6 Nov 2025 09:00
Support Yourself for a Joyful Holiday: Expert Insights with Diane Malaspina PhD
The holidays can bring up strong feelings. Whether you're managing travel, disruption to regular routines, over-indulgence, or deeper issues like family conflict or loss, this time of year isn't always as magical as we perhaps imagine it to be.
Today, host Rachel is joined by returning guest Diane Malaspina, yoga teacher and psychologist, to share practical suggestions on how we can better self-regulate through the holiday season.
In this episode, Diane stresses the importance of making time for honest reflection on our feelings regarding this season, and shares how this process prompted one key change in her own life that created more joyful holidays.
Listen to this episode to learn how a mindful approach can, slowly but surely, transform your experience of the holiday season.
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Show Notes:
- Holiday expectation versus reality [3:08]
- Honest reflection on how you feel about the holidays [5:20]
- Cultivating awareness BEFORE the holidays arrive [9:05]
- Carrying imagined expectations from others [11:49]
- Challenge one undesirable holiday pattern [14:50]
- Embracing seasonal rhythms [18:47]
- Self-regulation micro-doses accumulate [21:37]
- Boundaries as self-care [30:29]
- Grief at the holidays [39:50]
- Yoga Medicine Burnout Resilience Program [47:48]
- Final takeaways [50:48]
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Links Mentioned:
- Watch this episode on YouTube
- LIVE Online Burnout Resilience Program
- Working with Grief – Theory & Therapeutic Application of Yoga Online Course
- Inside the Yoga Sutras – The Path to Freedom Online Course
- Exploring the Niyamas through Meditation & Practice Online Course
- Exploring the Yamas through Meditation & Practice Online Course
- Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes with Diane Malaspina, PhD:
- Connect with Diane Malaspina PhD:
Facebook | Instagram | Diane Malaspina | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher
You can learn more about this episode and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-148.
And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at
