235 - Managing Holiday Pressures: Boundaries & Self-care in a Busy Season | Life Happens the Podcast
Life Happens with Barb & Michelle
Michelle Maros & Barb Schmidt
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The holidays don’t need to be perfect to be meaningful — here’s how to release the pressure and enjoy the season 💫
On this week’s episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, we’re diving into holiday stress, perfectionism, boundaries, and the real reason so many of us feel overwhelmed this time of year. With 62% of people reporting elevated holiday stress, this conversation will help you slow down, stay grounded, and make space for joy and presence.
Whether you’re navigating family expectations, food triggers, financial pressure, or the urge to “do it all,” this episode offers practical guidance on creating a holiday season that feels peaceful and true to you.
✨ What We Talk About
- How to release holiday perfectionism and find meaning in what’s real—not what’s flawless.
- The art of saying no and the freedom that comes with not overextending yourself.
- Checking in with your emotions: A simple practice for asking, “What do I desire and need this season?”
- Setting boundaries without guilt so you can protect your peace and energy.
- Navigating triggers & pressure:
- Barb opens up about food triggers and social overwhelm as a recovering bulimic.
- Michelle shares tools for managing financial stress and releasing unrealistic expectations.
If you’ve ever felt anxious, stretched too thin, or disappointed by the holidays, this episode is your reminder: You’re allowed to slow down. You’re allowed to choose peace. You’re allowed to make this season meaningful in your own way.
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💛 Episode Topics
- Saying No to Social Pressure — Navigating invitations from friends, family, and coworkers with confidence and compassion
- Managing Financial Stress — Rethinking gift-giving, events, and the cost of “holiday expectations”
- Handling Food Triggers — Staying grounded amid pressure to overindulge
- Avoiding Overextension — Setting healthy boundaries to protect your energy and well-being
- Letting Go of Perfectionism — Releasing the need to do it all and redefining what a meaningful holiday looks like
💬 We’d love to hear from you! What insight or moment resonated most with you in this episode? Share in the comments—we truly read every one.
📅 Subscribe & Join Us Next Tuesday for another heartfelt episode of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle! 💕
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | With a bag always in the freezer, Washington Red raspberries are always available for all occasions, |
| 0:05.5 | from breakfast to holiday get-togethers, to add their bright flavor and vibrant color to make |
| 0:10.9 | every dish feel special. Frozen Washington Red raspberries are one of the best kept secrets in the |
| 0:16.8 | freezer aisle. They're naturally low in sugar, high in fiber, and support gut health, |
| 0:21.5 | blood sugar balance, and overall wellness. They're not just healthy, but grown with care by farmers |
| 0:27.0 | in Washington State. I love being able to support local American family farmers with each |
| 0:32.5 | purchase of Washington Red raspberries. And here's the best part. They're always in season when you buy |
| 0:38.5 | American-grown frozen raspberries. You're getting fresh off-the-field flavor all year long. |
| 0:44.2 | You can grab your own bag of fresh, delicious, and locally grown raspberries at the following |
| 0:49.4 | retailers. Costco, Kroger, Meyer, WinCo Foods. Look for product of the U.S. on the bag. |
| 0:57.1 | Here are some of the brands that use Washington Red raspberries to create their delicious products. |
| 1:02.5 | Costco Kirkland Signature Threeberry Blend and Bakery Lemon Raspberry muffins, true fruit chocolate |
| 1:08.5 | covered raspberries, Smuckers raspberry jam, and peanut butter |
| 1:11.7 | and jelly raspberry uncrustables. Want to discover new ways to use American frozen red |
| 1:17.2 | raspberries and get more details on where you can grab a bag of these delicious berries? |
| 1:21.8 | Go to redraz.org. That's r-ed-r-a-z-z.org. You'll find recipes, health tips, retail locations, and everything you need to make |
| 1:31.8 | frozen Washington red raspberries a regular part of your routine. |
| 1:37.5 | Hi everyone and welcome back to Life Happens with Barb and Michelle. |
| 1:41.0 | We are as always so thrilled that you're here with us this week as we are |
| 1:44.7 | full speed into the holiday season. We're experiencing all of the things, doing all the things, |
| 1:51.9 | and it feels like a lot. And so I'm glad, Mom, that I have you to chat about all of this |
| 1:56.8 | today and this week because it is a happy time of year usually or for the most part, but it can |
... |
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