Hyperarousal is when your body goes into fight or flight. It often shows up as anxiety, panic, restlessness, feeling out of control, or wanting to run away. In this state, it’s very hard to relax, sleep, or even digest food. Your system is flooded with excessive energy and can’t switch off.
What to Do When You’ve Gone Into Hyperarousal
- Go somewhere quiet
- Notice the signs of activation in your body — e.g. anxiety, heart racing
- Find a felt sense of groundedness in your body and focus on it
- Know that you are going to be okay — you are just activated, and you are being with yourself while you return to your window of tolerance
Other Ideas to Release the Excess Energy
- 20 minutes of exercise
- Breathing deeply and slowly into your tummy
- Dancing out the excess energy
- Soothing music you enjoy
- Being wrapped in a blanket
- Drinking warm water
The Power of Grounding
One way to begin calming your body is by grounding. Notice the places where your body meets the Earth and allow yourself to feel held. This might be your tummy, the base of your spine, or your feet pressing into the floor. Explore a few spots inside your body and choose one to become your regular grounding point.
Practising this regularly gives you a resource to come back to in stressful moments. Over time, that grounding spot can help you feel safer, more connected, and more at ease in your own body.
Love, Jen 🪷
References:
Ogden, P. (2009). Modulation, mindfulness, and movement in the treatment of trauma-related depression.
Siegel, D. (1999). The developing mind. New York: Guilford.
Stanley, E. A. (2019). Widen the Window. Boulder, Colorado: Random House.
Give Yourself 5 Days of Real Self-Care
The 5-Day Self-Care Programme is a practical, heart-centred programme designed to help you slow down, reconnect with yourself, and rebuild the habits that truly nourish you — body, mind, and spirit. You deserve to feel restored.