By: Laura Zavala-Membreno, M.Ed., LPC-S – Aspiring Latino Leaders Fellow

The holiday season often brings the warmth of tradition – tamales steaming in the kitchen, kids running between rooms, and music that instantly transports us home. But for many in our Latino community, including parents, young people, and educators, this season can also surface stress, grief, tension, and overwhelm. 

We don’t always talk about it, but the holidays can hold both warmth and weight. For those of us working in education, the season can feel even heavier. We carry not only our own stories, but also the needs and struggles of the students and families we serve; and when everything around us is supposed to feel joyful, that responsibility can feel especially intense. 

In our culture, we inherit beautiful traditions of gathering, feeding each other, showing up con ganas, and loving hard. We also inherit unspoken pressure: to smile through struggle, to be strong for everyone else, to avoid “burdening” the family with our pain. This silence can make us feel like we’re the only ones hurting during a time that’s supposed to feel joyful. 

But here’s the truth: you are not alone, and what you’re feeling has a place at the table, too. 

Naming the Hard Stuff 

The holidays can be difficult for many reasons: the ache of missing loved ones, the strain of complicated family dynamics, financial pressures that stretch us thin, or simply the exhaustion of holding so much together at once. 

Naming these realities doesn’t take away the magic of the season. It simply makes room for all of us, not just the parts that appear cheerful. 

Mental health care doesn’t need to be complicated. Small, intentional steps can give us room to breathe and to show up for those who depend on us. 

Here are a few practices that help us work con ganas without burning out: 

• Pause before you pour into others. A three-minute grounding moment can shift an entire day. 

• Set boundaries with cariño. Leaving a gathering early or saying, “no puedo hoy” is an act of self-respect, not disrespect. 

• Find one person you can be real with. Educators and caregivers often feel they must be “on” all the time. Community begins with one honest connection. 

• Anchor yourself in what feels familiar and restorative. This might be a recipe, a song, a prayer, or a quiet walk. 

• Let your feelings move. Tears are not a sign of weakness. Rest is not lazy. Asking for help is not failure. 

These practices honor our collective traditions while creating healthier patterns for the next generation. 

Honoring Our Roots 

Our ancestors survived dark winters, difficult journeys, and years that took more than they gave. They passed down resilience, creativity, humor, and tenderness, and these are gifts we still carry. When we honor our mental health, we honor them, too. 

We don’t have to move through the season pretending. We can move through it intentionally with boundaries, compassion, and community care. 

A Message of Hope 

If this season feels heavy, hear this with tenderness: You are deserving of gentleness. You are allowed to slow down. You are worthy of support. 

In education and in our personal lives, hope often appears in small moments: a colleague checking in, a student’s smile, a quiet evening to yourself, a family member’s support, or a boundary honored. These moments remind us that healing doesn’t happen alone; it happens in community. 

A Soft Call to Action 

This holiday season, I invite you to choose one small practice that nurtures your mental health. One pause. One boundary. One moment of truth. 

Those small steps ripple outward to your students, your family, and to our broader comunidad. 

Con ganas y con corazón, we keep moving forward. 

——————

Laura Zavala-Membreno (she/her) is a counselor, educator, and advocate whose work centers trauma-informed, culturally rooted approaches to healing and community care. She is the founder of Strata Counseling and Consulting, where she provides counseling, LPC Associate supervision, and organizational consulting focused on equity and liberation (commercial disclosure: Strata Counseling and Consulting is Laura’s private practice). She is also a member of the Latinos for Education Aspiring Latino Leaders Fellowship 2025 cohort. A proud first-generation Latina, Houstonian, and mom, Laura is currently pursuing her PhD, where her scholarship explores anti-oppressive approaches to supervision and creating trauma-informed spaces that allow staff, and all of us, to show up fully and authentically.