The calendar is filling up, the shops are getting busier and the days seem to be getting shorter. The festive season is approaching. Christmas, presents, dinners, family visits and then New Year’s Eve with fireworks, crowds and expectations. Does the mere thought of it make you feel tense? You are not alone.

For many people, the festive season is a series of stimuli. Brightly lit shops, Christmas carols playing everywhere, lists in your head: have I got everyone a present? What shall I wear? What if it gets too busy? And then there are the social occasions. Enjoyable, yes, but also intense. Lots of talking, lots of noise, little peace and quiet.

What all these stimuli do to your body is often forgotten. Your nervous system is constantly “on”. Especially if you are sensitive to stimuli, have ADHD or autism, are highly sensitive or simply become overstimulated quickly. The result? Tension in your body, restlessness in your head and reaching your limit more quickly.

Squease.nl explains how deep pressure can help the body to relax. And that’s exactly where the Squease pressure vest can make a difference. The vest provides even, adjustable pressure all around, allowing your body to relax. Even in the middle of the hustle and bustle.

Imagine wearing the vest while shopping, at home before Christmas dinner, or during an evening with fireworks. Instead of becoming completely overstimulated, your body gets support to unwind.

The holidays don’t have to be perfect. They can be messy, quiet or small. What is important is that you feel okay. Maybe that means saying “no” more often. Or planning a moment alone on the sofa. Or putting on a Squease pressure vest to help your nervous system relax.

He wrote that it did work. That the Squease pressure vest gave him peace of mind, that it reduced the stress in his body. But he still sent it back. Not because it didn’t help, on the contrary, but because shame won out over relaxation.

And that touches me. Because how painful is it that someone finds something that helps them function better, but doesn’t dare to use it because they are afraid of being seen? Have you ever had that feeling, knowing exactly what you needed, but a little voice whispering: “What will others think?”

That shame is recognizable. Our society is used to “just doing,” to not standing out. But stimulus processing doesn’t work according to social rules. If your nervous system lets in too many stimuli, your whole body is constantly on. That overstimulation is exhausting. And for some people, deep pressure is exactly the signal the body needs to understand: you are safe, you can rest. It is the same mechanism that makes firm hugs calming or that helps children or adults with autism sleep better when their bodies experience more boundaries in the form of a weighted blanket.

The Squease pressure vest does exactly that: it provides deep pressure in an unobtrusive, gentle way. You pump it up, disconnect the pump, and it stays in place. You wear the vest under your sweater. That’s the beauty of it; you don’t have to explain what it does, unless you want to.

So what if we turn shame on its head? What if it’s not about “do I dare wear this?” but about “do I allow myself to rest? Do I allow my body to feel safe?”

Perhaps this isn’t a story about a returned cardigan, but about how brave it is to take yourself seriously. Even if that’s visible.

Sometimes it feels like there is too much going on. The light, the sound, the smell of coffee, someone talking, a chair sliding. For most people, these are background noises, vague details that fade into the distance. But for others, every stimulus is equally important, without filter, without pause.

What is stimulus processing or sensory information processing? Throughout the day, our brains have to process millions of stimuli. What we see, hear, smell, taste, or feel, but also what is happening inside our bodies: our breathing, hunger, a full bladder, tense muscles. Everything is sent to the brain, which has to decide: what is important and what is less important and can wait?

Fortunately, our brain usually does this automatically. It filters out the unimportant stimuli. This means you don’t feel your socks all day long, you don’t hear the fridge humming, and you forget you’re hungry while you’re having a good conversation. Until that filter malfunctions.

People with sensory processing issues experience the world differently. Their filter sometimes lets too much through or too little. Sounds can be louder, light can be brighter, touch can feel more intense. And that is exhausting. Imagine trying to follow a conversation while every tick of a clock, every sound from outside, and the pattern of someone’s blouse all seem equally important. There is literally a traffic jam in your brain.

This overstimulation can lead to restlessness, tension, or the familiar fight, flight, or freeze responses. The body reacts as if danger is imminent.

Fortunately, there are ways to help the body regain its calm. Deep pressure, such as a firm hug or a Squease pressure vest, can calm the nervous system. It sends the body the signal: you are safe. And when the body knows that, calm and space are restored in your brain.

Stimulus processing is something we all do, 24 hours a day. But for those who find it difficult, a little help can make the difference between chaos and calm.