Thread by @wendylynnmyers

You’re not depressed.

Your nervous system is dysregulated and stuck in a freeze state.

That’s why everything feels heavy, numb, and pointless, even when life is “fine.”

Here’s how trauma creates shutdown (and how to start feeling better): 🧵

1. When the nervous system perceives threat, it responds in 3 main ways:

1. Fight
2. Flight
3. Freeze

Freeze = shutdown.

Your heart rate slows. Muscles go limp. You disconnect.
It’s not depression. It’s your biology protecting you.

2. In freeze state, the vagus nerve (which controls parasympathetic function) shifts into dorsal vagal dominance.

This leads to:

- Low energy
- Emotional numbness
- Brain fog
- Social withdrawal
- Sense of helplessness

3. You may look “functional” on the outside — going to work, taking care of responsibilities.

But inside, you feel:

- Empty
- Disconnected
- Unmotivated
- Like you’re just surviving

This is high-functioning freeze.

4. Freeze isn’t always caused by one traumatic event.

It’s often built from chronic stress, emotional neglect, or unpredictable environments in childhood.

Your nervous system learned: “It's safer to shut down than fight back.”

5. Key signs your body is in a freeze state:

- Difficulty making decisions
- Dissociation or zoning out
- Heavy limbs, tiredness
- Feeling like you’re “not in your body”
- Struggling to feel joy, even when life is good

6. Common triggers that re-activate freeze:

- Conflict
- Feeling misunderstood
- Loud noises
- Emotional intimacy
- Change or pressure

These don’t feel dangerous logically, but your body remembers otherwise.

Now……

7. Healing starts with co-regulation.

Your nervous system heals in connection with others.

Safe, attuned relationships are medicine.

Therapy, support groups, or even one grounded person can begin to rewire the safety pathways in your body.

Next is self-regulation.

8. These daily practices gently shift you out of freeze:

- Orienting: slowly looking around your space
- Grounding: pressing feet into the floor
- Humming or singing (vagus nerve stimulation)
- Gentle shaking or bouncing
- Cold face plunge or splash

9. Nutrition matters too.

The nervous system needs blood sugar stability and nutrient density.

Try:

✔️ More protein (especially in the morning)
✔️ Magnesium, B vitamins, omega-3s
✔️ Less caffeine — especially if it spikes anxiety or crash cycles

10. Movement helps reawaken your system.

But don’t go intense at first as that can trigger more shutdown.

Start with:

- Slow walks
- Somatic stretching
- Rebounding (gentle jumping)
- Dancing to music

Small consistent motion = safety through rhythm.

11. Your goal isn’t to “fix” yourself.

It’s to help your body feel safe enough to shift naturally.

You’ll know you’re moving out of freeze when:

- Emotions start to return
- Energy slowly builds
- You feel present instead of zoned out

12. I lived in freeze for years.

I thought I was just tired and unmotivated.

But the truth?

My body was stuck in a survival response.

Healing didn’t start with mindset shifts.

It started when I learned how to feel safe in my body again.

That’s why I created Phoenix

Rising A trauma-informed Skool community for women ready to:

→ Release trauma weight
→ Regulate emotions
→ Heal the nervous system
→ Feel safe in their body again

Inside, we do the work no one else teaches:

Top-down and bottom-up healing.

If traditional fitness failed you…

If therapy felt like talking in circles…

If you’re ready for healing that actually sticks...

This is where it starts. Try 7 days free in my weight loss community:
shorturl.at/EQv1P