Paralysis to Power: Nervous System Regulation for Resistance
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Before we begin, a content warning: this episode discusses oppression and harm. If you need to pause or come back to this one later, please do. It’s important that you take care of yourself.
I need to talk about something that's been coming up a lot lately—this feeling of "what's the point?" I’ve had conversations with clients, friends, folks on social media- all expressing a grand sense of hopelessness. This feeling of being small and insignificant compared to the fascist, oligarch control - we’re not just seeing here in the states, but all over the world.
The Epstein files dropped, and we got confirmation of what a lot of us already knew: powerful men have been protected while committing atrocities against women and girls for decades. And the collective response has been… a shrug. Some outrage, sure. But mostly? Business as usual. And that’s not setting well with me.
What’s also not setting well is that a lot folks are saying: "This is too much. They’re too big, too rich, too powerful. What could we ever do?”
I get it. I feel it too. The scale of the corruption, the abuse, the systems designed to protect predators while silencing survivors—it's fucking overwhelming.
But today I want to talk about what's actually happening in our bodies when we say "this is too much," and why that response—as valid as it is—is exactly what these systems rely on to keep running and to keep control.
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM TRUTH
Alright, so let’s talk about what’s really going on when you feel paralyzed by the enormity of what we're facing:
That feeling of "what's the point, it's all too big, nothing we do matters"—that's a dorsal vagal nervous system response. Your nervous system has assessed the threat as too large to fight and too large to run from, so it's doing the only thing left: collapsing into immobilization- this is the freeze response.
This is the same response that happens when animals play dead to survive a predator. It's a survival mechanism. And in the moment of an acute threat, it can save your life. It’s why we don’t see a lot of victims of abuse and brutality fight back- being attacked can make your nervous system go offline, because it’s too much to bear and to be fully present in.
But here's the problem: we're not facing an acute threat. We're facing chronic, systemic oppression. And shutdown—while it might protect us from feeling the full weight of the horrors we’re witnessing through our screens—it’s also stripping us of our capacity to respond.
When you're in shutdown, everything feels futile. Small actions feel pointless. Showing up feels impossible. Connection feels too hard. You go numb. You scroll. You dissociate. You tell yourself there's nothing you can do anyway, so why bother?
And that—*that*—is exactly what this racist, misogynistic system needs from us.
PARALYSIS SERVES THE SYSTEM
The system doesn't need your compliance. It doesn't need you to actively support it. It just needs you paralyzed.
It needs you too overwhelmed to organize. Too numb to care. Too exhausted to fight. Too isolated to build solidarity and community with others.
"This is too much" keeps us immobilized while the machine keeps running.
And here's the really insidious part: the same systems that create the conditions for abuse—patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism—are also the systems that keep us too dysregulated to effectively resist them.
They profit from our burnout. They rely on our shutdown. They *need* us to believe that the problem is too big and we are too small.
Because the truth? The truth is that collective action built by people doing small things together is exactly how these corrupt systems fall. But you can't be part of collective action when you’re in a state of shutdown.
So let me be very clear: when you feel like "this is too much, what can I even do?"—that's not truth talking. That's trauma talking. That's your nervous system trying to protect you from pain it doesn't think you can handle.
And I'm not saying the pain isn't real. I'm not saying the problem isn't massive. I'm saying your capacity to respond is not determined by the size of the threat—it's determined by the state of your nervous system in this moment.
THE REFRAME
So the question isn't "what can we even do about something this big?"
The question is: "Can I get regulated enough to do the next right thing in front of me?"
Because here's what resistance actually looks like:
It's not one person solving everything. It's thousands of people showing up for their small piece while others show up for theirs.
It's the person who reports abuse even when they're scared. It's the journalist who keeps investigating even when powerful people try to silence them. It's the survivor who tells their story. It's the community member who believes them. It's the organizer who plans the protest. It's the person who shows up to the protest. It's the lawyer who takes the case. It's the friend who offers childcare so someone else can go to the meeting.
None of those actions, alone, change the system. But together? Together they create the conditions for change.
And every single one of those actions requires a nervous system that's regulated enough to move from "this is too much" into "here's what I can do today.”
It doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It doesn't mean you’re not tired. It means you’re able to care for yourself in ways that allow to rise despite fear and fatigue. And rising doesn’t mean you abandon your need for things like rest, and leisure and joyful, creative hobbies. In fact, you need those things in order to truly build resilience, and we’ll talk about that another time.
PRACTICAL TOOLS
But for now, let's talk about what you can actually *do* when you're feeling paralyzed by the enormity of what we're facing.
Name the state you're in
Just notice where you’re at. "I'm in shutdown right now." That's it. You're not broken. You're not weak. You're having a physiological response to overwhelming information. Naming it gives you a little bit of space between the feeling and the truth.
Do something physical to shift your state
Shutdown happens when your system has decided fight and flight won't work. So we need to give your body evidence that movement is still possible.
This can be really simple: Stand up and shake out your hands. Do five jumping jacks. Put on a song and dance badly in your kitchen. Go outside and feel your feet on the ground. Splash cold water on your face.
You're not trying to fix everything. You're trying to shift out of immobilization and back into a state where action feels possible—even small action.
Connect with one other person
Shutdown is isolating. It makes you feel like you're alone in this. So reach out. Text a friend. Call someone who gets it. Join a community of people who are also trying to stay awake and engaged instead of numb.
This is not optional. We cannot sustain resistance alone. We need each other—not just for strategy, but for nervous system regulation. Co-regulation is how we stay in the fight long enough to make a difference.
Do one small thing
Not the thing that solves everything. Just one thing.
Maybe it's signing a petition. Maybe it's donating $5 to an organization doing the work. Maybe it's having a hard conversation with someone in your life. Maybe it's showing up to a local meeting. Maybe it's sharing a survivor's story. Maybe it's just saying out loud, "This is not okay, and I'm not going to pretend it is."
The goal is not to save the world today. The goal is to practice moving from shutdown into action. To give your nervous system evidence that you are not, in fact, helpless.
Because you're not. We're not.
THIS IS RESISTANCE
I know this might not feel like enough. Teaching people about nervous system regulation when we're staring down systemic abuse and corruption—it can feel small.
But I want you to understand something: helping people stay regulated enough to keep fighting instead of burning out or shutting down? *That is resistance.*
The system needs our exhaustion. It needs our paralysis. It needs us too numb to care and too overwhelmed to act.
Nervous system regulation is how we refuse that. It's not self-care as avoidance—it's self-care as sustained resistance.
Because this fight is not a sprint. It's a marathon. And we need people who can stay in it for the long haul—awake, engaged, connected, and resilient.
That's what I'm teaching. That's what The Uprising is built for.
Invitation
If you're tired of feeling paralyzed, if you want tools to stay in the fight without burning out, if you need a community of people who refuse to go numb—join us in The Uprising.
It's my Patreon community where we dig into nervous system literacy, resilience-building, and how to sustain resistance in a world that profits from our exhaustion.
Right now, it's pay-what-you-can. If you can't afford it, just message me and I'll get you access for free. Because this work needs to be accessible, and I mean that.
Conclusion
The world is heavy right now. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you it's not.
But we have a choice: we can let the weight crush us into shutdown, or we can learn how to carry it together.
I'm choosing the latter. I hope you'll join me.
Take care of yourself. Take care of each other. And I'll see you next time.