Christmas Eve: Steward Your Soul, Enjoy the Season, Step Into January With Intention
Episode 45: Self Care as Stewardship on Christmas Eve
Before the celebrations begin, take a breath with me. This episode is an invitation to slow down, get grounded, and reconnect with the truth that joy and peace are yours to receive — not earn.
Inside the episode, we talk about:
• The physiological sigh and how to reset your nervous system
• The emotional complexity of Christmas — joy and grief together
• Managing unrealistic expectations
• Releasing the “shoulds” that fuel shame
• Joy as a quiet, grounded presence
• Stewarding your body, mind, time, and energy with love
• How to stop performing and be present with your people
You’ll also hear details about the special Facebook group for everyone going through Self Care as Stewardship this January. If you have the book, grab your planning pages and join us.
Merry Christmas, friend. Be present, be kind, be held.
Watch Here:
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13:58:13 Hello, and welcome to the Christian Life Coach Podcast. I am Shanna, your Christian
13:58:19 Life coach.
13:58:22 Merry Christmas.
13:58:24 Eve.
13:58:25 I just wanted to come and share a quick episode.
13:58:30 Maybe you are…
13:58:33 Wrapping presents, maybe you are out on a walk.
13:58:38 Getting your mind right for all that is to come.
13:58:43 And I just want to share some encouragement.
13:58:47 I want to encourage you to
13:58:50 Slow down.
13:58:53 And be present.
13:58:56 And even acknowledge…
13:59:00 The weight?
13:59:03 And… the yuckiness?
13:59:06 Along with the beauty,
13:59:08 And the excitement.
13:59:13 Let's take a breath.
13:59:16 And get grounded a little bit.
13:59:19 Take a deep breath in through your nose.
13:59:24 Blow it out through your mouth.
13:59:31 And practice that when you start
13:59:34 feeling when you start noticing
13:59:37 the anxiety creeping in.
13:59:39 There are a lot of techniques that you can use to reset
13:59:43 Your nervous system, one that I especially love is the physiological sigh.
13:59:50 And this is where you breathe in through your nose,
13:59:54 as far as you can,
13:59:56 And then you take a second breath in,
13:59:59 through your nose, even…
14:00:02 higher than you thought you could. So you breathe in,
14:00:06 And then breathe in a little bit more.
14:00:09 And then you blow it all out.
14:00:12 through your… through your mouth?
14:00:14 And you blow it all out until you can't possibly blow anymore.
14:00:20 And you want to do that a few times. And you can practice it even when you're not feeling stress,
14:00:25 To help keep your nervous system regulated.
14:00:29 And that is one technique. There are lots of techniques.
14:00:35 So, now that we've taken a deep breath…
14:00:38 I just want to acknowledge, and I encourage you to allow yourself space
14:00:44 to acknowledge that
14:00:48 This season…
14:00:50 is…
14:00:53 is full of joy,
14:00:55 And it's exhausting.
14:00:58 It's full of gratitude and reasons to be thankful.
14:01:03 And it can feel overwhelming.
14:01:07 It's a time where…
14:01:09 There are very high expectations set.
14:01:14 that don't always and rarely do, line up with
14:01:20 reality of what actually takes place.
14:01:25 And I think that just allowing yourself to acknowledge that
14:01:30 In moments where you are experiencing joy, you might feel guilty for it, because
14:01:37 there might be grief alongside of it.
14:01:41 And I encourage you to allow yourself to hold that joy and that grief.
14:01:47 At the same time.
14:01:49 You can experience joy watching
14:01:52 little kids open presents.
14:01:54 at the same time that you're sad,
14:01:58 that somebody isn't able to be there this Christmas.
14:02:02 Whether it's because they aren't…
14:02:05 with us any longer, or because they don't live
14:02:08 close, and they weren't able to travel.
14:02:10 Like, allow yourself
14:02:12 to experience that whole… that whole range of motion.
14:02:17 And some of them we hold at the same time.
14:02:21 We can be so thankful
14:02:23 that we're going to have a house full of people.
14:02:26 At the same time, we feel overwhelmed about all of the things that need to get done in order to have all of those people at our house.
14:02:36 I have an episode.
14:02:38 about expectations, and I've referenced it a lot.
14:02:42 It's so helpful to manage your expectations, to be aware
14:02:48 of the expectations that you have set for yourself, for situations, for other people.
14:02:54 And…
14:02:56 and ask yourself, are they realistic? There's a whole episode, I'll link it at the end of the show, or I'll put it in the show notes, and I'll put it in the show notes.
14:03:06 So, just know, there are… there are dichotomies.
14:03:10 And that's okay. It's important to allow ourselves to
14:03:15 recognize that, and acknowledge it.
14:03:18 And just allow it to be, rather than resisting it and making it
14:03:25 a… a conflict between the two. The two can…
14:03:29 right alongside each other.
14:03:31 And I really love… I've been hearing this analogy of joy,
14:03:36 Recently, and…
14:03:39 Um, one of… one of the life coaches that I follow, she explains
14:03:46 or compares joy to the sunshine, the sun. The sun is up in the sky,
14:03:51 It's up in the sky every day.
14:03:54 And sometimes, clouds cover it.
14:03:57 And you can't see it, or you can't see it as fully. The sunshine, the sun is always there.
14:04:04 And sometimes clouds come.
14:04:07 And just because the clouds come,
14:04:10 And cover the sun. The sun is still there.
14:04:13 And that's our joy. Our joy?
14:04:16 is within us.
14:04:19 The joy of the Lord is our strength.
14:04:23 And situations come, but we don't have to let those situations take our joy.
14:04:28 We know that those clouds are going to dissipate, they're going to move on, and our joy is still there.
14:04:34 So we can… we can hold the joy.
14:04:38 while the clouds come, while…
14:04:40 the storms come.
14:04:43 And then just remember that you do not have to earn peace.
14:04:49 you get to receive
14:04:52 Peace.
14:04:55 Isaiah 26 3 says,
14:04:58 He will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in him.
14:05:04 We get to experience perfect peace,
14:05:08 When, just like the joy,
14:05:10 the Sun.
14:05:13 we get to have peace no matter what's going on in front of us.
14:05:18 When our hearts and our minds are focused on God.
14:05:23 That's when we get to experience and receive perfect peace.
14:05:32 Remember…
14:05:35 It is so vital to take care of yourself during this time.
14:05:39 And that doesn't mean be selfish.
14:05:42 It doesn't mean shut everybody else out.
14:05:47 It doesn't mean you don't take care of other people and see to their needs, and be a good hostess, and all of that.
14:05:54 It just means…
14:05:57 seeing what you need,
14:06:00 and tending to that as well.
14:06:02 And when we take care of ourselves first,
14:06:05 Which, when I talk about self-care,
14:06:09 If you do not have my book, it is called
14:06:12 self-care is stewardship, a 31-day devotional,
14:06:17 And when I talk about self-care, I am talking about
14:06:21 getting the sleep that your body needs.
14:06:25 hydrating well.
14:06:27 Eating food that nourishes and energizes your body.
14:06:32 Moving your body.
14:06:35 Because that's what feels good for you.
14:06:39 Spending time with your people.
14:06:41 Those are the kinds of things that I talk about in my devotional self-care stewardship.
14:06:47 And that's what I mean when I talk about
14:06:50 self-care. How do you take care of your physical body,
14:06:55 Your mind, your time, and your energy.
14:07:01 And I understand most of you are serving everyone around you.
14:07:06 And I just want to help you, encourage you, challenge you.
14:07:11 not to do it from a place of depletion.
14:07:15 But doing it from a place
14:07:18 of overflow.
14:07:19 When you're taking care of yourself,
14:07:21 You are so much better able
14:07:24 And…
14:07:27 willing and desirous of helping other people.
14:07:32 You are not…
14:07:36 You… you do not need to earn
14:07:40 Your worth, your value,
14:07:42 You are loved, you are chosen.
14:07:45 You are redeemed, you are purposed.
14:07:50 And the Bible says to love your neighbor as yourself.
14:07:53 Which…
14:07:55 means that you love yourself, and when you love something or somebody, you take care of it.
14:08:01 So, when you know that you are loved with an everlasting love,
14:08:06 There's nothing that you can do to earn more love.
14:08:08 There's nothing that you can do to deplete the love that you have been given.
14:08:12 You do not need to burn yourself out to get approval of other people because you are all
14:08:18 Ready. Loved.
14:08:25 Now, how…
14:08:27 Can you enjoy this Christmas intentionally?
14:08:34 joy. It doesn't have to be… we think that we have to be happy all the time, but joy?
14:08:41 can just be a quiet, simple,
14:08:47 contentment, really.
14:08:49 It doesn't have to be big.
14:08:52 But we can just experience that joy that is within us, no matter what's going on.
14:08:58 And really do that with intention.
14:09:02 Lower your expectations.
14:09:06 Or manage them. Be realistic, and realize that…
14:09:12 You are the only one that controls… can control your emotions. Your emotions do not depend on anybody.
14:09:18 But you.
14:09:20 So, if you need help with that, go listen to
14:09:25 the episode that I'm going to…
14:09:28 put in the show notes about expectations.
14:09:32 And that can be really helpful to you.
14:09:34 When you lower the bar of perfection,
14:09:37 You raise the bar of peace.
14:09:41 Here's another really good tip.
14:09:45 Release the shoulds.
14:09:47 Stop shooting yourself?
14:09:50 And stop shoulding.
14:09:52 other people.
14:09:54 What is true, what is helpful.
14:09:57 It is not true or helpful to say, I should do more, I should have done it differently,
14:10:03 They should… I should host differently, I should feel differently, I shouldn't feel so tired, I shouldn't feel so exhausted.
14:10:10 I shouldn't feel so annoyed.
14:10:13 Anytime should comes out of your mouth that is shame.
14:10:17 And we don't want to shame other people.
14:10:19 And we don't want to shame ourselves.
14:10:22 Is this thought even true?
14:10:25 Is it even true that…
14:10:28 I shouldn't be this tired.
14:10:32 Well, I am this tired.
14:10:34 Therefore, I guess I should be this tired, right?
14:10:39 It's not argue with what's… what's real.
14:10:44 So, what is true, and what is helpful?
14:10:47 that's how I want to think.
14:10:51 And then the whole purpose of this season…
14:10:56 is relationship, it's people. Be with your people.
14:10:59 not performing for them.
14:11:05 Enjoy their company.
14:11:06 Enjoy the time.
14:11:11 But don't expect yourself to make everything perfect, and then you miss out on
14:11:17 the people that you want to make it perfect for.
14:11:21 What do you want to remember about this Christmas?
14:11:25 In 10 years.
14:11:28 In 5 years.
14:11:30 in 3 months. What do you want to remember?
14:11:34 And that's what needs to be created.
14:11:44 And I just kind of want to leave you with that.
14:11:48 It's almost the end of the year, January's around the corner.
14:11:53 I do want to encourage you…
14:11:57 to do a couple things.
14:11:59 Next week's episode is super special.
14:12:03 I typically, in years past, have done a workshop
14:12:08 to help people choose their word of the year for the next… for the upcoming year.
14:12:13 But this year, I decided to just do it in podcast form.
14:12:16 So, that's gonna be a very special episode to help you
14:12:21 pick a word of the year.
14:12:23 If it's something that you do already, it might be helpful in your picking of the word
14:12:29 your word for 2026.
14:12:31 If you've never done it before, it's super fun, it's one of my favorite things.
14:12:36 that workshop is actually one of my favorite things that I typically do.
14:12:40 But this year, just… it's, um… I just decided that it's better to do it as a podcast episode.
14:12:47 There will also be a workbook along with it.
14:12:51 So, you can walk through the workbook to help you to pick out your work for 2026.
14:12:57 And I'm very excited about that episode.
14:13:00 So, go check that out when it drops.
14:13:04 Um, also…
14:13:06 Speaking of… speaking of my book, Self-Care Stewardship, a 31-Day Devotional,
14:13:12 I am doing a special Facebook group for those that have the book.
14:13:18 that have signed up for the planning pages. If you go to…
14:13:25 the page… the pages between day 7…
14:13:29 And week 2…
14:13:31 There is…
14:13:33 a page that has a QR code on it.
14:13:36 It also has the web address if you don't… if you don't know how to do the QR code.
14:13:40 And you can get my planning pages,
14:13:43 And I will send an invitation to you
14:13:46 to join the Facebook group in January, and we'll be going through self-care stewardship, a 31-day devotional.
14:13:53 during the 31 days of January.
14:13:56 And I would love to have you join, just…
14:13:58 Get your copy of the book.
14:14:00 That is also linked in the show notes.
14:14:02 And then go to that page between day 7 and Week 2, and sign up for the planning pages.
14:14:09 You will get your invitation.
14:14:12 Okay, there are…
14:14:14 going to be several links in the show notes.
14:14:18 If you're watching this on YouTube,
14:14:21 the expectations video will be… will pop up at the end of this video.
14:14:27 And if you are not watching on YouTube, it'll be linked in the show notes. So, thank you so much for being here.
14:14:34 Merry Christmas, enjoy your family,
14:14:37 Enjoy this time.
14:14:39 Be kind to yourself.
14:14:41 have so much compassion for yourself and for those around you.
14:14:45 And remember that life coaching
14:14:48 is life-changing, one renewed thought at a time.
