If you’ve been using all the “right” tools—breathwork, journaling, affirmations—and you still feel anxious, wired, or braced, you’re not alone. Many high-achieving women tell me the same thing: “I know better, but I can’t seem to feel better.”

That’s because what you’re experiencing isn’t a lack of willpower—it’s nervous system dysregulation. And the truth is, there’s a difference between tools that offer short-term relief and the deeper habits that create lasting calm.

---

Why Your Nervous System Struggles to Settle

First, let’s clear something up: trying to think your way calm rarely works. Most of us were taught top-down strategies like reframing, rationalizing, or telling ourselves to “just relax.” Those can help in the moment, but they don’t address the survival brain running the show when you’re stressed.

Your survival brain doesn’t speak in logic. It speaks in sensation. So when your heart is racing, your chest feels tight, and your muscles brace for impact, your nervous system isn’t interested in affirmations—it needs a physical release.

On top of that, most of us never learned how to actually complete the stress cycle. Stress is a whole-body event. Your system ramps up, adrenaline floods in, and energy builds for action. But modern stressors don’t give you an outlet, so that energy stays stuck. Over time, you carry it as chronic tension, anxiety, or fatigue.

And let’s be honest—sometimes the root problem isn’t the stressor itself but the way we cope. Lack of boundaries, numbing behaviors, and unsustainable rhythms all keep your system on high alert. That’s why the solution has to go deeper than tools—it has to involve building nervous-system-aligned habits that support regulation.

---

The Big 3: Stillness, Movement, and Play

Here are three practices that go beyond surface fixes and actually retrain your nervous system.

Movement

When stress hits, your body prepares to run or fight. Without physical action, that energy lingers. Movement is the fastest way to discharge it. Shake out your arms and legs for a few minutes, walk briskly, or dance to your favorite song. These simple actions tell your brain the threat has passed.

Stillness

Your system also needs intentional pauses. Without them, you’re running on constant sympathetic activation. Stillness—whether it’s deep breathing, legs-up-the-wall, or a two-minute pause with your eyes closed—signals safety and invites your parasympathetic system back online.

Play

Play might feel frivolous, but it’s medicine for your nervous system. Laughter, creativity, and spontaneous joy release neurochemicals that counteract cortisol. It also expands your capacity to connect with others and with yourself.

---

Why Habits Matter

Using one-off tools is helpful in the moment, but long-term change comes from integrating supportive habits into your daily rhythms. These practices don’t need to be elaborate. Small, consistent choices—moving your body, creating white space for stillness, letting yourself laugh—add up.

When you build these habits, you stop living braced for impact and start living from a grounded baseline. And here’s the best part: they don’t just support your recovery—they model regulation for your kids, your team, and everyone in your circle.

---

Your Next Step

If you’re tired of patching over your stress with quick fixes, this is your invitation to go deeper. Inside Burnout Recovery Blueprint, I teach the exact sequence that helps you release survival stress, reset your nervous system, and reintroduce the habits that create lasting resilience.

Doors are open now, but only for a short window. Head to michellegrosser.com/BRB to save your spot. You don’t need to settle for dysregulation as your norm. You can create a new one—peaceful, present, and energized.

Explore Previous Episodes Here!

• Previous Episode
• 3 Ways to Show Your Body It’s OK to Relax & Be Calm
• Want to Feel Calmer? Make Sure Your Nervous System Gets These THREE Things Each Day
• Staying Calm 24/7 Isn’t the Goal… What Our Disney Disaster Taught Me About a Regulated Nervous System
• Q&A: How Do I Tell if I’m Actually Calm & Regulated or Just Numb & Dissociated?

>>> 💌 DOWNLOAD THE NERVOUS SYSTEM RESET GUIDE <<<

🥤 MY BURNOUT RECOVERY STORY + $10 OFF HAPPY JUICE

📝 APPLY NOW FOR 1:1 COACHING WITH ME!