December 22, 2025 • 15 mins
Have you ever reached a moment when your mind just won’t slow down — circling a decision, a question, or an unknown you can’t yet resolve?
In today’s episode, Bonnie shares a personal moment from the days leading up to Christmas — a season when decision fatigue set in and overthinking overwhelmed.
Through Scripture, emotional wellness insights, and a gentle soul care practice, this episode explores why uncertainty can hijack our nervous systems — and how God invites us into rest, even when answers aren’t yet clear.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, mentally tired, or caught in decision-fatigue this Christmas, this episode offers a compassionate path back to calm.
Key Takeaways
- Why uncertainty triggers overthinking — especially when you’re tired or stressed
- Why you can’t think your way out of anxiety but you can soothe your body
- A simple soul care practice to help you step out of your head and into rest
- How choosing “small” can become an act of faith and freedom.
Breath Prayer of the Week
Inhale: I have calmed and quieted my soul
Exhale: I rest in your love
Scripture of the Week
“But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Ps 131:2
Key Takeaways
Why breaking tradition can lower stress & how God is at work
How to release pressure from disappointment to renewal
The science behind novelty, wonder, and emotional renewal
Why engaging one of your five senses can restore joy and calm
A gentle soul care practice to help you try something new this season — without pressure
→ Register "Advent Wellness Course" to lower holiday stress with God's peace, hope, joy, and love at mysoulcareschool.com
→ Eucalyptus Shower Steamers for instant calm at Bonnie's Soul Care Store
→ Take the FREE Soul Care Quiz at soulcarequiz.com
Get your personal wellness assessment and learn which area of soul care you need most.
Connect with Bonnie:
Join the Soul Care Newsletter:
https://thebonniegray.com/subscribe
Watch Weekly YouTube Devotionals:
https://youtube.com/thebonniegray
Bestselling Books by Bonnie:
https://amzn.to/3NpVYQd
Follow Bonnie on Instagram & Facebook:
@thebonniegray
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Life Audio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hi friends, welcome to Breathe the Stressless Podcast. I'm Bonnie Gray.
You're a soul care guide for this time, designed just
for you so you can rest and relax as we
step into this holiday season. This is Christmas week. What
a wonderful time it is to take a break with
(00:39):
you as you step into this time of God's love
and peace together. I'm the author of Breathe, the best
selling book Breathe twenty one Days to stress Less and
Transform Chaos to comb and I'm also the founder of
soul Care School. We're just going to take some time
to just rest and relax. You're going to pick up
(01:00):
a practical soul care tip based on science, and pick
up a loving word of affirmation for God's word in scripture.
So let me ask you something. Have you ever told yourself?
You know, I'm just going to put away my problems.
I'm not going to think about xyz problem until after Christmas.
(01:22):
But you find your mind just won't let go. Maybe
you're facing a decision, or you're wanting to look for
a new direction, or maybe it's an unresolved question about
the future, and instead of clarity, you might feel even
more overwhelmed instead of peace, your thoughts just keep looping. Now,
(01:46):
if that's you today, You're not alone. Especially during the holidays,
even stepping into Christmas, our minds are overwhelmed and our
bodies as well. And so this episode is for you today.
It's a quiet time for your soul to rest, and
we're going to talk about how we can quiet our
minds and how we can really step into this Christmas
(02:09):
season this week with Jesus and really experience that peace
so you can let go of the things that are
holding you back and find God meeting you in the quiet.
And of course I'm going to pick share a practical
silk care tept something you can practice as we step
into this very beloved time with our Lord Jesus celebrating
(02:32):
his birthday. What a special time it is that I
can share this a bit of break with you, you know,
because we really don't have to solve anything. We don't
even need insight, we don't need answers. Really, what we
need is peace and rest. We need God's love. And
(02:52):
so I created something to support you even this week
inside my Advent wellness course. Unwrapping Jesus in your story
will slow down lower those holiday stressors and let God
meet us not in striving but in stillness. If this
(03:13):
is what your heart needs and longs for no pressure,
just peace, just sign up at mysoul careschool dot com.
It's a wonderful opportunity to just enjoy this week. And
all we need sometimes is a place for our mind
to relax and to be reminded that we're part of
(03:35):
God's story. And so I just want to welcome you
to sign up at mysolcare school dot com. You'll get
four loving encouragement focusing on God's love and peace, hope
and enjoy, and we will be able to relax together
and really experience Jesus close with each of us.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Well when we.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Come back, we're getting to just ease into our time
together of soul Care and we'll be right back our
(04:17):
breath prayer for this week, this beautiful week of Christmas,
I found in the middle of my own overwhelm this week.
It's from Psalm one, p. Thirty one, verse two. But
I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned
child with its mother, Like a weaned child, is my
(04:39):
soul within me? What a beautiful verse was just breathe
in and use it as a prayer. Breathe in, I
have calmed and quieted my soul. Breathe out, you are
holding me. That's the picture I see as I rest
(05:03):
in this verse, that we can calm and quite our soul,
where like a child held within the loving arms of
our Savior. And as you're breathing in and out slowly general,
just notice what happens even in your body, just softening
your shoulders, softening, just your breast and your hands, softening
(05:30):
your body. Just rest as we continue this time together. Well, friend,
I did want to share something personal because every year,
near the end of the summer, I love to reflect
and listen to where God might be leading me in
the new year. And usually that happens after Christmas, you know,
all the hustle and bustle and there's a quietness that
(05:51):
I can just really reflect on the year. But this
year is something else surfaced, and it surfaced earlier. I
realize that I need to make a change, a new direction,
and I started thinking about what it would mean to
let go of some things that I've always done in
order to try something new. And it was that in
(06:14):
that moment, I realized that I didn't really know what
to do, and I wasn't completely sure about which direction
go and if I really wanted to try this new thing.
And as I was kind of in that dilemma winged
pros and cons, my nervous system flipped into overdrive. And
I even told myself, I said, Okay, Bonnie, don't think
(06:35):
about this intel after Christmas. But you know what, that's
so funny because my body didn't listen. My mind kept
looping even though I told myself, let me just think
about this later. But especially at night, I found myself
just not being able to sleep well because I was overthinking.
(06:56):
And I recognize this pattern immediately, because you know, I
am a soul cammentor, having gone through the journey of
healing from anxiety, and I knew once that started happening,
I noticed it. I know that it's off to spiritual failure.
It was just my nervous system reacting to uncertainty and
just overwhelm So the more I tried to figure it out,
(07:19):
the more awake and anxious I saw myself becoming until
a gentle a gentle thought came into my mind that
stopped the spiral. And I want to share with you
what that verse is it's our breath prayer, Psalm one
thirty one. I have calmed and quieted my soul like
(07:42):
a wean child with its mother. I really loved this.
It was just as gentle was for firm God, because
in Psalm one thirty one, right as Asamist said this,
he said, I do not concern myself with great matters
or matters too great. And I think that this is
(08:03):
part of why I realized I was struggling, because I
felt like I needed to know right away what my
decision would be. And then he felt permission that I
didn't know. I didn't need to know, and I don't
have to be solving big problems. I don't have to decide.
I can be small. And that's kind of the picture
(08:26):
I felt that was there in that verse, that we
can calm in quieter soul like a wean child with
its mother. We can be small. Small feels safe, small
can rest, small can be held. And that's exactly how
God came to us at Christmas. Jesus came very small.
(08:48):
His birth was not loud. It wasn't trying to solve
any problems, it wasn't trying to be powerful in the
world's way. But Jesus came quietly small, and he came
close and intimate and loving and caring. So before we
try to make sense of anything, I realize I just
(09:10):
need to rest. I can just be small and trust
in my loving heavenly Father. So, friend, will you also
allow God to hold you whatever you may be caring?
Will you allow yourself that gifts of being small because
your loving shepherd holds you in his arms and in
(09:32):
his hands. Now, when we come back, I'm going to
share with you the science behind why this can release
us from overthinking and stop that loop, and also give
you a wonderful simple practice that you can practice into
Christmas this week. So here's what's happening when your thoughts
(10:03):
won't stop. When sleep is disrupted and your uncertainty is high,
the brain's alarm center becomes very overactive. Okay, we're trying
so hard to solve a certain problem that really can't
be solved in the moment. So this is why thinking
can start to just become a loop. Decisions become feels
(10:25):
very urgent, like it's a crisis, and even though you
might tell yourself everything will be okay, it doesn't stick.
It's not because our faith this week, it's because we're
just tired. The nervous system is tired trying to think
something through. And here's the key insight. You cannot think
your way out of this state. The brain only settles
(10:47):
itself when your spirit feels safe, when your body feels safe.
And so that's why often in soul care school we
say we can't think away out of stress. We have
to nurture our way out of stress. And once the
body calms after rest, then we can be able to
see things and get better clarity. Okay, well we're so tired,
(11:11):
it's just it kicks it into a loop. So here's
a practice I want you to try today and use
this week. Okay, allow yourself to be small and this
is a great practice. I love it. It's just ten minutes.
What's the next thing you can do that just takes
ten minutes. Sometimes get overwhelmed with all the big decisions
(11:33):
and planning ahead. But if we say, just for the
next ten minutes, what's something that I can do? And
this helps us to get out of that loop. Not productivity,
not problem solving. Maybe it's just even sitting quietly noticing
the sun outside, or to make yourself a cup of
tea or whatever it is. I can activate your five
(11:56):
senses for the next ten minutes, or step outside and
then just whisper, whisper to yourself what God is worspring
to you. You can focus on God's love peace, what
gives you that feeling of safety. And if your mind
just continues to be in that loop, just allow yourself
(12:18):
to even write it down. Take a moment writing things down.
I call it the later list. You know that's something
you can we can handle later, not now, a later list.
You can jot it down. Writing will help you to
transfer that worry out of the thinking mode of our
(12:38):
brains and give it a place where it can be
like parking lot. You're just parking that thought and writing
it out will help. So take some time and just
allow your thoughts to pour out and use Dear Jesus.
We practice this in soul cairescho writing a Dear Jesus letter.
(12:59):
You're loving Savior loves you. He comes to us this
Christmas anew where we can be like a child again. Well,
I hope that you have a merry Christmas as you
reflect on how we are each held by God in
his loving arms. And that whatever decisions we need to make,
(13:21):
God is going to help us to see with more clarity.
Once we are held and we feel safe, and we've rested,
and we've given our bodies a chance to just slow
down and to be able to do the things this
week that renew and refresh you. Let's pray Lord Jesus,
(13:41):
thank you for coming in a small, quiet way that's
intimate and close to us. Thank you for holding us
when our minds are tired and our hearts don't have answers,
but you have our heart. You are holding our whole being,
our emotions, our body, our plans, our future, help us
(14:07):
to release what we cannot solve, and help us to
receive the rest that we don't have to earn. Calm
and quiet our souls today. Amen. Well, friend, if this
episode meant you in a tender place, I just want
to invite you to share this episode with someone.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
As we step into Christmas, that.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
We can place our worries in God's hands and we
can be held by Him. And I invite you to
join my unwrapping Jesus in your story. It's very reflective,
very calming, very peaceful, helping you to see God in
your story this year. It's a wonderful time you can
(14:48):
spend with Jesus. Just go to mysol care school dot com. Again,
just go to mysol careschool dot com. Well, I am
so blessed to have spent time with him you this
Christmas week, and I thank God for you. Remember that
you're loved and you're cherished. Jazz arrested, and Merry Christmas.
(15:11):
I'll see you next time. Breathe The stress Less podcast
is a production of Life Audio and Salem Media. If
you like what you heard today, please take a second
to rate and review this podcast in your favorite podcast
app so that more listeners like you can find the show.
(15:31):
For more faith filled inspirational podcasts, visit us at lifeaudio
dot com.
Life Audio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hi friends, welcome to Breathe the Stressless Podcast. I'm Bonnie Gray.
You're a soul care guide for this time, designed just
for you so you can rest and relax as we
step into this holiday season. This is Christmas week. What
a wonderful time it is to take a break with
(00:39):
you as you step into this time of God's love
and peace together. I'm the author of Breathe, the best
selling book Breathe twenty one Days to stress Less and
Transform Chaos to comb and I'm also the founder of
soul Care School. We're just going to take some time
to just rest and relax. You're going to pick up
(01:00):
a practical soul care tip based on science, and pick
up a loving word of affirmation for God's word in scripture.
So let me ask you something. Have you ever told yourself?
You know, I'm just going to put away my problems.
I'm not going to think about xyz problem until after Christmas.
(01:22):
But you find your mind just won't let go. Maybe
you're facing a decision, or you're wanting to look for
a new direction, or maybe it's an unresolved question about
the future, and instead of clarity, you might feel even
more overwhelmed instead of peace, your thoughts just keep looping. Now,
(01:46):
if that's you today, You're not alone. Especially during the holidays,
even stepping into Christmas, our minds are overwhelmed and our
bodies as well. And so this episode is for you today.
It's a quiet time for your soul to rest, and
we're going to talk about how we can quiet our
minds and how we can really step into this Christmas
(02:09):
season this week with Jesus and really experience that peace
so you can let go of the things that are
holding you back and find God meeting you in the quiet.
And of course I'm going to pick share a practical
silk care tept something you can practice as we step
into this very beloved time with our Lord Jesus celebrating
(02:32):
his birthday. What a special time it is that I
can share this a bit of break with you, you know,
because we really don't have to solve anything. We don't
even need insight, we don't need answers. Really, what we
need is peace and rest. We need God's love. And
(02:52):
so I created something to support you even this week
inside my Advent wellness course. Unwrapping Jesus in your story
will slow down lower those holiday stressors and let God
meet us not in striving but in stillness. If this
(03:13):
is what your heart needs and longs for no pressure,
just peace, just sign up at mysoul careschool dot com.
It's a wonderful opportunity to just enjoy this week. And
all we need sometimes is a place for our mind
to relax and to be reminded that we're part of
(03:35):
God's story. And so I just want to welcome you
to sign up at mysolcare school dot com. You'll get
four loving encouragement focusing on God's love and peace, hope
and enjoy, and we will be able to relax together
and really experience Jesus close with each of us.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Well when we.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Come back, we're getting to just ease into our time
together of soul Care and we'll be right back our
(04:17):
breath prayer for this week, this beautiful week of Christmas,
I found in the middle of my own overwhelm this week.
It's from Psalm one, p. Thirty one, verse two. But
I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned
child with its mother, Like a weaned child, is my
(04:39):
soul within me? What a beautiful verse was just breathe
in and use it as a prayer. Breathe in, I
have calmed and quieted my soul. Breathe out, you are
holding me. That's the picture I see as I rest
(05:03):
in this verse, that we can calm and quite our soul,
where like a child held within the loving arms of
our Savior. And as you're breathing in and out slowly general,
just notice what happens even in your body, just softening
your shoulders, softening, just your breast and your hands, softening
(05:30):
your body. Just rest as we continue this time together. Well, friend,
I did want to share something personal because every year,
near the end of the summer, I love to reflect
and listen to where God might be leading me in
the new year. And usually that happens after Christmas, you know,
all the hustle and bustle and there's a quietness that
(05:51):
I can just really reflect on the year. But this
year is something else surfaced, and it surfaced earlier. I
realize that I need to make a change, a new direction,
and I started thinking about what it would mean to
let go of some things that I've always done in
order to try something new. And it was that in
(06:14):
that moment, I realized that I didn't really know what
to do, and I wasn't completely sure about which direction
go and if I really wanted to try this new thing.
And as I was kind of in that dilemma winged
pros and cons, my nervous system flipped into overdrive. And
I even told myself, I said, Okay, Bonnie, don't think
(06:35):
about this intel after Christmas. But you know what, that's
so funny because my body didn't listen. My mind kept
looping even though I told myself, let me just think
about this later. But especially at night, I found myself
just not being able to sleep well because I was overthinking.
(06:56):
And I recognize this pattern immediately, because you know, I
am a soul cammentor, having gone through the journey of
healing from anxiety, and I knew once that started happening,
I noticed it. I know that it's off to spiritual failure.
It was just my nervous system reacting to uncertainty and
just overwhelm So the more I tried to figure it out,
(07:19):
the more awake and anxious I saw myself becoming until
a gentle a gentle thought came into my mind that
stopped the spiral. And I want to share with you
what that verse is it's our breath prayer, Psalm one
thirty one. I have calmed and quieted my soul like
(07:42):
a wean child with its mother. I really loved this.
It was just as gentle was for firm God, because
in Psalm one thirty one, right as Asamist said this,
he said, I do not concern myself with great matters
or matters too great. And I think that this is
(08:03):
part of why I realized I was struggling, because I
felt like I needed to know right away what my
decision would be. And then he felt permission that I
didn't know. I didn't need to know, and I don't
have to be solving big problems. I don't have to decide.
I can be small. And that's kind of the picture
(08:26):
I felt that was there in that verse, that we
can calm in quieter soul like a wean child with
its mother. We can be small. Small feels safe, small
can rest, small can be held. And that's exactly how
God came to us at Christmas. Jesus came very small.
(08:48):
His birth was not loud. It wasn't trying to solve
any problems, it wasn't trying to be powerful in the
world's way. But Jesus came quietly small, and he came
close and intimate and loving and caring. So before we
try to make sense of anything, I realize I just
(09:10):
need to rest. I can just be small and trust
in my loving heavenly Father. So, friend, will you also
allow God to hold you whatever you may be caring?
Will you allow yourself that gifts of being small because
your loving shepherd holds you in his arms and in
(09:32):
his hands. Now, when we come back, I'm going to
share with you the science behind why this can release
us from overthinking and stop that loop, and also give
you a wonderful simple practice that you can practice into
Christmas this week. So here's what's happening when your thoughts
(10:03):
won't stop. When sleep is disrupted and your uncertainty is high,
the brain's alarm center becomes very overactive. Okay, we're trying
so hard to solve a certain problem that really can't
be solved in the moment. So this is why thinking
can start to just become a loop. Decisions become feels
(10:25):
very urgent, like it's a crisis, and even though you
might tell yourself everything will be okay, it doesn't stick.
It's not because our faith this week, it's because we're
just tired. The nervous system is tired trying to think
something through. And here's the key insight. You cannot think
your way out of this state. The brain only settles
(10:47):
itself when your spirit feels safe, when your body feels safe.
And so that's why often in soul care school we
say we can't think away out of stress. We have
to nurture our way out of stress. And once the
body calms after rest, then we can be able to
see things and get better clarity. Okay, well we're so tired,
(11:11):
it's just it kicks it into a loop. So here's
a practice I want you to try today and use
this week. Okay, allow yourself to be small and this
is a great practice. I love it. It's just ten minutes.
What's the next thing you can do that just takes
ten minutes. Sometimes get overwhelmed with all the big decisions
(11:33):
and planning ahead. But if we say, just for the
next ten minutes, what's something that I can do? And
this helps us to get out of that loop. Not productivity,
not problem solving. Maybe it's just even sitting quietly noticing
the sun outside, or to make yourself a cup of
tea or whatever it is. I can activate your five
(11:56):
senses for the next ten minutes, or step outside and
then just whisper, whisper to yourself what God is worspring
to you. You can focus on God's love peace, what
gives you that feeling of safety. And if your mind
just continues to be in that loop, just allow yourself
(12:18):
to even write it down. Take a moment writing things down.
I call it the later list. You know that's something
you can we can handle later, not now, a later list.
You can jot it down. Writing will help you to
transfer that worry out of the thinking mode of our
(12:38):
brains and give it a place where it can be
like parking lot. You're just parking that thought and writing
it out will help. So take some time and just
allow your thoughts to pour out and use Dear Jesus.
We practice this in soul cairescho writing a Dear Jesus letter.
(12:59):
You're loving Savior loves you. He comes to us this
Christmas anew where we can be like a child again. Well,
I hope that you have a merry Christmas as you
reflect on how we are each held by God in
his loving arms. And that whatever decisions we need to make,
(13:21):
God is going to help us to see with more clarity.
Once we are held and we feel safe, and we've rested,
and we've given our bodies a chance to just slow
down and to be able to do the things this
week that renew and refresh you. Let's pray Lord Jesus,
(13:41):
thank you for coming in a small, quiet way that's
intimate and close to us. Thank you for holding us
when our minds are tired and our hearts don't have answers,
but you have our heart. You are holding our whole being,
our emotions, our body, our plans, our future, help us
(14:07):
to release what we cannot solve, and help us to
receive the rest that we don't have to earn. Calm
and quiet our souls today. Amen. Well, friend, if this
episode meant you in a tender place, I just want
to invite you to share this episode with someone.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
As we step into Christmas, that.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
We can place our worries in God's hands and we
can be held by Him. And I invite you to
join my unwrapping Jesus in your story. It's very reflective,
very calming, very peaceful, helping you to see God in
your story this year. It's a wonderful time you can
(14:48):
spend with Jesus. Just go to mysol care school dot com. Again,
just go to mysol careschool dot com. Well, I am
so blessed to have spent time with him you this
Christmas week, and I thank God for you. Remember that
you're loved and you're cherished. Jazz arrested, and Merry Christmas.
(15:11):
I'll see you next time. Breathe The stress Less podcast
is a production of Life Audio and Salem Media. If
you like what you heard today, please take a second
to rate and review this podcast in your favorite podcast
app so that more listeners like you can find the show.
(15:31):
For more faith filled inspirational podcasts, visit us at lifeaudio
dot com.
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