As one of the core concepts in Sociocultural Theory (SCT), perezhivanie can be used to capture the unity between the individual’s intellect and emotion , and the unity between personality and environment. Perezhivanie’s holistic and dialectical nature aligns well with the current social and emotional turn in the field of foreign language education (FLE), and may therefore contribute to a shift in FLE towards holism in both theory and methodology. But there hasn’t yet been a consensus on the connotations of perezhivanie , nor on the methods of its application, even less on its application in empirical research, particularly in China. To address the above gaps, this study first introduces the concept of perezhivanie and then outlines its analytical models. Next, its possible application in FLE are proposed. Finally, its specific application cases in foreign language teaching and learning development, as well as in teachers’ professional development, are presented. This study attempts a new perspective to explore the feasibility of a holistic approach to FLE from SCT.