This post is part of a brand new series called
The Sunday Reset: weekly reflections on the healing practices that have brought me back to wholeness as I built a 6 figure business. Every Sunday, you’ll receive a new tool to reconnect you to self- so you can lead your business from a place of authenticity.
Welcome to our new era
I’m so excited to share with you the very first edition of The Sunday Reset, which is part of my new brand The Spiritually Ambitious.
Here’s the short version of what we are about….
The Spiritually Ambitious: Follow your intuition to build the business that brings you back to life. Because your greatest impact comes from a place of wholeness.
This tagline really comes from a quote I came across when I was leaving residency which does:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Howard Thurman.
I’ve found that when we come back to life, when we come back to our truest self, that IS when we make the greatest impact.
So The Spiritually Ambitious is a home for people who want success and impact without self-abandonment.
And my mission is to share everything I’ve learned about HOW I am doing that.
What Is The Sunday Reset?
The Sunday Reset is a weekly reflection on the healing practices and modalities that have brought me back to wholeness, while building a six-figure business.
Every Sunday, I’ll share a tool or practice that’s helped me reconnect to self, so I can lead from authenticity.
Because the biggest plot twist of my entrepreneurial journey is that it became a healing journey. The process of learning how to earn money from my gifts has both wrecked me and revived me. Some days it’s been brutal, and other days it’s been so magical I literally cry from gratitude.
So I want to share all the things that have helped me on my healing journey throughout these past 6 years,
Let’s kick off this series with a foundational piece:
nervous system regulation.
The Gateway Praxtice
Nervous system regulation is not just one practice, it’s a whole umbrella.
But I wanted to start here because this lens has been foundational for me in the rest of my healing processes.
You’ve probably heard about nervous system work previously. For me, I like to keep things as simple as possible.
Nervous system regulation is the practice of helping your body feel safe.
Most of us are living in a state of chronic hypervigilance. (and we don’t even realize it)
It’s like our bodies are stuck in fight-or-flight mode from years of hustling, pressure and over caffeinating.
That was me for years. And I didn’t even know it. I don’t think I would have even described myself as “stressed”. I thought I was just “driven.”
Turns out, I was chronically dysregulated.
The Synchronicities that Led Me to Nervous System Work
The first time I heard about nervous system regulation was in the summer of 2020, during the height of COVID, while I was in DaNang Vietnam.
I picked up the book Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski, because, honestly I wanted to be an expert in the topic for my clients. (lol)
Little did I know, I was picking up the book for me.
It sounds so basic now, but the first time reading this book was nothing short of a revelation.
It was how I realized that the stress response and the stressor were two different things. And just because we have resolved the stressor (the work deadline, the test, the toxic coworker, etc), doesn’t mean we have resolved the stress response in our body.
Around this same time, I started doing this at-home yoga class from an app called Aaptive.
The teacher, Jade Alexis led us through a sequence of one breath per movement. It was an intense flow. I felt uncomfortably out of breath as I moved through each pose. Then finally, we paused in Downward Dog to catch out breath.
And Jade gently instructed “notice how the practice has changed you”.
I took a moment to scan my body (which at that time I never did)- and she was right. The practice had changed me. It felt like my whole body was a car that had downshifted gears.
And as I felt this new sensation….. this internal quietness, I realized this is what the Burnout book was talking about too.
I had just completed the stress cycle.
It was a Helen-Keller-at-the-water-pump-moment. A full body epiphany of what calm actually feels like.
The Practice: Interoception
So while the entire process of nervous system regulation is way too indepth to cover in one substack article, I want to introduce you to ONE powerful practice that can regulate your nervous system.
(And if you want my full, in- depth process you can grab it here The Calm Nervous System Toolkit )
The practice today is called interoception which is essentially a body scan to tune into your internal sensations. It’s about pausing to notice what’s happening inside your body- in a neutral, gentle way.
I guide you through a short interoception practice in the video (at the top of this post), but the basics are this:
Close your eyes.
Take a few deeper slower breaths as you turn your attention inward.
And ask yourself the questions “what am I noticing inside my body”.
You want to start by naming physical sensations instead of feelings. So for example: tightness in the chest, aching in the lower back, lump in the throat, etc.
Note at least 3 physical sensations. Then open your eyes and write them down.
That’s it to start with. Eventually you can use this process to map out what state your nervous system is in (I got more into this in the Calm Nervous System Toolkit).
But initially you want to build the habit of just tuning in and connecting to your body. Just the act of doing this already starts to calm your nervous system. That’s why it’s one of my favorite practices. It’s a two for one.
It lets you identify where your nervous system is AND it brings it back to calm.
Safety is the gateway to success
You deserve to feel safe in your body.
To have the ability to self soothe so you know that you are ok. This is what nervous system work does for me.
When you feel safe in your body, you can express yourself more authentically in your work and build deeper relationships.
Truly being able to regulate my nervous system and bring my body back safety is how I’ve been able to build a business that feels like ME.
A business that doesn’t burn me out. That doesn’t require me to abandon myself to help others.
And I want that for you too.
Sunday Reset Reflection
I would love these Sunday resets to be interactive. So here is a question for you to answer:
What helps bring you back to safety? And what does that feel like in your body?
Drop your fav tools and practices below so we can support each others’ nervous system journeys.
And if you want to take this work deeper you’ll want to download…
The Calm Nervous System Toolkit: A simple process to bring your body back to safety.
When we create from a calm nervous system our work has greater impact (and we actually enjoy the process more)
This toolkit is for you if you’re looking to:
Have simple tools to self-soothe when life gets overwhelming
Feel grounded in your body instead of ruled by anxiety and stress
Have the capacity to build your business without burning out or shutting down
Inside you'll find:
90 Minute Training: Understand the foundations of nervous system regulation so calm can become your new baseline.
10 of my go-to Nervous System Tools: Simple powerful practices you can use anytime you feel stressed, overwhelmed or disconnected- so you can stop feeling hijacked by anxiety and start returning to safety with ease.
Feeling safe in your body is the foundation for everything you’re here to build
Access Your Calm Nervous System Now
XO, Coach Chels
