Collective Holiday Stress: Why It Feels So Intense (and How to Clear It)

It’s that time of year again. A time when it’s so easy to get distracted and derailed from our purpose by collective holiday stress, other people’s agendas and external energies… whether it’s Black Friday offers, end‑of‑year tension, or holiday‑related obligations that are disrupting your flow.

In this piece, I want to look at what’s really happening in your energy field at this time of year—and how you can begin to clear what isn’t yours so you can come back to yourself.

I recently talked to someone, let’s call her Tammy, who felt very tense. Hordes of people would descend on her house during the holiday season, there was a ton of tension between a few family members, and really, Tammy would prefer to escape all this madness and spend some time on a deserted island… by herself.

Why is it so common for so much stuff and pressure to resurface during the holidays? And what can we do about it—especially when some of this holiday stress isn’t actually ours?

Here’s the thing:

Collective energy has a huge impact on us

No matter where you are in the world, or what, if anything, you celebrate at this time, as we move toward the end of the year, holiday stuff has a way of surfacing. Much of that is actually collective holiday energy.

Collective energy has a huge impact on us. We are getting programmed all the time by what other people do or think—and that programming is particularly intense during emotional collective events.

For instance, I went out to have dinner with a friend on election night 2016. People around us had pleasant dinner conversations, yet there was so much collective tension that the air around us felt dense. If you had dropped a group of Martians into the room, they would have been able to tell that something important was going on. That’s how powerful collective energy is.

How collective holiday energy heightens during the holidays

Right now, a lot of that powerful energy is honing in on holiday themes. When a lot of people focus on similar things at the same time, it often impacts you, at least on the subconscious and energetic level. It can make people care about things that they usually don’t care about at all—and this is a big part of what I mean by collective holiday stress.

Let me give you a personal example.

While we live in the US, I’m not American, and my American husband is pretty anti‑holidays. Plus, we feel really sad about all the turkeys that are getting killed due to this holiday. Despite all this, I still felt like we were breaking the rules somehow when we didn’t make a big deal out of last year’s Thanksgiving.

This feeling wasn’t my truth, it was just me picking up on cultural conditioning and collective holiday energy. (And, let’s be real, when it comes to holidays, there are way more collective expectations placed on women.)

The problem with external programming

When people suddenly care about things that they usually don’t care about, and that coincides with collective energies, it’s often a sign that they’re being externally programmed.

And that’s not a good thing. When external, unhelpful energies are clogging up people’s energy field, it’s so much harder for them to focus on their goals and purpose, and stay centered within themselves. If you’d like to go deeper into creating space for your own inner guidance, you might enjoy my article on how to listen to your soul by making space for its guidance. 

Sometimes getting clogged up by external energies looks like:

• old patterns resurfacing
• sticky emotions that don’t quite feel like “you”
• a lot of “shoulds” or “have to’s” when someone mentions “the holidays”

For some people, this collective holiday stress can also stir up irritation or anger. If you notice that in yourself, you might find my meditation for anger release: reclaim your power really supportive

This is holiday stress that isn’t actually yours, but that you’re still carrying.

If you are feeling holiday stress, the good news is that a lot of that is probably coming from collective energy, not from your own energy. And because collective energies aren’t yours, it’s much easier to clear them once you know how to clear what isn’t yours.

If this resonates, I have something I’d love to share with you.

Guided Group Energy Healing: Clearing Holiday Stress & Energy

This 40-minute guided group energy healing focuses on gently clearing and releasing the old patterns, emotions, and collective holiday energy and stress that can come up at this time of year, and creating more space for peace and presence. Think of it as a way to clear collective holiday stress and come back to yourself.

This session was recorded live, so the audio is not studio‑perfect—but it’s clear enough to follow along and receive the work. Think of it as sitting in circle together rather than listening to a polished track.

In this healing, we’ll explore and work with:

✨ Collective holiday energy – cultural expectations, family patterns, and emotional “noise” that isn’t actually yours
✨ Clearing what’s not you – gently releasing external stress, “shoulds,” and old programming from your field
✨ Calling your energy back – reconnecting with your own guidance, truth, and sense of direction
✨ Creating space for calm and clarity – so you can feel more like you again, even in an intense season

Please find a quiet, comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed. You may wish to have water, a blanket, and a journal nearby.

Do not listen while driving or operating machinery.

All are welcome to listen to this recording, wherever in the world you are and no matter what/if you celebrate. You don’t need previous experience with energy work, just a general willingness to give it a try.

Takeaway: holiday stress that isn’t yours

Some of Tammy’s stresses this year, and most of my Thanksgiving angst last year, can be attributed to the collective energies that are swirling around. If you feel holiday stress, the same might be true for you.

Collective energies aren’t yours, and you have the right to clear them. (I did this before this Thanksgiving, and it made a huge difference.) In other words, you can clear collective holiday energy and stress from your field and reconnect with your own inner guidance. If you’d like a gentle practice to help you reconnect with who you really are beneath everyone else’s expectations, you can try my meditation for knowing yourself: discover your true self.

If you’d like to clear collective holiday energies that are creating stress and tension in your life, I invite you to join us—or to tune into the recording when it’s available.

What if tuning into your own center could help you connect with your passion and purpose?

Clearing collective energies can be super-helpful during the holiday season to reconnect with yourself. But what about building a life and work situation where you feel on path and in alignment, at all times?

My 6-month coaching program is a journey in exactly that: creating a foundation of soulful, sustainable success that is authetnic to you. Together, we build the systems and self-trust you need to navigate challenges with grace and stay true to yourself, always.

If having that kind of compassionate support sounds appealing, I invite you to learn more about my offer here.