I Thought I Was Past the Meltdowns

Let me just start by saying this:

You can meditate.
You can breathe.
You can journal every day.

But if you’re not working with your nervous system—your ingrained, wired-in stress responses—you may still end up screaming at your partner… or punching a fence until your knuckles bleed.

That was me. And I didn’t see it coming. Not like that.

In 2023, we built our house.
A dream. An actual, literal dream.
And the process nearly broke me.

We were living in my father’s basement—me, my partner, our dog, his dogs, our big emotions, and a bank account draining at an alarming pace. Every ounce of energy I had was being poured into the build. Emotionally. Mentally. Financially.

But here’s the kicker: I was still “doing the work.”
Daily breathwork. Meditation. Journaling.
Not drinking. Not numbing.

So I really thought I had outgrown the version of myself who used to snap at people—subtrades, the tax office, whoever was closest—back when I was drinking and burnt out. The version of me who’d sit motionless on the couch at the end of the day, lights off, unable to move.
Those were the extremes.
And I believed they were behind me.

So when I started having similar responses—during a time when I was more “wellness-practiced” than ever—I was shocked.

There were screaming matches.
Dashboard punching.
Moments I couldn’t carry a conversation, or make basic decisions.
Times when I didn’t recognize myself—and the shame that followed felt heavier than the outburst itself.

I kept asking myself: How did I end up here again?

And the answer I eventually landed on was this:
You can’t mindset your way out of survival mode.

Because stress doesn’t just live in your mind.
It lives in your body.
And when it compounds—quietly, daily, relentlessly—your nervous system doesn’t ask for permission before it snaps.

That’s why I recorded this podcast episode (and why I do the work I do). Because this needs to be said out loud:

1. Doing “the work” doesn’t mean you’re never reactive again.

2. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed when your body goes into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.

3. It means you’re human. And it means your system is still wired to protect you—even when your life looks calmer on the surface.

And that’s the deeper work:
Learning how to create safety inside your body—so that when the chaos hits (and it will), you don’t spiral. You don’t shame yourself.
You meet yourself.
You breathe.
You reclaim presence.

This is the heartbeat of Rooted & Rising:
Not just coping. Not bypassing.
But learning how to truly feel safe within yourself, even when the world around you is loud.

This episode still feels raw. But it’s honest.
And if you’ve ever lost your sh*t and thought, how am I here again?—this one’s for you.

👉 [Listen to the episode here]
👉 [Or explore Rooted & Rising here]

Ready to Understand Why You’re Still Snapping, Shutting Down, or Second-Guessing—Even When You’re “Doing the Work”?

You’re meditating. Journaling. Maybe you’ve even quit drinking.
But if you're still feeling stuck, tired, reactive, or foggy... there's probably a survival script running underneath it all.

And that script?
It's not personal failure. It's your nervous system doing what it was wired to do.

That’s why I created the Stressed to Steady Audit—a personalized, powerful breakdown of how chronic stress and emotional loops may be keeping you stuck, and what to actually do about it.

You’ll get:

✅ A custom video audit breaking down where stress shows up in your life and why
✅ A gorgeous PDF of your unique patterns + clear, doable next steps
✅ Nervous system insights that make your healing work finally stick

If you’re craving more steadiness, more clarity, more ability to show up without burning out—this is where I’d start.

👉 Get your Stressed to Steady Audit here