New Year Regulation: A Calmer Start to 2026

Christmas time is family time, right?

We’ve all seen the cards, the Hallmark movies. We know how it’s supposed to go: chestnuts roasting on an open fire with the family in Santa hats and Christmas jumpers gathered round, faces merry and bright.

The reality is often very different.

The festive season often brings pressure, disrupted routines and financial worries. With shops, cinemas, cafes and other distractions closed, and with friends locked into their own family celebrations, we might feel trapped, forced to spend more time than we usually would with relatives. Even in the closest families, those conditions can turn everyday tensions into full-blown conflicts.

That’s why this December, Cyrenians Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution is launching New Year Regulation, our Christmas campaign for 2025.

Our campaign’s name is, of course, a playful twist on ‘New Year Resolution’, but the idea behind it is a serious one.

Resolutions are usually about changing habits for the year ahead. Regulation, however, is about the ability to calm ourselves, steady our emotions and respond thoughtfully rather than reactively. It’s one of the most powerful tools we have for reducing conflict at home.

Emotional regulation affects every relationship within a family. When we’re tired, stressed or overwhelmed, our brains are more likely to slip into ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode. In that state, even small disagreements can escalate quickly.

However, when we are regulated – breathing steadily, thinking clearly, connected to our emotions rather than swept away by them – we’re far more able to listen, empathise, and communicate without confrontation.

A calmer ‘me’ really does mean a calmer ‘us’.

Over the run-up to Christmas, we’ll be sharing ten practical, accessible suggestions across our social media channels (X, Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram). Each one is designed to help young people, parents and carers build emotional regulation into daily family life, both during the festive period and well into 2026. These activities and ideas are rooted in our SCCR Learning Zones and psychoeducational resources such as Monkey vs Lizard, Keep the Heid, Cranial Cocktail and The Three Brains. They turn the ‘science of conflict’ into something immediately usable: small actions that can make a big difference.

Some suggestions are simple but powerful, like taking slow, steady breaths to settle the nervous system before an argument can escalate, or using grounding techniques to bring yourself back into the present moment when emotions start to rise.

Others focus on understanding what lies beneath our reactions, using tools like the Feelings Wheel or the Emotion Iceberg to name what’s really going on under the surface.

We’ll also explore communication strategies such as using I-Statements, taking time-outs when conversations become too heated, and practising active listening. And because emotional regulation is something we learn from each other, especially from parents and carers, we’ll share tips on modelling calm in ways that support young people who are struggling with big feelings of their own.

Together, these ten suggestions aren’t a promise that Christmas will be perfect: no campaign can do that. But they can help to soften difficult moments, reduce misunderstandings and create space for connection instead of conflict.

If your holiday season proves to be stressful, New Year Regulation is an invitation to start 2026 differently: not with pressure or perfectionism, but with small, steady choices that help everyone in the family feel safer, calmer and more understood.

Keep an eye on our channels throughout December. A calmer new year might start with just one simple step.