Finding Stillness: Simple Spiritual Practices for the Holiday Season
The holiday season brings so much beauty—twinkling lights, favorite songs, reunions, and rituals. Yet for many of us, it also brings noise, stress, and a quiet longing for peace. Between busy schedules, expectations, and tender emotions, December can feel like a swirl of both joy and exhaustion.
Stillness is not something we wait for. It’s something we create, a sacred pause we enter intentionally, even for just a few breaths at a time.
Here are five simple practices to help you find that stillness this season, to connect body, spirit, and heart no matter what the holidays hold.
🕯️ 1. Centering Prayer — Resting in Divine Presence
Centering Prayer has its roots in the Christian contemplative tradition, particularly through the work of Thomas Keating and the monastic rhythm of silence and stillness. It’s not about talking to God, but resting with God, or however you understand the sacred.
To practice:
Find a quiet place where you can sit comfortably for 10–20 minutes.
Choose a sacred word (like peace, love, light, or presence) that symbolizes your intent to be open to the Divine.
As you sit in silence, gently repeat your word whenever you notice your mind wandering.
You’re not trying to empty your mind, you’re consenting to the presence of Love. You’re your thoughts begin to wander, just silently say the scared word you chose to return to your practice. And no judgment if you find yourself returning to your word over and over again, that’s perfectly normal!
Over time, Centering Prayer softens anxiety, deepens awareness, and helps you rest in the quiet certainty that you are held.
Centering Prayer isn’t about finding words for God, it’s about allowing God to find you in the silence.
🌬️ 2. Breathing for Calm — The 4–6 Breath
Breath is both physiological and spiritual and it connects body and spirit in every tradition. The 4–6 breath, taught in many mindfulness and somatic practices, uses the body’s natural rhythms to restore calm.
To try it:
Inhale gently through your nose for 4 counts.
Exhale slowly through your mouth for 6 counts.
Continue for one to three minutes, letting your shoulders and jaw soften with each out breath.
That extended exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system, your body’s built-in relaxation response. Spiritually, it’s a micro act of surrender: each breath says, “I am safe enough to let go.”
The holidays can overwhelm even the calmest heart. The breath reminds us that peace is never far, in fact, it’s one exhale away.
🍵 3. A Mindfulness Pause — The Five Senses Check-In
Rooted in Buddhist mindfulness and adapted into modern psychology, this practice invites us back to the present through the body. The Five Senses Check-In is simple and powerful; it anchors us in what is, rather than what we fear or anticipate.
Here’s how to do it:
Notice five things you can see.
Notice four things you can touch.
Notice three things you can hear.
Notice two things you can smell.
Notice one thing you can taste.
This gentle inventory interrupts racing thoughts and sensory overload, something many of us experience during the holidays. It turns ordinary moments into sacred ones: the sound of laughter, the warmth of a mug in your hands, the scent of pine in the air.
Mindfulness isn’t escaping the moment, it’s returning to it, again and again, with kindness.
🌲 4. Outside Practice — Walking the Labyrinth or Forest Bathing
Stillness doesn’t only live in silence; it breathes in the open air. Both labyrinth walking and forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) invite a deep connection with nature, where stillness and movement become one.
Walking a labyrinth is an ancient contemplative practice found across cultures and faiths from medieval cathedrals to modern parks. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has one winding path that leads to the center and back out again. As you walk slowly, focusing on your breath and steps, distractions fall away. The path becomes a moving prayer or meditation, symbolizing your own inner journey toward peace and return.
You can find a labyrinth near you through the Worldwide Labyrinth Locator a free online map that lists hundreds of public and private labyrinths around the world:
👉 https://labyrinthlocator.com
Forest bathing, a practice that began in Japan, encourages you to immerse yourself in the living world through your senses. Walk slowly among trees, breathe deeply, and let yourself notice details—the sound of birds, the texture of bark, the way light shifts through leaves. If possible, get your bare feet into the grass, or the sand if you are near a beach.
Just remember, there is no goal, no rush, just presence.
Both of these practices remind us that the earth itself is a spiritual companion—steady, generous, and full of quiet wisdom.
🖋️ 5. Reflective Journaling — Writing as Release and Renewal
Writing can be a form of spiritual listening, a way of hearing what your soul is already saying. Rooted in practices from Ignatian spirituality to modern expressive therapy, journaling transforms thoughts into insight and emotion into healing.
You can begin by setting aside ten minutes at the end of the day. Choose one of these prompts or let your pen move freely:
What am I ready to release as this year ends?
Where did I experience beauty today?
What have I learned about peace or patience this season?
Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. Let your writing be messy, emotional, and real. The goal isn’t to produce something polished, it’s to discover what’s ready to be heard.
Many people find that journaling, even briefly, clears mental space and deepens gratitude. Over time, it becomes a record of growth, proof that wisdom often arrives quietly, line by line.
✨ Finding Stillness in the Ordinary
Stillness doesn’t always mean quiet rooms and long meditations. It can happen while washing dishes, caring for a pet, or standing under the stars. It’s the awareness that beneath the rush and noise, a sacred rhythm continues—steady, patient, and waiting for us to notice.
This season, may you find stillness not by stepping away from life, but by stepping more deeply into it, one breath, one step, one heartbeat at a time.
👉 At Life and Death Services ~ Spiritual Direction & Reiki Services, I companion individuals and groups through seasons of reflection, transition, and spiritual growth. Whether through prayer, mindfulness, or energy work, these moments of stillness can open us to wisdom, peace, and the quiet presence that sustains us through all things.
