My Most Spectacular Nervous System Crash
When your body waves the white flag, it's time to yield into secure surrender.
Sometimes, biohacking backfires. In the race to outperform, optimize and become superhuman, we can overload the very command center designed to keep us resilient, adaptable and safe.
Two months ago I pushed my limits — tweaking hormones, upgrading peptide protocols, and ramping up my training with new challenging goals — all during one of the busiest sprints for my wellness advisory.
It resulted in the most spectacular nervous system crash.
I didn’t need more data to know how stressed I was but watching this insane freefall on my Oura dashboard certainly validated how I felt. By comparison, getting norovirus in Ibiza last summer didn’t wreck me this badly.
So how do you recover from such a dramatic plummet from Exceptional resilience to Limited capacity? 🤯 The answer isn’t more biohacking. It’s something far harder for high performers — relearning how to yield.
This personal essay is free, but to support my work and access more upcoming perks like expert webinars, live Q&A's and insider guides, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Ask any high performer to slow down and repair, and you’ll probably get a blank stare. We’re wired to push. But the body always keeps score — if you don’t listen to its whispers, it will start to scream.
For me this meant a racing heart, restless sleep, lack of focus and a body as stiff as a board. It didn’t happen overnight. It was a slow build, nudging me deeper into fight-or-flight. Oura confirmed my diminishing ability to rebound from stress (using metrics like sleep quality, HRV and resting heart rate).
This was often my default mode in New York. But in my wellness-centric LA life, I knew exactly what to do to downshift.
Yielding is a radical strategy for high performers. Instead of proving strength through control, you build resilience through release. It’s the nervous system’s recognition that it doesn’t have to do everything on its own. It’s “being held.”
Bodywork, whether massage, craniosacral or energy work, is often my first step for recovery because it reveals my holding patterns instantly. Hands-on therapy works directly with soft tissue and structure to restore balance, while quietly signaling to the nervous system that it’s safe enough to stop gripping and start repairing. Hello control issues?
So just how bad was I? The practitioner had to remind me, again and again, to relax different parts of my body. I was resisting even the gentlest movements. Even in the hands of someone I trusted, it took a while for me to finally let go.
“Yielding involves fully surrendering your weight into gravity. For example, you can imagine a safe and secure child resting in the arms of a loving parent. Yielding is characterized by a relaxed alertness that allows us to fully and consciously receive support.”
— Arielle Schwartz, PhD, somatic psychologist and somatic-based trauma specialist
In somatic therapy, yielding is the nervous system recognizing enough safety to “loosen its grip on control,” a transition from constant striving to deep, regenerative rest.
Babies know how to do this instinctively. They melt into the arms of a caregiver — secure surrender. This is the original blueprint for yielding. As adults, many of us forget how, and instead brace against the world rather than receive its support.
People who thrive on performance often live in fight or flight — muscles tensed, breath shallow and mind scanning for what’s next. High control = chronic bracing.
Yielding isn’t passive. It’s the act of consciously receiving. It’s a sensory practice and one that most of us need to relearn.
Besides bodywork, here are four simple ways to practice:
1/ Ground Contact
Sit or lie down and notice the places where your body touches the floor, bed or chair. Allow your weight to be held. Bonus points if you try this on the grass.
2/ Soften
Gently ask yourself to let go a little. Choose one area like your shoulder, jaw or belly. Try to melt without forcing it.
3/ Daily Rituals
Build micro moments into your day to remind your nervous system that it’s safe to rest. Yoga Nidra or even leaning your back against the wall can reset your state.
4/ Breathe
Notice your breath. Slow it down. Let your exhale lengthen just a little more than your inhale. Drop the breath into your belly and soften as you go.
Share this post with a stressed out high performer who needs to stop pushing and start slowing down. We all need time to rest and recover!
All writing is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Celia, thank you for sharing this so openly. The act of radical yielding resonates with me (as I'm often caught in the tension of doing too much and my body screaming for rest with my mind overpowering it). Really neat to see the physiological stats here. I appreciate this reminder to tune in.
"Yielding is a radical strategy for high performers" - THIS