The Quiet Burn: When Overwhelm Doesn’t Look Like Panic
Photo by Ashford Marx: https://www.pexels.com/photo/hand-touching-a-white-flower-head-floating-in-water-20139179/
Not all overwhelm is loud.
Sometimes, it sounds like forgetting what you were just doing.
Sometimes, it looks like scrolling your phone with a numb hand.
Sometimes, it feels like staring out the window for too long and calling it “lazy.”
This is the nervous system in freeze.
Not collapsed because you're broken.
Collapsed because you're brilliant.
Because your body made a choice: shut down to survive.
✧ 01. Not All Nervous System Dysregulation Looks Like Anxiety
We talk a lot about burnout.
But we forget to talk about the kind that goes invisible.
The quiet kind.
The dissociative kind.
The kind that’s not frantic or spiraling — just… flat.
You’re not panicking.
But you can’t really feel anything either.
Your body isn’t trying to fail you.
It’s trying to protect you — from the flood it doesn’t think you can hold.
✧ 02. Signs of the Quiet Burn
You might feel:
Foggy or “floaty” for no reason
Unable to make simple decisions
Emotionally distant, even from things you care about
Tired after doing something that “shouldn’t” be draining
More forgetful or clumsy than usual
Overwhelmed by the idea of texting back
This is not laziness. This is not weakness.
This is your body begging for a slower rhythm.
✧ 03. The Nervous System Doesn’t Care About Your To-Do List
She only wants to know one thing: “Are we safe to feel?”
Not productive.
Not efficient.
Not impressive.
Just safe.
Present.
Held.
So if your body is whispering no to more input, more noise, more pushing — it means she trusts you enough to ask.
✧ 04. Soften First, Then Listen
When you’re in this freeze place, most healing advice can feel like pressure.
Instead of fixing, begin with permission:
To stop mid-sentence and place your hand on your belly
To leave messages unread for a little while
To cry for no obvious reason
To sit outside and watch shadows move
To not explain your quiet to anyone
These aren’t indulgences. They’re medicine.
✧ 05. A Somatic Moment: The Light Touch
Place your fingertips on your cheeks. Just barely touching. Like mist.
Close your eyes.
And breathe — slow, even if shallow.
Let your face soften.
Notice what you feel beneath the numb.
You don’t need to fix the freeze. You just need to be with it long enough that it knows: “We’re not alone anymore.”
✧ 06. A Ritual for the Subtle Unfreezing
This is why I created The First Whisper — a free somatic ritual to soften the nervous system, connect to a flower ally, and start the journey back to your body gently.
If the louder healing methods feel like too much right now…
Begin here.
✿ Receive The First Whisper → HERE.
Your healing doesn’t need to be loud to be real.
It only needs to be yours.
With Care,
Kimberly
