Stuck in Survival Mode? Try a Nervous System Reset

You’re powering through another day fueled by coffee and sheer willpower—and wondering why you’re still wound tight by bedtime. No matter how much you “get done,” your brain won’t switch off.

In this episode of Ditch the Chaos, we’re breaking down how a nervous system reset calms stress, reduces overwhelm, and restores focus—without retreats, complicated routines, or another planner.

You’ll learn:

• What it really means to reset your nervous system
• Everyday signs of an overstimulated nervous system
• Simple nervous system regulation techniques you can use daily
• How short resets (60 seconds to 15 minutes) shift your baseline
• What a full nervous system reset day can look like

These lessons come straight from what I teach in Chaos Detox—because productivity doesn’t start with planners. It starts with daily resets that keep you calm and steady—even when life gets messy.

Want to read the original blog version of this episode?

CLICK HERE → How to Reset Your Nervous System: Effective Stress Relief and Calming Techniques

Transcript

# (21): Stuck in Survival Mode? Try a Nervous System Reset

[00:00:00] Do you ever snap at your partner because they asked what's for dinner, and your brain couldn't deal with one more decision, or maybe you collapse into bed exhausted, but you can't fall asleep because your mind won't shut off. That's not just being stressed, that's your nervous system, stuck in survival mode, and it's running the show.

[00:00:22] Today we're talking about how to reset your nervous system so you can stop living on the edge and start feeling calm, focused and actually rested. Welcome to Ditch The Chaos, A snackable podcast for busy women who are done with burnout, rigid routines, and productivity guilt. You'll get clear, actionable strategies to reclaim your time and energy without planners pressure or one size fits all systems.

[00:00:47] I'm Cara Chace, entrepreneur since 2015. Mom of two, wife to one, and I am unapologetically caffeinated. Let's dive in. Let's start with what a nervous system reset actually [00:01:00] means. Your body has two main modes, survival and safety. Survival mode is fight, flight, or freeze, and it's useful when you need to slam the brakes to avoid hitting the deer.

[00:01:12] But for a lot of women, that mode has become default. Your system is always on high alert. And here's what that looks like in everyday life. You keep forgetting simple things like where you put your keys, what you walked into the room for, because your brain is overloaded. Or you reread the same email three times before you send it, but you still can't bring yourself to send it because your brain feels jammed.

[00:01:36] Or you stand in the grocery store trying to decide what meals to make that week, and you just walk out because your brain feels like it's short circuited.

[00:01:45] That is survival mode. A reset shifts you back into your parasympathetic state, the rest and recovery mode that lets you feel steady, calm, and clear again. Now, this doesn't mean that you have to book a silent retreat [00:02:00] or vanish for a weekend, even though you might want to, and that really would kind of be nice.

[00:02:04] A nervous system reset can fit into your everyday life. Think of it as interrupting the stress cycle and giving your body a chance to downshift. Here's an example. Let's say you finished a back to back meeting marathon. Instead of going straight to emails, take two minutes to step outside. You breathe in for four counts.

[00:02:26] Exhale longer than you inhale, whatever kind of breathing meditation works for you. And walk around the block without your phone. It's a nervous system reset. It's short, it's doable, and it actually works better than trying to power through. If you wanna go deeper with this, you can plan a dedicated nervous system, reset day.

[00:02:50] I call this a hooky day, and I try to plan one every single month. This isn't about filling it with shoulds or checklists or routines. It's the [00:03:00] opposite. You're creating white space on purpose. Sleep in, take a walk in nature, take yourself out to lunch. Spend time journaling.

[00:03:09] Shut off the constant digital noise. This is structured un-scheduling. The point is to teach your body that it doesn't have to stay on high alert to be safe or productive. But what if you don't have a whole day? You can still use those smaller resets. A 15 minute reset might look like three slow breaths, a five minute stretch, and 10 minutes of stillness without scrolling.

[00:03:37] A 62nd reset could be as simple as one deep inhale, one long exhale and naming three things that you can see, hear, and feel right now to get out of your head and into your body. These micro resets build consistency. You're training your system to come back to calm. Faster. Here's another real [00:04:00] life picture.

[00:04:01] Imagine you're juggling dinner prep homework help and work emails pinging on your phone. Instead of pushing through in frustration, you pause and you run your hands under cold water for 30 seconds and take three slow breaths. It sounds tiny, but it signals your nervous system to shift gears. Over time, these little resets become your baseline.

[00:04:24] Not constant reactivity. I wanna give you one more silly example that I have seen come up in my life recently, and it's with our 2-year-old German Shepherd. I enrolled her in a home companion class. That was once a week for six weeks, and as we all sat in this big warehouse doing different things with our dogs, one of the things that the trainer said was, if they're off or they're zeroed in on another dog, or they're not listening, make them sit, get back up and turn in a circle, like lead them around in a circle on their [00:05:00] leash.

[00:05:00] It resets their brain. And I realized when the trainer was talking about this, that is the same thing as resetting your nervous system. She was teaching us how to help our dog reset her nervous system. It's the same thing.

[00:05:16] And here's the big takeaway. Regulation is not indulgent. It's foundational. You don't need more motivation or discipline. You need habits that help your body trust that it can turn off survival mode. And when you practice building this rhythm in, you reclaim your clarity, focus, and energy faster. Here's your reset and reclaim action step for the week.

[00:05:42] Pick one of these reset tools and use it once a day for the next seven days. Maybe it's a two minute breathing pause before you open your inbox or a quick walk outside between meetings. Keep it simple and easily doable. The goal isn't intensity checking boxes [00:06:00] or a gold star. It's repetition. So let's recap.

[00:06:04] Survival mode. Isn't meant to be your default, but when stress runs unchecked, it becomes exactly that. A nervous system reset interrupts that loop, shifts your body back into safety and restores your focus and energy. You don't need a full retreat or a perfect plan. You need small, consistent resets that teach your system.

[00:06:27] It's safe to slow down. Start with one practice this week and stack it from there. If you want more details about different things you can do to reset your nervous system, there's a link to the full blog in the show notes.

[00:06:43] Thanks for tuning in. Do you want me to answer one of your real life productivity questions on the show? Things like how do I plan my week when every single week looks different than the last. Sign up at Cara Chace.com/insider or use the link in the show notes, sign [00:07:00] up for free and email me your question.

[00:07:02] I'd love to hear from you. Until next time, I'm Cara Chace reminding you to keep questioning the rules and making your own.