The conventional thought is that if you’re stressed, depleted, or carrying the weight of years spent performing at the edge of your capacity, the answer is to slow down. Meditate. Take a bath. Sit in silence. Breathe.

These are good tools and they can help. But, they are only part of the picture. Because the opposite of a nervous system locked in chronic stress is not calm.

It’s play.

You survived the trauma. Did the therapy. Read the books. Burned the sage. So, why does life still feel like this?

This week, Sara walks us deeper into what happens when cycle breakers and survivors live in a constant state of bracing – and what to do about it.