When You’re Overstimulated and About to Snap: A 10-Minute Reset for Moms
What I Do When My Nervous System Feels Like It’s Working Against Me
CLICK HERE FOR MY FREE NERVOUS SYSTEM RESET E-BOOK GUIDE!
There is a very specific shift that happens in my body before I even consciously register it. My thoughts start moving faster than usual. I feel an urgency in my body that doesn’t quite match the situation. My chest tightens. I become short with people. Everything suddenly feels like it has to be handled right now. It feels like I am tea kettle on the stove about to let our a loud hiss. That is how it feels in my mind and body.
It doesn’t always look dramatic from the outside but inside I am struggling. My nervous system is activated, and if I ignore it, I spiral and get worse.
I used to shame myself into thinking that something was wrong with me. I mean something is but I am choosing to reframe and tell myself otherwise. Instead, I tell myself that my nervous system is only here to protect me even if it thinks me washing the dishes is life or death. I used to brush it off and sulk in my feelings while laying on the couch scrollling mindlessly on my phone. Its no secret that doing that did not help at all, and in fact only made it worse. Instead of letting my nervous system take over in moments where my environment doesn’t match the intensity I’m feeling, I make a conscious choice to interrupt it and here’s how I do that.
When I notice the shift, I pause and mentally say to myself, “My nervous system is activated. I am going to reset.” I stop what I am doing and start my routine. Instead of reacting from a dysregulated state, I choose to intervene.
So many of us override our internal signals because we think we don’t have time to stop, but we do. That moment of awareness, naming what’s happening, is the first interruption of the spiral.
Here Is My At Home Nervous System Reset Routine
1. I Stop What I’m Doing
The most important part is deciding that its happening. I feel it and I call it out. When I notice the shift, I pause and mentally say to myself, “My nervous system is activated. I am going to reset.” I stop what I am doing and start the reset routine I created for myself. Instead of reacting from a dysregulated state, I choose to intervene.
So many of us override our internal signals because we think we don’t have time to stop, but we do. That moment of awareness, naming what’s happening, is the first interruption of the spiral.
2. I Change My Environment
One of the fastest ways to shift my nervous system is to physically change where I am. If I am in the kitchen washing dishes and my nervous system decides that scrubbing my dishes clean is a life or death situation, I leave the kitchen. I then walk myself to my room, grab my speaker and but on my shower playlist. It didn’t like me washing dishes, well guess what… we are taking a shower now.
3. I Run To The Shower
This is personal what helps me reset. I put on my favorite songs and get in the shower. I am having a full blown concert behind my bathroom curtains. I am singing my heart out and dancing the entire time. I let all my feelings come to the surface. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I just stand under the water and let everything wash over me. Most of the time I am singing for my whole neighborhood to hear.
The point of this is to release whatever it is my body is holding on to. When we’re activated, our bodies are holding energy. Trying to force calm without discharging that energy can feel impossible. Movement gives that energy somewhere to go.
The shower becomes a contained space where I can feel everything without having to manage anyone else. It feels like cleansing, physically and emotionally. I’m not suppressing the feeling. I’m allowing it to move through me.
4. I Transition from Release to Grounding
After about an hour and a half in the shower, I start to feel better. My shoulders begin to drop, and I feel calmer than I did when I first stepped in. Whatever my body was holding onto, and I’ll probably never know exactly what it was or why it builds up like that, has finally come to the surface. It feels like everything that was sitting heavy inside of me has been released and quite literally washed down the drain.
This is when I step out of the shower, and yes, my music is still blasting. I’m still holding a full concert… completely free, by the way, I begin my skincare routine.
It feels so nice on my skin. It feels intentional. It feels grounding. In that moment, I’m not rushing. I’m not thinking about what I have to do next. I’m just taking care of myself. I am forcing my body to slow down. By the time I am done I feel 10x better.
5. I Do Absolutely Nothing After
This may be the most important step. I do not immediately run back into productivity mode because for some reason my nervous system thought we were in danger. I go watch a movie, I lay down, or read a book. I just have to learn to accept that not everything will get done in a day.
It may sound silly but in reality I am retaining my brain. When I allow myself to stop and the world does not collapse, my nervous system learns that it is safe to pause. That safety is not dependent on constant motion. This ritual is compounding over time.
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