feeling more anxious on vacation, more irritable during the holidays, or more emotionally raw when things finally calm down. When external chaos decreases, internal noise becomes easier to hear. The stress you’ve stored in your muscles, your breath, and your attention doesn’t dissolve the moment your schedule does, but actually rises to the surface asking to be tended to.
It can be helpful to explore the parts of you that are afraid of rest. Sometimes your body is bracing because it’s used to chronic stress and isn’t convinced that letting go is safe. Sometimes you’ve internalized the belief that rest must be earned or justified, so slowing down triggers guilt or self-criticism. Sometimes stillness gives old emotions the space to show up, and your system leaps into distraction mode to avoid feeling overwhelmed. These approaches helped us at some point in time, which is why we keep repeating them.
If you’re ready to explore doing things a little differently, here are some ideas. Try noticing how your body signals that it’s in “go mode.” Maybe it’s tight shoulders, shallow breaths, the urge to check your phone or endlessly scroll. Instead of fighting these signals, meet them with curiosity: What is this protecting me from right now? What am I worried would happen if I let myself rest? What would 1% more rest look like in this moment?
Often, your nervous system needs small invitations rather than big expectations. Try a slower inhale, intentionally softening your jaw, and pausing, for just a moment. Practicing in small amounts helps reassure our systems that pausing does not mean something bad will happen. And when you slow down with compassion rather than pressure, you create space for the body to discover rest at its own pace. Not on the calendar’s schedule. Not on anyone else’s expectations. But in a way that feels doable for you.
If this time of year leaves you feeling overstimulated, exhausted, or unsure how to actually slow down, you’re not alone, and you don’t have to navigate it by yourself. I help high-achieving women reconnect to their bodies, understand their nervous systems, and build a relationship with rest that feels safe, not stressful. If you’re curious about exploring this work together, you’re welcome to schedule a consultation.