01/26/2026
There’s nothing wrong with you. Your brain and your body are doing exactly what they are designed to do when they sense threat.
Have patience with yourself. Don’t expect yourself to feel as productive as usual.
Try this:
1) If you are in imminent danger, let your fired up system help you activate to do whatever you need to do to get to safety. If you’re NOT in imminent danger, use your internal self-talk to remind yourself that you are safe in this moment. Do things that soothe your central nervous system: movement, breathing, mindfulness, baths, laughter, tea, etc.
2) That will help you get your prefrontal cortex back online, at which point you can make intentional decisions about the next steps you want to take. Is it a day to focus on your job, or being with your friends and family? Is it a day to go to a rally, call your lawmakers, write that op-ed, or reach out to an organization you feel aligned with to see how you can help?
Most of us are getting caught in an uncomfortable neurological liminal space where our brains are firing for crisis —we are holding images and sounds of crisis in the palm of our hands even if our boots aren’t on the ground. This sends our brains into a survival-based go-mode that makes regular life hard…but without a clear way to make good and immediate use of that neurological go-mode we end up frozen, distracted, stuck in a brain-state that doesn’t fit the moment.
If you can get your brain state to match your moment you get your full neurological resources back. It’s not about just calming yourself down to maintain your individual peace…it’s about getting into a brain state where you can more effectively decide your next move.
In the meantime, have patience. The distraction you feel is your body doing this just right. That doesn’t make it comfortable…but don’t go judging yourself about it. This is what you were made to do.
#2026