Recognizing and Managing Holiday Loneliness

Navigating Milestones & AnniversariesInner Work
Written By Dawn Geoppinger

A gentle, embodied approach to grief, connection, and care.

You Are Not Alone—Even If It Feels That Way

Holiday loneliness is far more common than most people admit. The lights, music, and messages of togetherness can make it feel like everyone else is connected, surrounded, and joyful—while you’re quietly holding grief, change, or an ache that doesn’t have a clear place to land.

If you’re navigating grief during the holidays—whether this is your first Christmas without a loved one, the loss of a relationship, the exhaustion of caregiving, or a quieter identity shift—you are not broken. You are human, responding to a season that can amplify what’s already tender.

Loneliness during the holidays doesn’t mean you’ve failed to “do grief right.” It’s often a sign that something within you is longing for safety, meaning, and connection. And those longings deserve care.

For many people, especially those navigating their first Christmas without a loved one, loneliness can feel both expected and overwhelming at the same time. This is one of the reasons I created my Grieving Through the Holidays course—to offer steady, compassionate guidance through a season that can otherwise feel isolating and unmoored.

A softly lit window with candlelight during winter, representing holiday loneliness and grief during the holidays

The holidays can feel quiet in ways that are rarely spoken about.

Why Holiday Loneliness Shows Up for So Many People

The holidays carry enormous emotional and cultural weight. There is often an unspoken expectation to be joyful, grateful, social, and resilient—no matter what you’re carrying beneath the surface.

For those experiencing loss or life transition, this season can intensify holiday loneliness because:

  • Traditions may now feel painful, unfamiliar, or impossible to continue

  • There may be empty seats, missing rituals, or memories that surface unexpectedly

  • Social gatherings can highlight who—or what—is no longer there

  • Cultural messages minimize grief (“It’s a happy time!”) or rush healing

  • Your inner world may feel deeply out of sync with the outer celebration

If you’re coping with loneliness during the holidays, it’s not because you’re doing something wrong. It’s because this season shines a bright light on attachment, memory, and belonging—especially when grief and change are present.

How Holiday Loneliness Can Affect Your Mental and Emotional Health

Loneliness isn’t just emotional—it’s embodied. Many people navigating grief and trauma notice changes not only in mood, but in their nervous system, energy, and sense of safety.

Common experiences during this time include:

  • A sense of heaviness, numbness, or emotional withdrawal

  • Increased anxiety, irritability, or overwhelm in social settings

  • Fatigue or difficulty concentrating

  • Guilt or shame for “not feeling grateful enough”

  • A desire to isolate paired with a longing to be understood

These responses are not personal shortcomings. They are signals—your body and heart communicating that something needs gentleness, regulation, and support.

This is why traditional talk-only approaches or generic advice can feel insufficient. Many people drawn to trauma informed grief support, somatic grief healing, or body based grief healing are seeking care that honors the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.

Supportive Ways to Cope with Loneliness During the Holidays

There is no single “right” way to move through holiday loneliness. What matters most is discovering what genuinely supports you—not what the season prescribes. Here are a few gentle, embodied strategies for coping with loneliness during the holidays:

Soften the Pressure to Perform

You are allowed to opt out, simplify, or create new rituals. Healing does not require participation in every tradition.

Create Micro-Moments of Connection

Connection doesn’t have to be large or social. A quiet walk, a candle lit in remembrance, time with a pet, or writing a letter to a loved one can create a sense of relational presence.

Tend to the Body First

Grief and trauma live in the body. Practices such as slow breathing, gentle movement, grounding touch, or placing your feet on the floor can support nervous system regulation and reduce the intensity of loneliness.

Choose Support That Matches Your Capacity

For some, zoom grief support groups, a short online workshop, or grief coaching online feels more accessible than in-person gatherings. Support should meet you where you are—not demand more than you can give.

Let Your Experience Be Enough

You do not need to reframe your grief, find silver linings, or be “strong.” Allowing loneliness to be acknowledged—without judgment—often reduces its grip.

If you’re finding that these practices resonate—but feel hard to sustain on your own—this is where structured support can help. In my Grieving Through the Holidays online course, we explore these tools more deeply through gentle practices, reflection, and nervous-system–aware guidance designed specifically for grief during the holidays.

The course is especially supportive for those seeking trauma informed grief support, somatic grief healing, and connection without pressure to share more than feels safe.

How Coaching Can Help You Feel More Connected and Supported

For many people, therapy for loneliness doesn’t feel like the right fit—or doesn’t fully address what’s happening in the body. This is where somatic, grief-informed coaching can offer a different kind of support.

Through grief coaching online or in small group settings, somatic coaching can help you:

  • Feel more grounded and resourced in your body

  • Develop tools to navigate grief during the holidays without overwhelm

  • Gently explore identity changes and role shifts

  • Process loneliness in a way that feels safe and paced

  • Experience connection without pressure to “fix” or explain yourself

This work is especially supportive for those drawn to grief and trauma healing, somatic grief healing, and experiences like a grief healing retreat, where healing is relational, embodied, and compassionate.

You don’t have to carry this alone. Being witnessed—without being rushed—is often what allows loneliness to soften.

Loneliness often softens when we are gently witnessed. For some, this happens in 1:1 grief coaching online. For others, it’s through shared learning and presence in a small, compassionate group.

The Grieving Through the Holidays course was designed for those who may not be seeking traditional therapy for loneliness, but who still want meaningful connection, guidance, and body based grief healing. Offered online, it allows participants to move at their own pace while knowing they are not walking this season alone.

A Gentle Invitation for Support

If you’re noticing holiday loneliness, grief, or emotional heaviness rising this season, support is available. You don’t have to wait until things feel unbearable to reach out. You’re warmly invited to:

Schedule a free discovery call to explore 1:1 grief coaching online

Learn more about my Grieving Through the Holidays course, a gentle online offering created for those navigating loss, change, and the first holidays without someone they love

Whether through individual support, an online workshop, or future Zoom grief support groups, you deserve care that honors your whole experience—mind, body, and spirit.

Portrait of Dawn Geoppinger, grief educator and somatic practitioner, offering gentle grief support and embodied healing.

Dawn M. Geoppinger, Trauma-Informed Grief & Embodiment Coach

Dawn M. Geoppinger is a Trauma-Informed Grief & Embodiment Coach based in Portland, Oregon, with a strong foundation of over two decades of professional experience in public administration, education, and the nonprofit sector. She specializes in grief education, somatic movement, breathwork, and mindfulness, integrating evidence-based approaches such as somatic practices, post-traumatic growth and woman-centered principles to help clients reconnect with themselves, regulate their nervous systems, and honor the full spectrum of loss and healing. Through her practice, The Embodied Grief Journey™, Dawn provides compassionate, expert support both in person and online—creating safe, nurturing spaces for individuals to explore grief, resilience, and embodied healing.

You Don’t Have to Walk This Season Alone

Holiday loneliness can make grief feel heavier and more isolating—but support can make room for breath, grounding, and connection.

If you’d like to explore what support might feel nourishing for you, you’re warmly invited to:

Whether through individual support, an online workshop, or future Zoom grief support groups, you deserve care that honors your lived experience—mind, body, and spirit.

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