Do you wake up already bracing?

Before your feet hit the floor, before the coffee brews, before the kids burst in with their pitter-patter and the pets demand their morning rituals—your stomach is already in knots. Your heart races. The day hasn’t begun, and yet your nervous system is already sprinting.

I’ve heard it all.

“Are you going to swing a pocket watch and say, ‘You are getting sleeeeepy?”
“Will I end up doing something embarrassing?”
“What if I forget everything I say?”

When I share that I use hypnotherapy in my mental health therapy practice, people often picture stage shows or someone clucking like a chicken. The word “hypno” tends to stir up confusion or fear. But here’s the truth: hypnotherapy is one of the most misunderstood and deeply powerful tools I’ve ever worked with (personally and professionally).

Lately, I’ve been allowing myself to just be—to breathe, to rest, and to enjoy the little things without pressure. Carrying that practice into my weeks has been a gift. Of course, planning ahead helps me check things off my list, but I’m also learning the value of slowing down and being present.

A few weeks ago, I had an experience that reminded me why play matters

For years, birthdays felt like a spotlight I didn’t want to stand under. I felt discomfort at the thought of someone wishing me a happy birthday, gifting me a present, or trying to make the day ‘about me.’

The idea of celebrating myself felt uncomfortable, and, upon reflection, even undeserved. My inner critic would say things like:

• “I’m nothing special.”

• “What is no one else celebrates me.”

• “I don’t want the attention.”

I used to roll my eyes at gratitude practices

Not because I didn’t believe in them, but because they felt forced. Like one more thing I was supposed to do. So, I’d sit with my journal, staring at prompts that asked me to list three things I was grateful for. And I’d think, Really? This again?

But I kept showing up. Not perfectly. Not enthusiastically. Just consistently enough to notice something: even when I wasn’t writing, I was practicing gratitude. Quietly. Internally. In the way I softened toward myself. In the way I noticed beauty in the mundane. In the way I allowed discomfort to sit beside me without needing to fix it. I never expected to say it, but one day I did…

Your nervous system is a beautifully complex thing—broken down into two main branches, then more branches within those branches, and so on. But when we talk about nervous system healing, we are focusing in on a “sub-branch” called the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

Its job? To constantly scan your environment for cues of safety or danger (remember that smoke detector I talked about last week)? And depending on what it detects, it activates one of two modes. Cue…your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Imagine a smoke alarm in a cozy little house. When the house was first built, the alarm was perfectly calibrated. It knew the difference between danger and safety. It only went off if there was real smoke or fire—an actual threat. It was designed to protect, not panic.

But over time, things began to happen in that house. A candle left burning too long. Times when someone forgot to turn off the stove, or the wiring sparked in the walls. One day, a real fire broke out—it was terrifying, and it left a deep mark.

After that, the alarm changed. It became hypersensitive.

Toast too brown? Alarm activated.

A hot shower with steam? Alarm activated.

Lighting birthday candles? Alarm activated.

Even when there was no real danger, the alarm screamed. It wasn’t broken. It had simply learned. Learned that danger can come from the small, ordinary things. Learned that safety is unpredictable. And now, it was trying to protect at all costs.