From Survival to Safety: A Week in Nervous System Healing with IBS

From Survival to Safety: A Week in Nervous System Healing with IBS

This week started off rough. I felt bloated, constipated, tense, and overwhelmed—symptoms all too familiar in my journey with IBS and nervous system dysregulation. So on Monday, I was considering something big: asking for a medical leave from work. The decision had been eating at me for days. I was anguishing, overthinking, and stuck in sympathetic fight-or-flight mode.

For me, that state feels like tightness in my forehead, racing thoughts, emotional eating, rushing from task to task, and of course, the abdominal symptoms—discomfort, tension, and bloating. It's not just a mental thing. It's deeply physical.

Instead of taking medical leave, I asked for a work accommodation to work from home 4–5 days a week. That alone gave me a bit of breathing room—less pressure, less noise, more space to heal.

On Tuesday morning, I made a quiet promise to myself: I refuse to be the source of my own suffering. I committed to regulating my nervous system. That meant not overbooking my day. Catching myself when I started spiraling. Actually doing the practices I know help me return to safety.

By Wednesday, I already felt better. Not because I told myself to calm down (that never works), but because I moved differently.

Here’s what’s working for me:

I have a timer that goes off every 20 minutes. When it rings, I pause. I ask myself:

• Am I breathing fully?

• Am I clenching?

• Am I rushing?

• What’s the quality of my thoughts right now?

• What’s the emotion beneath the surface?

Sometimes I hear the timer and think, “I’m fine.” But when I check in—really check in—I’m not fine. Those subtle cues of dysregulation aren’t obvious when you’ve lived that way for decades. It’s been my baseline for so long.

When I notice dysregulation, I use my somatic tools. Just 1–2 minutes is usually enough to shift. I ground myself. I come back. And then I try to stay in that regulated state for as long as I can.

The truth? By the time the next timer goes off, I’m often back in fight-or-flight. But I’m not discouraged. These patterns took decades to wire in. They won’t unravel in a week. Every time I interrupt the pattern, I weaken it.

I used to rush my mornings just to squeeze in more—a walk, lunch prep, a checklist of "healthy" things. I see now how even those things were being driven by the same inner motor of urgency.

That’s where inner child work comes in—a topic for another post. But I’ll say this: I wasn’t born this way. My nervous system learned to survive like this. It was protective. It served a purpose. And now, I’m learning a new way to live.

One check-in at a time. One breath at a time.One moment of safety at a time.

Still healing. Still returning.

And if you're looking for some personalized help book a 1:1 session with me here. I'd love to be part of your healing journey!

With love,

Cam