Finding Joy While Managing Symptoms During the Holidays

It’s December 1st, and the holiday season is officially here. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have taken time to recover after the festivities.

For many, this time of year brings joy and connection, but it can also come with challenges—especially for those managing post-infection conditions. The disruption to routines, increased stimulation, and packed calendars can make it difficult to effectively pace and avoid symptom spikes. If this sounds familiar, know you’re not alone. Katie has been there - feeling overwhelmed by the thought of the holidays, and sad that symptoms meant she was less able to enjoy the time. While Andrea was racing competitively during the winter months, she also had to find ways to balance holiday festivities with looking after her body so she was ready to perform her best. 

The good news is that there are steps you can take to navigate the season while enjoying yourself and managing post-viral symptoms.

Energy Management and Pacing Tips

Think About Pacing Broadly

• Plan Ahead: If you anticipate busy days, conserve energy in the days before and after, and build small breaks into your schedule. For example, close your eyes for 6–30 seconds and gently breathe through your nose for a quick nervous system reset on busy days.
• Spread Out Activities: Try to stagger gatherings, shopping trips, and holiday preparations over multiple days to reduce overloading your system with physical and mental strain.

Manage Stressors

• Identify triggers that worsen your symptoms. Can you avoid, substitute, or reduce them?
• Consider using low-toxicity cleaning products in your home and wear gloves when you clean to limit exposure further. 
• Avoid foods and drinks that lead to inflammation and incorporate anti-inflammatory foods, like fresh vegetables and fruit, into your daily menus. This provides your body with more capacity for handling holiday activities.

Incorporate Energy-Giving Actions

• Prioritize gentle, energizing activities like selective holiday decorating, engaging in hobbies, or connecting with loved ones.
• Use tools that support your nervous and immune system for an extra energy boost (explore these three tools).

Celebrate with Intention

Taking a thoughtful approach to the holidays can help you enjoy the season without inflaming symptoms or compromising your health. Katie remembers when even the thought of family gatherings felt overwhelming. Now, she looks forward to preparing for out-of-town guests, grocery shopping, cooking, and hosting!

We encourage you to explore these strategies and tools to manage your energy and symptoms this season. Let us know how they work for you—we’d love to hear your stories!

Warmly,
Katie & Andrea 

Helping people manage Long COVID and post-infection symptoms, one step at a time.

One more thing…

Armed with Holiday pacing strategies, we hope this helps you feel more prepared for the season. We include pacing strategies as a component of our wider 12 Unit web-based Long COVID Symptom Management Program. If you are looking for a deeper dive into Pacing strategies, we also have a web-based program available called Pacing Essentials. You can work through content at a speed that works for you. It includes worksheets and support to help you develop or hone pacing strategies that will help you use your energy well and have more capacity for the things you want to be able to spend energy on.