Still Shaken After the Scare

Show Notes
In this episode, I respond to a thoughtful question that came out of The Art of the Mother Duck workshop Luc and I recently taught on nervous system skills in outdoor recreation and group dynamics.

We explore what happens after a stressful or overwhelming experience outdoors — when the body continues carrying activation, fear, or protective responses long after the moment itself has passed.

I walk through why these responses are normal, how the nervous system learns quickly around threat and survival, and the ways intense experiences can leave behind incomplete survival responses that continue showing up when we return to similar situations.

From there, we explore some practical ways to support the body through this process: orienting to safety cues, resourcing, co-regulation, pendulation, and titrating slowly back into challenge. I also talk about the importance of patience when capacity feels smaller than it used to — and how rebuilding trust with the body often happens through small, successful experiences over time.

This episode is an invitation to approach nervous system healing with more compassion, more slowness, and a deeper understanding of what your body is trying to do for you.

Timestamps
00:00 — Introduction + walking in the woods
01:00 — Reflecting on The Art of the Mother Duck workshop
03:30 — The listener question: what happens after intense experiences?
04:30 — Prevention vs. response in nervous system work
06:00 — It’s normal to be impacted by intense experiences
07:30 — The nervous system as a fast learner around threat
09:00 — Fight, flight, freeze, and the “panic zone”
10:00 — Completing survival responses
12:00 — When experiences land as growth vs. overwhelm
13:00 — Interrupted cycles + incomplete responses
14:30 — Why some activation stays stuck in the body
15:00 — Somatic therapy + completing survival cycles
16:00 — Returning to activities after scary experiences
17:00 — Orienting, resourcing, and co-regulation
19:00 — Pendulation: activation + safety together
21:00 — Lowered capacity after overwhelm
22:30 — Titration + rebuilding trust slowly
23:00 — Whitewater story: feet in the river as the right first step
24:00 — Giving the body small successful experiences
25:00 — Learning safety takes time too
26:00 — Closing reflections

Submit your questions for the Q&A [here]

Photos and links from this episode:
www.mindandmountain.co/podcast