Highly Sensitive Holidays and a Recipe or Two

Navigating the overwhelm that can come with being highly sensitive

Hello again!

Do you feel overwhelmed by the holidays? Do crowds and lots of conversations leave you exhausted for days after an event? What about all the smells of unfamiliar or too familiar perfumes mixing with the scents of foods cooking and baking? Maybe you get overdone by all the hugs and greetings.

I know that I am easily overwhelmed at the holidays. Our gathering table is pretty small with just 6 people, but it can get quite loud and somehow it seems that we all talk a little louder, laugh a little hardier, and take up just a little more space.

As a highly sensitive person, these holiday experiences have been my life. It’s not that I don’t enjoy family and friends, it’s just a mix and mingle with too much jingle.

Here are some tests you can take and see where you are on the spectrum. There’s also one an parent/caregiver can take to see if this may be a challenge for child.

I have been thinking about how I can create a nice holiday and maybe not need days and days to recuperate. I love to cook and spending a little time focused on checking the turkey, or mashing the potatoes is a bit of a break for me. That said, Thanksgiving feasts tend to be an over abundance of foods.

To deal with that, I have limited the menu and tell guests who ask to bring something exactly what I would like them to bring. I also do some preparation work ahead. I LOVE cranberry relish. Another food I didn’t care for as a child, but have grown to love the sweet tangy flavor paired with the simple flavors of mashed potatoes, turkey, and roasted vegetable. (We’re going with brussels sprouts this year.)

When I say I LOVE cranberry relish, I made two batches as soon as cranberries were available in the stores, and yesterday I made a triple batch for Thursday and then to freeze and have through the winter. I’m fine without it once spring arrives, but right now, YUM!

One bag of fresh cranberries

1 orange for juice and rind

1/2 C. maple syrup (~80 gm of sugars vs. 110 gram in regular sugar)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger powder

1 tsp. allspice powder

1/2 tsp. clove powder

Wash the cranberries and remove any that are soft. Place in a saucepan (mine is a 4 quart).

Microplane the orange peel into the pot, cut orange in 1/2 and squeeze juice into saucepan, add maple syrup and all spices.

Turn on a low to medium heat. Cook and stir. The cranberries will begin to pop and get mushy. When there are just a few whole cranberries left, take the saucepan off the heat and use an immersion blender to do a quick extra little mash.

That’s it. Easy and delicious. There are many benefits to cranberries. The are a good sources of vitamin C, A and K. They are low in calories and a North American fall treat.

After Thanksgiving I love to make a grilled sandwich with cheese, turkey, cranberry relish, and a little bit of mustard. (OK, truth is we make this sandwich quite often since we found a precooked turkey breast at Costo that doesn’t have a lot of additives added to it.)

My last tidbit for the holidays is to share a little tai chi practice that calms the nerves and gives you energy. I made the following video on tai chi breathing and the tai chi ball. Slow down and savor the experience of friendship, family, and good food.

P.S. At my tai chi class this month, we have ended each session with writing something we are grateful for on a 1” x 11” strip of paper and folding that into a puffy origami star. These stars are simple once you get the hang of folding them. It does take a few tries, but like playing at tai chi, Practice Makes Progress.

If you can’t find me on Thanksgiving, look in my bedroom, I probably snuck away to do some tai chi breathing and then to finish licking out the cranberry relish dish. Don’t trip, I’m likely to be sitting in the dark.