Burnout Recovery Blueprint (Part 2): Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Body

In Part 1 of this series, we uncovered why your nervous system is the missing link to burnout recovery. We explored the concept of allostatic load—how the stress “rocks” in your backpack accumulate over time, weighing you down. If you missed that, I encourage you to pause here, go back, and listen to Part 1—it’s foundational.

Today, we’re diving into Pillar 2 of Burnout Recovery: Somatics. Here’s the truth: you can’t think your way into a regulated nervous system. No affirmation, mindset hack, or planner will calm your body when it’s stuck in a stress response. That’s where somatics—the art and science of working with your body—comes in. Let’s explore why your body holds the key to healing and how you can use somatic practices to start regulating your nervous system today.

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Why the Body Keeps the Score

The word somatics comes from the Greek word soma, meaning “the body as a whole.” This practice is based on the understanding that stress, trauma, and emotions don’t just live in your mind—they live in your body too.

The personal development world often focuses solely on the mind, from the neck up. But here’s the reality: over 95% of your actions, words, and thoughts are governed by your subconscious mind, which is deeply influenced by the state of your nervous system. And guess what? A whopping 80% of the communication between your brain and body flows from your body to your brain—not the other way around.

When you’re stuck in a stress response like fight, flight, or freeze, your logical brain, the prefrontal cortex, essentially goes offline. This is the part of your brain responsible for rational thinking and self-control, so when it shuts down, your decision-making abilities plummet. Meanwhile, your survival brain, or amygdala, takes over, laser-focused on keeping you alive.

In this state, your body speaks in sensations, not words. Racing heart, clenched muscles, tight chest—these are physical signals of stress. This is why trying to “think your way out” of stress rarely works. Your body needs actions, not affirmations, to shift out of survival mode.

What Does Regulation Even Mean?

Regulating your nervous system means finding balance and bringing your body back to equilibrium. If you’re feeling wired, anxious, or on edge, you need down-regulation to calm your system. If you’re feeling burned out, disconnected, or drained, you need up-regulation to boost your energy.

Burnout often happens when your body stays stuck in one state—either overactive (fight/flight) or underactive (freeze/shutdown). Somatic tools act as bridges, helping you transition out of these states and back into balance.

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Somatic Practices to Regulate Your Nervous System

Here are six somatic tools—three for up-regulation and three for down-regulation. Pick one from each category and try them out the next time you need to reset.

Up-Regulating Practices

1. Body Tapping
   • How It Works: Gently tap over your body with your fingertips, starting at your head and moving down to your feet. Spend 2–3 minutes focusing on areas like your chest, arms, and legs.
   • Why It Works: Tapping stimulates blood flow and sensory nerves, waking up your system and breaking up stagnant energy.
2. Cold Exposure
   • How It Works: Apply a bag of frozen veggies to the back of your neck, hold ice cubes against your wrists, or splash cold water on your face for 1–2 minutes.
   • Why It Works: The sudden temperature change activates the sympathetic nervous system, boosting alertness and energy while resetting your system.
3. Wall Pushes
   • How It Works: Stand facing a wall, place your palms flat against it, and push as firmly as you can for 5–10 seconds. Release and repeat five times.
   • Why It Works: Wall pushes channel nervous energy into something physical, creating a sense of strength and focus while energizing your system.

Down-Regulating Practices

1. Heel Drops
   • How It Works: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Rise onto the balls of your feet, then let your heels drop back down with a gentle thud. Repeat for 1–2 minutes.
   • Why It Works: The vibrations release tension stored in your body and stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, signaling safety and calm.
2. Havening
   • How It Works: Use gentle, soothing strokes along your arms, from shoulders to elbows, as if giving yourself a hug. Do this for 2–3 minutes while focusing on a calming thought.
   • Why It Works: Havening calms the amygdala, the brain’s fear center, through sensory stimulation and repetitive motion.
3. 5-5-7 Breathing
   • How It Works: Inhale deeply for 5 counts, hold for 5 counts, and exhale slowly for 7 counts. Repeat for 5 minutes.
   • Why It Works: Deep breathing activates the vagus nerve, helping your body transition from a stress response to a state of rest and relaxation.

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Start Small and Build Awareness

You don’t need to try all these practices at once. Pick one up-regulating and one down-regulating tool to experiment with. Notice how your body responds, and if it doesn’t work for you, try another. These tools are about listening to what your body needs in the moment.

Healing burnout isn’t about eliminating stress—it’s about showing your body that it’s safe to let go of tension and come back to balance. Somatic practices speak the language your nervous system understands, offering the reset you’ve been searching for.

Your Next Step

If you’re ready to dive deeper, check out the Nervous System Reset Guide or join us in the Burnout Recovery Blueprint starting this January. With 12 weeks of guided support, a library of somatic practices, and tools to address every state—whether you’re anxious, overwhelmed, or completely drained—you’ll finally have the roadmap to regulate your nervous system and reclaim your energy.

Your body holds the key to healing.

DOWNLOAD THE NERVOUS SYSTEM RESET GUIDE

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