Who Are You When Life Isn't A Crisis? | Nervous System Healing & Daily Practice

The cards wouldn't shuffle. Then "Chop Wood" appeared twice. The universe was insisting on one message: transformation doesn't live in breakthroughs. It lives in what you do every single day.

In this episode:

• Why your nervous system resists simplicity (even when you crave peace)
• The real reason "just breathe" makes you roll your eyes
• Who you are when life isn't a crisis and why that scares you
• A guided somatic practice: breath, body, nervous system regulation
• Why consistent tiny practices create more change than dramatic moments

If you've ever wondered why healing feels so unsexy and repetitive, this is for you. We explore the gap between what you want (ease, flow, calm) and what your body chases (adrenaline, problems to fix, crisis to solve). Then we practice together: hand on heart, feet on ground, breath as devotion.

This episode includes a guided meditation you can return to anytime. No props needed. No perfection required. Just you, your breath, and your willingness to choose the sacred ordinary over the dramatic.

After a decade of this work, 250+ podcast episodes, and countless clients, one pattern is clear: the people who transform aren't the ones with the biggest breakthroughs they're the ones who show up to the small stuff consistently.

Keywords: nervous system regulation, daily practice, somatic healing, breathwork, trauma recovery, self-compassion, meditation, anxiety relief, emotional regulation

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Transcript

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Choosing A Message And A Card

SPEAKER_00 0:04

I shuffled these cards to ask what was the message that was needed, because I have so many things popping in my head. And in the moment, I was thinking about betrayal, I was thinking about hurt and what you do when people harm you. And these cards refused to intertwine into each other, which I found very fascinating. Then I thought about Jamaica and the despair and all the stuff that's going on. Yet they shuffled, but not very smoothly. So then I surrendered and I asked, what is it that I need to share? And as the universe would have it, this card pulled up. What's ironic about this card is that I pulled this same card four days ago in a podcast I was on as a guest, and the conversation spoke about exactly what chopwood means. And so I'm listening, universe, and I hope you're listening and you'll tune in to what message this is.

Welcome And Theme Of Transformation

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Welcome to the Lift One Self Podcast. I'm your host, Nat Mat. And today we're going to speak about, you know, what we think transformation looks like. So could you like, share, and subscribe to the podcast so we can reach to the people that need it? This may be the medicine that someone is looking for. Many

Breakthroughs Need Daily Integration

SPEAKER_00 1:41

times we have a myth that we believe that the big breakthroughs in therapy, the ayahuasca journey, the moments you forgive your abuser, the dramatic release where you finally get it. And those moments happen. I've had them, you've had them. Yet here's what nobody tells you. That breakthrough becomes a breakdown if you don't have daily practices to integrate it. The real work isn't the mountaintop. It's coming down and washing the dishes, making your bed, which I hate to do every morning, breathing before you react. Choosing compassion when your kids spill milk for the hundredth time. And you're like again, and you want to scream, you want to freak out, you don't understand why this is happening again.

Why Simplicity Triggers The Nervous System

SPEAKER_00 2:43

And that's why you need to chop wood and carry water. Using the practice to regulate yourself. Why we resist the simple things? See, what you may not realize is that your nervous system hates simplicity. Yeah, even though you want peace, you want to have ease, you want things to go in a flow. Yet guess what? You know why your nervous system hates simple? Because it's boredom. Because there's no fixing, there's no adrenaline, there's no threat. And then you have to ask the question: who am I when I'm not in crisis? And many of us, we don't know how to answer that. When I say to you, just breathe and put your feet on the ground. I bet you you roll your eyes. I bet you you say that this can't work. I bet you you're like, oh, not this thing again. It's too simple. It's too easy. I need more. That's trauma talking. Trauma convinces you that healing must be complicated and painful as the wounding was. But it doesn't. Healing happens in the pause before you speak. The hand on your heart when you're overwhelmed. The five-minute walk when you want to scroll. The I'm struggling today instead of I'm fine. The choosing to eat something nourishing when your body asks. The going to bed at a decent hour. This is the work. This, not the dramatic stuff, the mundane, repetitive, unsexy daily stuff. And your ego, it hates it because it can't perform it for an audience. Here's what I've learned after a decade of this work. 250 plus podcasts, countless clients, and my own journey through illness and grief. The people who transform aren't the ones who have the biggest breakthroughs. They're the ones who show up to the small stuff consistently. And I have to keep reminding myself that, especially when my nervous system is looking for chaos. They're the ones who meditate for five minutes, even if it feels pointless. Feel their feelings even when it's inconvenient.

Devotion To Small Consistent Practices

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Keep coming back to their body even after they've disassociated for the thousandth time. And practice self-compassion day one and on day 1000. You know what that is? Devotion. Not to a practice, not to a guru, not to me or any teacher. Devotion to yourself, to your own returning, your own integration. Every time you choose the simple practice over the drama, you're saying, I matter. My nervous system matters. My healing matters. That's the revolution.

Guided Mindful Breathing Practice

SPEAKER_00 6:04

So let's let's go into a mindful moment. Let's practice this right now. Let's take the unsexy, simple, repetitive thing, the breath and the body, and let's make it sacred. Not because it's special, because you're here, because you're willing. Now, if it's safe to do so, gently close your eyes or soften your gaze. Put one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly. This isn't complicated. We're just coming home. Feel your feet on the ground. Actually feel them. The weight, the temperature, the contact with the ground. Feel your buttocks against your chair. You're supported. The earth has you. Now notice your breath. You don't have to change it, just notice it. Bring in that awareness to watching it go in and out. Is it high in your chest? Is it shallow? Is it holding? No judgment, but just noticing. Now let's add just the slightest invitation. Breathe in for four counts. Hold for four counts. Out for six. We're just telling your nervous system we're safe enough to slow down. So let's begin. Wherever you are, you're gonna do a gentle exhale. Now breathe in through your nose. Three two one. Hold it. Two three four. Exhale. Five four three two one. Inhale three two one. Hold it. Two three four. Exhale. Five four three. Two one. Inhale. Three. Two one. Hold it. Two three. Four. Exhale. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Now just allow yourself to have a normal breath. Now bringing your attention to your hands on your body. This is you caring for you. This is devotion. This is the work. One more breath. And when you're ready, you're gonna gently open your eyes while staying with your breath.

Return To The Sacred Ordinary

SPEAKER_00 9:16

This is what I needed you to hear. Your healing doesn't need to be impressive. It needs to be consistent. The transformation isn't in the big moments, it's in the returning, the repetition, the chopping wood when you'd rather be somewhere else. I've said this before, I'll say it a thousand more times. Because every time I say it, someone hears it for the first time and their life changes. That's why I'll keep showing up. That's why you need to keep showing up. Not for the breakthrough, for the daily practice, for the sacred ordinary. And when you keep doing the practices and chopping the wood, that's where you see the transformation and change. Because you're not just going into a breakthrough in a moment, you're embodying what you want that change to look like. So chop wood, hairy water, return to your body. This is the way to develop your discernment for what you need. Thank you for being here. Thank you for doing the work. Please remember to be kind to yourself. You matter.