If you’re stuck in a fight-or-flight loop—wired but tired, on edge, snappy with your kids, and constantly up in your head—today’s post is for you.

Because here’s the truth: You cannot think your way calm.

You can’t mindset-shift your way out of a survival state. You can’t mantra your way to peace when your nervous system is throwing the emergency brakes. If your body still feels unsafe, your brain won’t buy whatever calm affirmation you’re trying to sell it.

Fight-or-flight is a physiological state. And to shift out of it, your body has to lead the way.

Let’s break this down.

What Happens in Fight-or-Flight

When your nervous system senses danger—real or perceived—it activates the sympathetic branch of your autonomic nervous system.

Your brain releases cortisol and adrenaline. Your heart rate speeds up. Your breath gets shallow. Digestion slows. Muscles tense. Blood flow reroutes to your limbs so you can run or fight. Your system goes on full alert.

But here’s the thing: Your nervous system doesn’t speak English. It speaks in cues—breath, muscle tension, facial expression, posture, sound, sensation.

That’s why somatic tools—body-based practices—work. They bypass the thinking mind and speak directly to the systems responsible for regulation.

And they work fast.

These three nervous system tools are backed by research and designed to bring your body out of survival mode quickly. Use them any time you feel overstimulated, dysregulated, or like you’re about to snap.

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1. The Physiological Sigh

This one’s not trendy fluff—it’s a built-in reflex that your body already knows how to do. And when you do it on purpose, it becomes one of the fastest ways to downshift your nervous system.

How to Do It:

• Inhale through your nose
• Take a second quick inhale through your nose (shorter, to top off the breath)
• Exhale slowly and fully through your mouth
• Repeat 2-3 times

Why It Works:

This breathing pattern helps open up alveoli (tiny air sacs in your lungs), release trapped CO2, and activate the vagus nerve—triggering your parasympathetic nervous system. Research from Stanford (thank you, Huberman Lab) shows that this breath pattern lowers stress markers faster than any other breathwork technique.

Use It When:

• You feel like you’re holding your breath
• You’re transitioning from work to home mode
• You feel tension building in your chest or jaw

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2. Bilateral Stimulation (aka Cross-Lateral Movement)

This is one of the simplest, most effective ways to rewire your stress response in real time.

What It Is:

Rhythmic movement that engages both sides of your body in an alternating pattern. Think walking, tapping your left and right thighs, swaying side to side, or drumming your feet.

Why It Works:

• Activates both hemispheres of your brain (increasing integration and coherence)
• Reengages your prefrontal cortex (aka your ability to think clearly and make decisions)
• Helps discharge stuck stress energy that your body didn’t get to use when it first went into fight, flight, or freeze
• Reduces activity in your amygdala (your fear center)

Try This:

• Gently tap your left and right shoulders with opposite hands
• Take a walk while focusing on your breath and your steps
• Sway side to side with slow exhales

Your nervous system will register this rhythm as a cue of safety. You’re literally telling your brain: “We’re safe. We’re regulated. We’re okay.”

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3. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

This is not just yoga class fluff. It’s a clinically proven technique that helps pull your body out of stress mode.

How It Works:

You tense and release muscle groups one at a time, consciously relaxing your body from head to toe.

Why It Works:

• Rebuilds interoception (your ability to sense what’s going on inside your body)
• Interrupts cognitive rumination loops (goodbye, racing thoughts)
• Stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (hello, rest-and-digest)
• Signals to your brain that your body is no longer under threat

Try This:

Start with your toes. Tense them for 5 seconds. Release for 10. Move up through your body—legs, glutes, abs, hands, shoulders, jaw. Breathe slowly. Stay present with the sensation.

You don’t have to do the full sequence every time. Even relaxing your shoulders and jaw can create a cascade effect that resets your state.

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Final Thought: This Is How You Build Real Resilience

The goal isn’t to avoid stress completely. It’s to become the kind of woman who can move through it without getting stuck.

These tools help you build the body-awareness and nervous system flexibility to return to calm more quickly and more often.

And if you’re ready to take this work deeper, Burnout Recovery Blueprint is open right now. Inside BRB, I teach you how to personalize these tools for your nervous system, use them with consistency, and finally feel safe in your body again.

This is what regulation looks like. This is what healing feels like. And it’s available to you.

Related Links:

• Previous Episode
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• Path to Wellness: The 7 As of Healing
• Healing Anxiety & Burnout: 4 Non-Negotiables for Nervous System Regulation

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