The house was filled with people and excitement. The noise level was far outside our normal volume inside of the house. The energy of Christmas was palpable in the house, and if I am being honest, it was slightly more than my nervous system could tolerate, even though I loved everyone in my home and I adore holidays with family.  

I slipped upstairs into my bedroom and closed the doors behind me. I let out a deep sigh as I began to ground back into my body, and the overstimulation started to lessen. I closed my eyes and began to bring my energy back to myself and release everyone's energy that wasn’t mine. 

Kevin walked in and closed the door behind himself. I heard him let out a deep sigh, and I smiled, knowing exactly how overstimulated he was. We made eye contact, and he went to sit on the bed across from me on the couch. He began to sit down on the bed and then yelled and jumped up.

“What is going on?” he yelled as he spun around to look at the bed.

I broke out into laughter as I realized what he was yelling about. One of the cats had gotten into our room and hid under the comforter. She had climbed between the sheets and comforter and was hiding from the stimulation downstairs. He had started to sit down on her when he sat on the edge of the bed. 

We went on to talk about how amazing animals are. Our cat knew exactly what she needed to calm herself down. She removed herself from the environment. She got herself into the calmest and safest environment in our home and then grounded herself with the deep pressure of the heavy comforter. She knew exactly what she needed to do to regulate her nervous system and did it. She wasn’t worried about what the other cats would think or if they would judge her. She just did what she needed to do for herself, and I realize that we all need more of that in our lives. 

Over the next couple of days, I began to explore and ask myself what I would allow myself to do if I were a cat and had no fear of judgment.