FINDING CALM IN A HYPERCONNECTED WORLD - How your somatic body responds to tech stress
- Madi
- Sep 18
- 3 min read
The boat doesn't sink because there's water around it.
It sinks because the water get's inside it.
Lately, it feels like there is so much going on in the world that demands our attention. I was thinking back to when social media first came out—I remember telling my mom, “It’s amazing! You can see all your friends from across the world and even call them for free!”
What my fourteen-year-old self didn’t realize is that choosing to stay connected like this would also come with a price—the price of distraction, disconnection, and nervous system dysregulation.
The truth is: humans were never meant to witness the amount of horrors, tragedies, and endless streams of stimulation that we now consume daily.
And it’s not just what we see—it’s how we see it.
When we scroll on our phones, our eyes dart in tiny, jerky patterns. Instead of the wide, sweeping movements our eyes make when we’re out in nature (which naturally regulate and calm the nervous system), these rapid micro-movements overstimulate the brain. Over time, this can contribute to anxiety, fatigue, headaches, and a dysregulated system.
When the system is overloaded, it can leave us stuck in survival modes on what’s often called the “nervous system ladder”:
Ventral Vagal (Social Engagement): This is our state of safety, connection, presence, and creativity. When here, we feel grounded and at ease.
Sympathetic Activation: This is fight-or-flight. The body mobilizes—heart races, breath quickens, muscles tighten. It’s meant to be temporary, but many of us live here chronically.
Functional Freeze: When the system gets overwhelmed, it tries to do both—fight/flight energy and shut down energy. You feel stuck, exhausted, foggy, maybe even numb, while still buzzing underneath.
Dorsal Vagal Shutdown: This is collapse. Energy pulls inward, leaving us feeling hopeless, drained, and disconnected from life.
One of the most powerful things somatics and boundary work has given me is the ability to notice where I am on this ladder—and to respond with compassion, not criticism. I’ve learned how to sense when stress is building, and to pause before overwhelm takes over. Somatic practice helps me find my edges, rest without screens, and create the inner safety to handle more without sinking.
And here’s the thing: the more I practice, the more capacity I build, I am able to take on more stress without shutting down and recover quickly.
Part of that healing is learning to reset the very patterns that keep us stuck—like the rapid, jerky eye movements that happen when we scroll on a screen. Those movements wire us into hypervigilance. Somatic practices retrain the eyes to soften, widen, and move in ways that calm the brain and support ventral vagal safety again.
Over time, this somatic work restores our place on the polyvagal ladder—guiding us out of functional freeze or shutdown and back toward regulation, presence, and connection.
That’s why I’m inviting you to join me for a 6-week group somatic series starting October 15th.
Yes, it’s online—but the sessions are designed so you can listen on a speaker without needing to look at the screen. Each week we move slowly and gently, giving your body the chance to unwind and re-structure in a sustainable way.
By the end of six weeks, my hope is that you’ll feel more resilient, more connected to your body, and more confident in navigating your own nervous system.
And because this is hosted from my home in Nicaragua, you’ll also get to experience a little piece of my life here—the jungle sounds, the colorful scenery, and the places I’ve called home.
When we finish, you’ll keep access to all six recorded sessions for life, so you can return to them whenever you need a reset.
If you’re ready to bring peace and true rest back into your life, I’d love for you to join me.