If you find yourself wondering whether you should try to get more done before the year closes, or listen to what your body is asking for, remember this: rest is not a special treat - it’s what your mind, heart, and body need.
Klint Kendrick, and global HR and M&A leader, who has studied the burnout reminds us:
“Rest is not optional maintenance. It’s part of the job. We have to do self-care so we can take care of others.”
For many people, the end of the year is the only time work truly slows down enough to even imagine rest.
And yet, the holidays and the approaching new year often keep us caught in long to-do lists, planning gatherings, and the all-too-common rhythm of holiday busyness.
So when an HR and M&A leader like Klint reminds us that rest is essential in order to care for others - we need to listen.
When Klint asked me for a few practical tips, this post was born. I’m sharing them here to inspire and support you in leveraging the power of the end-of-year pause. You’ll find additional resources for practical guided experiences at the end of the post.
1. Reduce nervous system load
Pause or significantly reduce TV, news, social media, heavy or overly engaging cognitive work, loud environments, and overstimulating spaces.
This isn’t about withdrawal. Tt’s about creating the conditions your nervous system needs to downshift.
How science supports this: Limiting overstimulation from screens, noise, and cognitive overload reduces stress signaling in the nervous system. Creating calm conditions helps the body downshift, supporting overall regulation and recovery.
2. Prioritize physical and mental rest first
If you feel physically and mentally exhausted, physical rest is the first step before true recalibration can happen from the inside out. The body needs to feel safe and supported before rejuvenation is possible.
Sleep more. Choose genuinely restful activities, not stimulating or motivating ones.
Gentle walks, time in nature, or even looking at trees, sky, or water from indoors if the weather calls for staying inside. If you walk with someone, try talking less.
When we talk, the brain stays engaged, and when the brain is engaged, mental and emotional processing continues in the background.
How science supports this: Giving your body and mind genuine rest reduces chronic stress signals, allowing the nervous system to recover and restore balance. Physical rest is the foundation for mental clarity and emotional regulation.
3. Listen inward
Once some physical and mental fatigue eases, gently tune into how you feel in your body and heart, and what you notice in your thoughts.
Being in nature is best for this self-attunement time. Or simply while looking at nature from indoors.
No fixing. No analyzing. Just noticing.
How science supports this: Tuning into your body, heart, and thoughts helps the nervous system process and integrate sensations and emotions. Simply noticing without judgment allows stress responses to settle and supports emotional regulation.
4. Breathe to release - not to “do it right”
Slow, gentle breathing helps signal safety to the nervous system. Breathe into areas of tension.
As you exhale, imagine releasing that tension out of the body.
You don’t need square breathing or any specific technique. You don’t even need to count.
If you find yourself trying to get the breath “right,” the mind is engaged in analysis, and that defeats the purpose.
Simply allow your attention to follow the breath. Thoughts will naturally slow.
How science supports this: Slow breathing affects how the body processes stress. By softening the breath and lengthening the exhale, the nervous system receives cues of safety, which helps calm mental activity and reduce physical tension.
5. Enhance energetic release with mental release
Once you’ve listened inward and softened the body through breathing, it can be helpful to gently release what surfaced on a mental and emotional level.
Take a piece of paper and write down any feelings, thoughts, or inner narratives you noticed: anything you feel ready to free yourself from. There’s no need to organize or analyze what you write. Let it flow.
When you’re finished, look at the page. Take a slow, deep breath in. As you breathe out, imagine the energy held in those thoughts and feelings leaving your mind, heart, and body.
You’re not pushing anything away. You’re allowing what has been acknowledged to complete its cycle and release.
You may choose to safely discard the paper as a symbolic closing.
How science supports this: Naming and writing down thoughts and emotions engages parts of the brain that help reduce activity in threat-related stress responses. This supports emotional regulation and allows the nervous system to complete stress cycles rather than holding them in the body. When paired with slow breathing, it further activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reinforcing a sense of safety and release.
6. Anchor release and recalibration
Choose gentle activities that help integrate and stabilize the shift, supporting your nervous system as it settles into a new baseline:
- walking in nature
- making arrangements with live plants or fresh flowers
- gardening if the weather allows
- or art creation that isn’t focused on perfection, but on enjoyment and presence.
Once you recalibrate, you may notice that you don’t just feel more rested, you also:
- Show up for family and friends during the holidays with greater calm and presence
- Create space for setting intentions for the new year with clarity and inspiration, and
- Begin the year feeling grounded, aligned, and renewed.
🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿🌿
Let's review the steps:
1. Reduce nervous system load
2. Prioritize physical and mental rest first
3. Listen inward
4. Breathe to release - not to “do it right”
5. Enhance energetic release with mental release
6. Anchor release and recalibration with gentle activities
🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿🌿
True clarity, genuine presence and ability to lead and support others comes from restoring inner alignment first - so your next steps and all you do arise from balance and harmony rather than survival.
🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿
If you’d like guided experiences to release what’s complete and gently step into what’s next refreshed and renewed, explore:
✨ New Year Inner Attunement. Enjoy it as a gift with the code GIFT2026 through December 31. >> https://nytm.edelweiss.academy
✨ Complimentary Mini Inner Attunements >> https://newyou.edelweiss.academy
✨ Bloomtica guided therapeutic art creations >> https://bloomtica.com
🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿
Once you’ve taken these steps to pause, release, and recalibrate, you may notice a new energy emerging - a readiness to step into the next version of yourself.
If you are feeling called to enter the new year grounded, regulated, and aligned with your dreams and goals - so the path forward feels more easeful - a new program is opening soon: Rise: The New Year Edition.
To be the first to know when it opens for enrollment, reach out to us at team@edelweiss.academy, and we'll be in touch.
