When Life Overloads The Nervous System, Choose Recovery

Some days feel like wading through wet cement. We talk about what it takes to protect your peace when stress stacks up, how to set boundaries that actually hold, and why a simple meditation can crack open real relief. From caregiving realities to late-night restlessness, this conversation stays honest and practical so you can carry these tools into your next hard day.

We start with a reset: recommitting to self-care and the quiet power of saying no. Boundaries get real when life gets loud, especially for caregivers and anyone supporting neurodiverse loved ones. I share the small checks that keep me steady—breathwork with longer exhales, grounding in nature, short movement bursts—and the not-so-small truth that tears in meditation can be a sign your nervous system is finally thawing. We also celebrate the co-regulating magic of pets, the science of wind-down rituals for better sleep, and the value of a friend who reminds you to keep promises to yourself.

Along the way, we highlight community: listeners navigating health challenges, creators hustling with heart, and local spaces that make calm more accessible. You’ll walk away with a pocket menu of de-stress strategies you can use anywhere—breathing techniques, grounding cues, light workouts, and simple nighttime habits—plus permission to treat recovery like a daily practice. If you’re carrying a lot, this is your invitation to put it down for a minute and rebuild your baseline.

If this resonated, tap follow, share with someone who needs a reset, and drop a comment with your go-to way to decompress. Your ideas might be exactly what someone else needs today.

Transcript

Welcome And Wellness Check-In

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Oh, Chica Wow Wow. What's up, party people? Welcome to another episode of Elkyvate Your Life. I'm your hostess with the most S. L is in the letter L and key as in the key to your heart. Excuse me. Well, welcome to Wisdom Wellness Wednesday. January 28th. What's everybody doing on this Wisdom Wellness Wednesday? What are you doing to maintain your wisdom and wellness? Well, let me share what I'm doing. I actually will be, as soon as I'm done here, headed to a calming meditation in Livermore. And shout out to Creative Healing Center and Crystal Boutique. A lot of stressors happening in my life right now. Without getting into my personal business. Let's just say I'm at the end of my rope with some things. And you know, this year is all about following through on my commitments and following through on my commitments, even to myself. And what that includes for me is setting healthy boundaries and sticking to them. And yeah, taking care of me and my mental health. And I haven't made that a priority as much as I should be. So today was a friendly reminder by my dear friend and loyal listener, Rhonda. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being a loyal listener. Uh, she sent a shout out to tell me about or remind me about the podcast. Podcast, about the meditation. So I'm going to kind of rush through this. And once upon a time, I asked all of you before, what do you do to protect your peace? What does that look like to you? Do you meditate? Do you go and stand barefoot in the earth and get grounded with the earth and touch a tree? Hence the term tree huggers. Or do you take a walk? Do you go to the gym? Do you exercise? Do you hike, bike, partake in some sort of physical activity? Or maybe you go home and have a glass of wine and take a deep breath. Thank goodness it's over. Well, for me, mine is working out at the gym andor participating in breathing exercises and loving on my dog Chanel, who's just climbed on my lap. You probably heard her licking up her water bowl and food just a moment ago. She was always very happy when mommy comes home because she can sit on her mommy couch and be loved and adored by me. And I have to say, there's something calming about petting your cat or your dog or your hamster or your rabbit, or definitely don't get the same thing if you have fish or chickens or some sort of other animal. Um amphibian, whatever. But today was a good reminder that I need to partake in some self-care. Because, as all of you know, well, those of you that are loyal listeners, you all know that I take care of special education kids Monday through Friday from 8:30 in the morning till 3ish. And then I come home to an adult version of that because my loyal listeners know my husband is on the spectrum. He has Asperger's and a slew of other things. Um needless to say, it requires a lot of patience, and my podcast often becomes cathartic and an outlet for me to talk about the highs, the lows, and everything in between. And so yes, today is a day that I could really benefit from some meditation. And for those of you that might participate in it or know about it, the last time I went, I actually cried because I had so much pinned up frustration and stress and all sorts of feelings that I had not well that you know, you you hold in, you repress because you can't talk about it at your job, or maybe you can't talk about it with your partner or your friends, and maybe your counselor's not available. So you have to hold a lot of that stuff in. And before you know it, you go to a meditation session and you release it all because they tell you to meditate, to breathe, and yes, let's hope that after tonight's session, it helps me to get a good night's sleep because Lord knows I haven't had one in days or nights, I should say. At any rate, uh, would love to know. So I'd like to take a poll. What do you do to turn your brain off? What do you do to decompress? What do you do to what are your coping strategies? What do they look like to you? A lot of people do the simple things of taking 10 deep breaths or going on a walk or exercising or talking to a friend or their counselor or reading or grounding, which I just mentioned. And isn't it interesting that you may not recognize this, but my body is on autopilot even during the workday, or if I'm talking to my daughter, or whatever, I'll all of a sudden go, and everybody will say to me, Oh, Miss Elkie, Miss Elkie, is everything okay? Miss Elkie must have be having a tough day. And I'm like, these are the things that we are supposed to do. That is our body's way of auto-responding to the stress and trying to get rid of it, trying to release it. So I always find it interesting when other people observe, notice, and comment about it. And as my daughter, Brooklyn's grandparents would say, better out than in. So it's definitely true. There's definitely truth to that. So taking a poll, everyone, what do you do to decompress? What do you what are your coping strategies? What do you do when you're upset or stressed and you don't know what to do with all those feelings or emotions? How do you get rid of them? I would like to take a poll to all my loyal listeners, all my elkivaters out there. Please respond in the comments with what you do. I would love to hear. So on that note, to my elkovators and my loyal listeners, uh, shout out to Roger Havens. Roger, thank you for being a loyal listener and subscriber. I appreciate you. And I hope that you are doing better. I know things were not looking good for you. Um, had some health stuff going on. So I hope that I hope that you are doing better and feeling better and being checked in on by loved ones. So shout out to Roger. Creative Cara, linked tree, lovemyartist. You can find her link in my podcast description. Uh, shout out to Kara, who also going through all kinds of variations of challenges, but manages to get up every day and put her best foot forward and do what needs to be done to provide for the household and constantly thinking of ways to manage her stress and you know, work her business. So my hat's off to you, Cara. Anyway, um, I definitely recommend that you check out her site. As I've told you before, she has paintings, she makes ornaments, whether it be for wedding favors or some sort of special occasion. She also does video montages. If you want to celebrate someone's birthday, anniversary, ask somebody to be your best man, maid of honor, whatever the case may be. She puts together those lovely, heartfelt things. She also has clothing and array of like boots and purses and laptop bags. So check out her website, okay? Link tree, love my artist. And not Etsy. But anyway, it's the linked tree, and you can find it in the podcast description. Moving right along, Jeff Para, Namaste. Thank you for being a loyal subscriber. And hope and pray life is treating you well. Moving right along to Kyle Few, Commitment to Love, Love is a Verb. Thank you for putting out that amazing book that is can be found on Audible via Amazon. Check it out. If you haven't, you can find it on Amazon. Commitment to Love, Love is a Verb. Written by Kyle Fu. P H E W. Lisa Roberts Corbello, thank you for being a loyal listener and subscriber. I appreciate you. I hope that life is treating you well and work is not too hectic for you. Mike Kaufman, thank you for being a loyal subscriber. Appreciate you. And that's all I have time for this evening, folks. Sorry to do such a short podcast, but please remember to like the episode if you liked it, even though it's short but sweet. And please participate in the poll and send a comment of what do you do to decompress? What do you do to get rid of your stress? What is your go-to? Is it counting to 10? Is it going for a walk? Is it going to the gym? Is it bicycling, hiking, going to a medication meditation class like I am? Going to a workout class. Is it petting your dog, cat, rabbit, whatever you might have at home, spending time with your pet? I would love to know what you do. Or maybe it's playing video games. Who knows? Or maybe in Roger's case, it's him baking or gardening. I don't know. But I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas, Barry, Rhonda, Roger, Andrew, all of the above. Please feel free to like, comment, share. Remember, guys, it helps the algorithm. It helps me. And thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you for listening. Until next Monday for Mindful Monday. Ciao for now.