The Tea on Wellness

Thanksgiving Stress Relief: Breathwork and Tea Rituals

• Vidya

Share episode

Preview
A calming guide to Thanksgiving stress relief with tea rituals, Bhramari breathwork, and simple nervous system tools from Tea and Turmeric in Laguna Beach.

Why This Episode Matters
Thanksgiving can feel like a celebration on the outside and a pressure cooker on the inside. Travel drama, crowded grocery stores, family tension, the pressure to recreate your famous dishes, and the expectation to act fine when your nervous system is anything but fine. The holidays do not just fill your calendar. They can take over your body and your breath.

In this episode of The Tea on Wellness, I share gentle, body based practices to help you stay grounded when holiday stress starts to climb. These are simple, real tools that work even when your schedule is full and your emotions are running high. From Bhramari breathwork to calming tea rituals, you will learn ways to reset your system without needing a long morning routine or an hour of meditation.

Tools for Thanksgiving Stress Relief
Stress shows up as tight shoulders, shallow breathing, irritability, overwhelm, or feeling scattered. Holidays amplify all of that. Your body reads noise, expectations, and emotional tension as signals to brace.

In this episode, I guide you through a calming tea ritual you can use anywhere, even in the car or on your patio, and share why humming breath (Bhramari) shifts your nervous system so quickly. These practices can become small anchors you return to throughout the long holiday weekend.

What You Will Learn

  • why holidays hit your nervous system so hard and how to notice the signs
  • how Bhramari, the humming bee breath, quickly grounds anxiety
  • a calming tea ritual you can use anywhere and in just a few minutes
  • practical ways to root yourself when emotions or family dynamics spike
  • how to give yourself permission to pause, step away, and reset

Local Story
Last Thanksgiving, a Laguna Beach nurse named Lisa stepped onto her patio with a cup of Stress Less tea. She took five minutes to breathe before going back inside to her full house. She told me that short pause became her reset button for the whole weekend. One small ritual, repeated gently, helped her move through the holiday with a steadier mind and a softer body.

Takeaway
When the holiday noise builds, come back to your breath and your cup. A calming blend, a slow exhale, or a few moments of humming can shift your entire system. Take a sip. Take a breath. You can move through this season with more clarity and ease than you think.

Stay Connected

Come visit us in Laguna Beach or explore our teas and spices anytime at teaandturmeric.com.

We share recipes, brewing tips, and behind-the-scenes moments on Instagram at @teanturmeric.

Got a question or a story about how tea is helping you? Email me and the team at hello@teaandturmeric.com

If this episode brought you a little calm or clarity, tapping follow and leaving a quick review helps more people in Orange County and beyond find the show. Thank you for supporting our little wellness community.

Introduction to Thanksgiving Stress Relief and Nervous System Support

Hi friends, this is Vidya from Tea and Turmeric in Laguna Beach, and you’re listening to The Tea on Wellness.

If you’re already feeling Thanksgiving in your shoulders and jaw instead of your heart, take a breath with me. This episode is your pocket of calm before the holiday chaos.

It’s the week of Thanksgiving. You’re staring at a fridge packed with groceries. Your phone is buzzing with flight delays. Someone just asked if you’re making your “famous stuffing” again, and a part of you is thinking, “I’m too tired and stressed to make anything this year.”

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a season of gratitude, and it can be. It can also be a season of pressure. Travel plans, family dynamics, long grocery lines, trying to do it all while pretending you’re fine.

Ayurvedic Gratitude Practices and Family Rituals for Emotional Grounding

I love this time of year. It holds a really special place in my heart. When my grandparents moved to Canada to help raise my sisters and me, Thanksgiving quickly became their favorite holiday. They hadn’t celebrated it in India, but they loved the idea of gathering to give thanks. It became my favorite too.

Since I was the eldest, I got to go first in what became our family gratitude circle. Before we ate, each of us would say what we were thankful for. I used to plan my answer for days. Nobody asked me to. I just liked that feeling. It made me feel still, safe, and grateful.

That ritual taught me something I didn’t have words for at the time. Even in chaos, taking a moment to name what is steady makes a difference.

Why Holiday Expectations Trigger Stress and Overwhelm

Let’s be real. The table you imagine and the reality you get don’t always match. And that is okay. Sometimes the magic comes from imperfect moments, burned dishes, missing chairs, and awkward conversations you didn’t plan on.

But as sweet as Thanksgiving can be, it can also wreck your nervous system.

How Thanksgiving Activates the Stress Response and the Vagus Nerve
The week leading up to Thanksgiving carries a weight. It is not always joyful. It can feel heavy. Travel plans, family dynamics, long grocery lines, cooking prep, trying to do it all while acting like you’re totally fine.

Ayurvedic Wisdom on Emotional Digestion and Holiday Anxiety

There’s a beautiful idea in Ayurveda that the mind digests just like the body. During the holidays, we’re not only digesting food. We are digesting emotions, conversations, the energy of a full room, the unspoken stuff, the awkward silences, and those little jabs disguised as jokes.

So I want you to start with something simple you can actually control: your breath.

You don’t need an hour. You don’t need a perfect morning routine. You just need small pockets of presence. Maybe it is while you stir a pot, or while you sit in your parked car for a minute before going inside.

Ask yourself, “How do I want to feel today?” Not “What do I have to do today,” but “How do I want to feel?” That small shift can change how your whole day lands in your body.

Bhramari Breathwork for Fast Anxiety Relief and Nervous System Reset

Now let’s talk about a reset button for your nervous system.

In yoga, there is a system of breath-based practices called pranayama. These are not just breathing exercises. They are tools for regulating your energy, calming your nervous system, and coming back to yourself, especially when everything feels loud.

One of my favorite techniques is called Bhramari, or humming bee breath. I learned this practice when I was initiated into pranayama and meditation by my guru in India. It is gentle, accessible, and incredibly effective when you feel overwhelmed.

When you hum on your exhale, it stimulates the vagus nerve. That tells your body, “You are safe.” You feel the shift almost instantly.

How Tulsi and Rose Tea Support Stress Relief and Breathwork Rituals

And it’s even more powerful when you pair it with a calming tea ritual. I love to do this practice with a cup of our Divine Tulsi Rose tea. It turns the whole thing into a simple, sacred moment just for you.

If you are somewhere quiet and safe, and you are not driving, you can try this with me now.

Sit tall. Take a few sips of your tea and place the cup beside you.

Gently place your palms over your ears and close your eyes. You are drawing your attention inward.

Take a deep inhale through your nose. As you exhale, close your lips and hum. A soft, steady sound, like a bee. Feel the vibration in your face, your head, maybe even your chest.

Let’s do that again. Inhale through the nose, and hum on the exhale.

That gentle humming is your nervous system’s reset button. That is your body remembering calm.

When you do this every morning in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, you’re not just calming yourself in the moment. You’re building a reservoir of calm inside your system. So when the holiday stress hits, you have something solid to land on.

How to Prevent Holiday Burnout with Grounding Rituals

Now let’s talk about Thanksgiving Day itself.

Maybe you’re hosting. Maybe you’re traveling. Maybe you’re trying to make sure everyone is fed, included, and vaguely getting along.

By five o’clock, you are wiped. The food is cooling. You haven’t actually eaten. Your nervous system is cooked. This is what I call the five o’clock meltdown.

Here is the thing. You do not have to power through it.

Give yourself permission to pause. Step outside quietly. Slip into a guest room. Go sit in your car for a few minutes. Make a cup of tea. And if you can, hum again. Nobody else needs to hear it. That soft sound is your emergency brake. You can use it as many times as you need.

Laguna Beach Stories: How Customers Use Stress Less Tea to Reset

One of our dear customers, Lisa, came into the shop recently to stock up on Stress Less tea. She told me that last year, she stepped out onto her patio for five minutes with a cup of tea just to breathe. She said it helped so much.

That cup of tea was her permission slip. Her way of saying, “I need a second.”

Best Teas for Mood Support, Overwhelm, and Emotional Balance

If you feel emotionally off during the holidays, not quite anxious, not exactly sad, just “off,” you’re not the only one.

That is when I reach for our Saffron Rose Latte. It is warm and floral with the grounding energy of saffron. One of our regulars, who works in the ER, told me she makes a cup every night in November before bed. She said it is the only thing that helps her exhale after a day of holding space for everyone else.

Another favorite for reset moments is our Lavender Moon herbal tea. One woman told me she keeps a pack in her glove box. When everything gets to be too much, she sneaks out to her car, uses her little travel kettle, and just sits with that cup for ten minutes. No drama. No performance. Just lavender, chamomile, and stillness.

Let’s also be honest about family gatherings. They are not always warm and fuzzy. Sometimes they bring up old stories, things you thought you were done with.

The sideways comment. The loaded question. The comparison that hits a sore spot.

Here is something I’ve learned from my own life and from so many conversations at Tea and Turmeric:

You do not have to take in everything someone throws your way.

You can notice it. You can breathe through it. And you can choose not to carry it.

Sometimes just holding your tea, feeling that warmth in your hands, is enough to bring you back to yourself.

And if you need to step away, you do not have to give a big explanation. A simple line is more than enough.

“I’m going to step outside for a second.”

“Let’s talk about something lighter.”

“I need a refill.”

You do not have to win the moment. You just need enough space to stay grounded in yourself.

A Simple Tea and Breath Ritual for Holiday Calm and Emotional Regulation

Before we close, here’s what I want you to remember.

The holidays will be what they are, a little messy and a little magical. You do not have to be perfect and you do not have to hold everything together for everyone else.

You can pause. You can breathe. You can hum your way back to yourself with a warm cup in your hands.

If you’re in Orange County, San Diego, or LA, I would love for you to come by Tea and Turmeric in Laguna Beach this week. We can help you find calming blends and simple rituals to carry you through the season.

If you are listening from farther away, you can still bring these practices into your home. Choose one calming tea. Make it your evening ritual. Pair it with a few rounds of humming bee breath and let your nervous system soften.

So if everything starts to swirl, remember this: hum, sip, step away.

That is your pocket-sized holiday ritual. Use it as often as you need.

From our family at Tea and Turmeric to yours, I’m wishing you a Thanksgiving that feels grounded and truly yours.

Until next time, find your sip, find your calm.