The first week of December is the time for holiday lights, long lists, and (frequently) more pressure than presence. You’ve got disrupted sleep, extra sugar, unpredictable travel, and emotional triggers everywhere.
From a brain perspective, all of that equals uncertainty, and uncertainty is fuel for your threat system—the amygdala lights up, cortisol rises, and executive functions in the prefrontal cortex dip. That’s why you forget simple tasks, feel snappy, or lose motivation halfway through the day.
But I have an idea: What if, instead of pushing through December on fumes, you used this month to restore your energy?
Today, I’ll introduce you to something I’ve developed - a tradition of sorts over the past several years: The Wellness Advent Calendar. It’s made up of thirty-one small, science-backed actions to calm your nervous system, boost your focus, and reconnect you to yourself before the year ends. They take minutes, but they can change the way your brain handles stress.
As always, for a deeper dive, you can listen to the latest episode of Mental Health Bites here or on Apple Podcasts. You can also find more short clips and helpful tips at my YouTube channel.
The Science of Tiny Wins
Instead of waiting for the New Year to come around to set giant resolutions, I encourage you to start building your micro-resilience now. And The Wellness Advent Calendar will help you do just that.
Your brain loves small, predictable rewards. Each micro-habit gives a dopamine pulse. Even though it’s tiny, it’s enough to say “safe, controllable, achievable.”
Neuroscientists call this reinforcement learning. When repeated daily, these small loops reshape your baseline stress response.
The Wellness Advent Calendar rests on three evidence-based pillars:
* Minimum Viable Effort. Start ridiculously small. Don’t worry. Momentum matters more than magnitude. The smaller the step, the faster the start, and the stronger the habit.
* State → Trait Shift. Each quick regulation practice moves your nervous system from threat to safety. Repeat that enough, and “calm” stops being a rare state and becomes part of who you are.
* Habit Chaining. Tie each daily action to something you already do. It can be your coffee ritual, brushing your teeth, or unlocking your phone. By connecting these tiny wins to something you already do there won’t be any extra willpower required.
Here’s a sneak peak of what’s in store.
If you’d like the full explainer of each wellness advent activity, plus access to my December 3 Day Jumpstart program, become one of my elite subscribers here.
The Holiday 3-Day Jumpstart is a gentle reset to help you enter December with nervous system calm and emotional clarity. Paid subscribers receive:
* A short guided video each day
* A 2-minute micro-practice you can use immediately
* A written breakdown of the science behind each tool
* A reflection prompt to integrate the lesson
* A downloadable mini-worksheet for each day
* A bonus grounding audio you can replay all season
* 5 Fast Body-Based Resets
* 7 Hidden Cognitive Drains and How to Cope
* A December “Energy Map”
If you want a calmer, more intentional December — or if you want to end the year feeling connected, grounded, and proud of how you showed up — I’d love for you to join us inside the paid community.
Upgrade here to get both the 3-Day Jumpstart & Advent Calendar
How to Establish Healthy Habits in 1-2-3
To end this year on a high note, try to anchor this month with a simple 1-2-3 system to incorporate some of these habits into your life.
* One Breath, One Action (OB-OA). Inhale through your nose for four counts, exhale for six to eight. Immediately follow with one quick action from the day’s tile; it might be a 90-second body scan or a two-minute brain dump. Taking a breath helps because it drops your arousal just enough to make action frictionless.
* The 2-1-1 Rule. Two minutes. One minute. One minute. In the morning, take two minutes, choose your tile from the calendar and visualize exactly when and where you’ll do it. In the middle of the day, take sixty seconds and do a quick state check. Rate your stress on a scale of one to five. Then run a quick down-shift: a long exhale, unclench, and orient. In the evening, write out one sentence: What worked today? This primes reward circuits and improves follow-through tomorrow.
* Anchor the Habit. As mentioned, attach your daily practice to an existing routine. This will help turn intention into automation. After I pour coffee → 90-second breath. After I park the car → 3-item brain dump. After I brush teeth → 2-minute stretch.
When you weave these three tools together—One Breath, One Action, the 2-1-1 Rule, and Habit Anchoring—you’re giving your brain exactly what it needs: predictability, simplicity, and consistency. With just a few minutes a day, you’ll feel steadier, clearer, and more grounded as you move through the busiest month of the year.
If you found this helpful, consider turning it into a shared journey. Send it to someone who might need this routine before the holiday. When you build these tiny wins together, you’re creating accountability and connection that can make these new habits even easier to sustain.
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About me:
Dr. Judy Ho, Ph. D., ABPP, ABPdN is a triple board certified and licensed Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychologist, a tenured Associate Professor at Pepperdine University, television and podcast host, and author of Stop Self-Sabotage. An avid researcher and a two-time recipient of the National Institute of Mental Health Services Research Award, Dr. Judy maintains a private practice where she specializes in comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations and expert witness work. She is often called on by the media as an expert psychologist and is also a sought after public speaker for universities, businesses, and organizations.
Dr. Judy received her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Business Administration from UC Berkeley, and her masters and doctorate from SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. She completed a National Institute of Mental Health sponsored fellowship at UCLA’s Semel Institute.
