What if you ended the year without fixing, forcing, or reinventing yourself—just listening?
In this episode of Healing Is My Hobby, Jessica Colarco invites you into a Nervous System Year in Review, a gentle reflection that looks back on the year through the wisdom of the body rather than productivity or achievement. Together, you’ll explore what your nervous system carried, what brought comfort, and what it’s asking for as you step into the new year—with compassion, curiosity, and care.
Welcome to Healing Is My Hobby, the podcast where we explore the tools, practices, and curiosities that support mental wellness and personal growth. I'm Jessica Colarco, a licensed clinical social worker, and I believe healing doesn't have to feel heavy or clinical all the time. It can be gentle, it can be curious, it can be something we weave into our everyday lives. Today, we're closing out the year with something special. Instead of resolutions or pressure or new year new
energy,
wareness. A soft landing into:
So today's episode's gonna be a little bit different. It's slower, it's softer, and it's meant to be experienced, not rushed through. As we close out the year, there's often pressure to evaluate, fix, or reinvent ourselves. But instead of resolutions or a new year, new me, I wanna offer you something more regulating. This is a nervous system year in review.
We're gonna reflect through what felt heavy, what felt safe, what your nervous system carried, and what it's ready to release. You don't need to have answers. You don't need to do this perfectly. And you don't need to listen all at once. You might want a journal nearby. Or you might choose to simply listen, pause, and notice what comes up. Think of this episode as a closing ritual.
nd again, a soft landing into:
just awareness and permission to arrive gently.
before we began a gentle invitation.
As I said earlier, you may want to listen to this episode with a journal or a notebook nearby. Not to write everything down, but to capture what feels important to you. If journaling feels supportive, pause when you need to. Write a word, a sentence, or just notice what your body is responding to. And if journaling doesn't feel right today, that's okay too. You can simply listen and reflect internally.
noticing sensations, emotions, or memories as they arise. This is not a test. There's no right way to do this. You may even come back to this episode more than once, listening to one section at a time, or revisiting it later when your nervous system has more space. Let this be slow. Let this be kind. Let this be yours.
I also have a printable nervous system year in review journal
for everyone who signed up for my newsletter. So if you'd like that, you can sign up for my newsletter at healingismyhobby.com or at jessicacoloricallcsw.com.
do it gently. Think back over:
What drained my energy? Where did I feel overstimulated, overwhelmed, or stretched too thin?
What patterns kept me stuck in survival mode? Which relationships or environments activated my fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses? Where did social media heighten comparison, pressure, or emotional reactivity?
Maybe it was burnout, digital overload, parenting worry, work stress, chronic overstimulation, performing or people pleasing online,
grief transitions, or unexpected changes.
you are not judging yourself here. You're recognizing what your body carried, sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly, all year long. This is not about blaming yourself. This is about honoring the weight you've been holding. I know for me, I think I can check every single box here, absolutely experienced burnout.
digital overload, really have reduced my social media consumption just because after all of the, you know, experiments that we had in the healing lab, realizing it wasn't really contributing to me and it wasn't nourishing me, it wasn't providing what my body needed. You know, as a parent, know, parenting worry might always be with me, but it's not something I have to carry all the time and so learning how to manage it, I think, you know, grief.
and unexpected changes. Unfortunately, in my life, I lost my aunt and my cousin this year. There was a lot of grief for me this year, and so I just want to take a moment to honor my body and my nervous system and how much I carried through those losses and through the illness of my cousin and just taking a moment and sitting with it.
Let's transition into what soothed your nervous system this year. Because your nervous system did more than survive, it found comfort, it found reprieve, it found regulation. Ask yourself, what brought me back to myself? What calmed my mind or softened my shoulders? Who made my body feel safe? What routines, rituals, or environments grounded me?
tiny practices supported my emotional recovery. Maybe it was deep breaths, journaling, therapy, warm baths, slow crafting, walking outside, protecting boundaries, real in-person connection, putting your phone away, letting yourself rest without guilt.
Sometimes the things that sooth us weren't fancy or planned. They were small moments of stillness, tiny victories, or the simple softness of choosing ourselves. Let your body remember what peace felt like this year, even if it came in brief, fleeting moments.
putting my phone away and engaging in real person connection was incredibly healing this year. I find my social circle getting smaller and tighter because my current social circle is so energizing. And any interactions that were depleting that no longer serve me, I'm able to easily let go, maybe more so than in the past. Physical movement.
incredibly important to me. Crafting, deep breathing, reading are all things that really help nurture my nervous system.
We often don't give ourselves credit for how adaptive we are, how resilient, intuitive, and wise our bodies actually are. So let's explore what surprised you about your nervous system.
consider what did I learn about my emotional capacity this year? What surprised me about my limits? What surprised me about my strength? Did I discover a new trigger I didn't realize I had? Or a new source of comfort I didn't expect? Did I notice how my body communicates with me now? More clearly, more loudly, more honestly?
Maybe you realized I get overstimulated faster than I used to. I need more rest than I thought.
Maybe you notice I handle conflict better when I pause. My body tells me the truth before my mind catches up.
I can actually regulate myself and I never gave myself credit for that.
This is where growth lives and the surprises, the lessons, the quiet inner shifts.
One of the things I noticed, I am 47 and I am entering the wonderful possible decade long journey of perimenopause. And so I noticed I am immediately hard on myself and I judge myself. And so when I wasn't reacting to things or I don't know, I was very irritated and irritable.
for a while and I thought I was judging myself and saying, gosh, you took so many steps back. Why aren't you meditating more? Why are you doing this to yourself? But really, it's my body and mind going through a shift. And so instead of judging myself and trying to double down and do more, it's kind of just giving myself grace and setting back and noticing.
What are you proud of from:
What you chose, even when it was hard. What you let go of. What you courageously walked toward. Maybe you are proud that you set a boundary. Asked for help. Made a change. Got through a difficult season. Rested. Regulated. Grew in self-awareness.
trusted your intuition, loved someone well, loved yourself a little more.
Let that pride soften through your body. Let it land. Let it be true.
A big accomplishment I am proud of this year, I shouldn't say accomplishment, right? Something that I'm so proud of this year is asking for help. That has been a journey that I have been on and allowing myself to be vulnerable and asking for help. I'm so proud of myself.
Let's look forward to:
What do I want less of? Where do I want clarity? Where do I need boundaries? What will help me stay grounded and connected to myself? You may choose more rest, more presence, more real connection, more creativity, more joy, more slowness, more digital boundaries, more
nervous system safety, more trust in yourself. Or maybe you choose less, less comparison, less urgency, less overstimulation, less pressure, less internal noise. Let your body answer this, not your productivity brain.
Before we close, land the year together. Take a slow breath in. Hold for a moment and exhale gently. One more time.
Now imagine gathering up all the moments from this year, the hard ones, the beautiful ones, the ones that taught you something about who you are. Picture them in your hands. Thank them for what they showed you. And as you exhale, let the weight of the year settle, not in your shoulders, but gently at your feet. You made it to this moment.
s year and you're closing out:
May you move with softness. May you trust your own wisdom. I'll see you next year with a calmer nervous system and a truer sense of self. Until then, be gentle with yourself. You are doing so well. Thank you so much for listening. If you wanna find out more about me or more about the podcast, you can go to healingismyhobby.com where I do have a monthly blog.
You can sign up for my newsletter at Healing is My Hobby or at jessicacolarcolcsw.com. You can find me on Instagram or YouTube at Healing is My Hobby.
