How to Stay Calm When Your Nervous System Is Screaming

The outdoor athlete’s guide to regulating fear, overwhelm, and adrenaline — on the river and in real life.

If you’ve ever stood above a rapid you weren’t sure about, clipped into a climb feeling shaky, or walked into a conversation your whole body was resisting, then you know this truth:

Your nervous system speaks louder than your thoughts.

Fear isn’t a mindset issue.
It’s a physiological one.
And if you don’t know how to regulate your internal world, your external world will feel chaotic, reactive, and out of your control.

This is why my coaching work always starts here:
regulating your body so your mind can think.

Why Your Nervous System Hijacks You

When you feel:

• tight in your chest

• sweaty palms

• tunnel vision

• racing thoughts

• the urge to run, freeze, or fight

…that’s not “weakness” or “overthinking.”

It’s biology.

Your brain is trying to protect you from threat — even when the threat is not actually life-or-death.
This happens on rivers, mountains, job interviews, relationships, transitions, and big goals.

The job isn’t to kill fear.
The job is to work with your physiology instead of against it.

The Core Truth: You Can’t Outthink an Overwhelmed Nervous System

Cognition comes after regulation.

When you’re in a reactive state, no amount of positive thinking or pep talking will help.
Your body has to be brought back online before your mind can process clearly.

This is why so many people feel stuck or spiral.
It has nothing to do with discipline, strength, or capability.
It has everything to do with being dysregulated.

The Wyld Heart Reset: A Simple Regulation Tool You Can Use Anywhere

Here’s one tool I teach all my clients — on boats, trails, job transitions, and everyday life.

1. Orient to your environment (30 seconds)

Turn your head slowly.
Look around.
Name out loud (or silently) what you see.
This tells your nervous system: “We are safe. No immediate threat.”

2. Breathe low and slow (1–2 minutes)

Inhale through the nose for 4.
Exhale for 6–8.
Your exhale is the brake pedal for your entire system.

3. Ground your body (30 seconds)

Feel your feet on the earth, floor, raft, ground, pedals, whatever is beneath you.
Let them get heavy.

Your body organizes around gravity.
It’s a primal signal of safety.

4. Choose one neutral thought (10 seconds)

Not optimistic.
Not pessimistic.
Just true.

Examples:

• “I can take the next step.”

• “I’m here.”

• “My breath is steady.”

• “One moment at a time.”

This keeps your mind from running away with you.

5. Take the next right action

Not the whole plan.
Not the entire rapid.

Just the next thing that moves you forward.

This five-step reset is simple, powerful, and repeatable.
It works in rapids.
It works in conflict.
It works in a career change.
It works when everything feels like too much.

How This Changes the Way You Show Up

In my coaching work, clients start to:

• feel steady instead of reactive

• make decisions from clarity instead of fear

• trust themselves in real-time

• regulate faster when emotions spike

• stop catastrophizing

• show up with more presence, less panic

You don’t need to live at the mercy of your nervous system.
With practice, you can learn to interrupt the spiral and choose courage instead of instinctive reactivity.

This is the foundation of resilient performance — outdoors and in life.

If This Resonates With You…

I help outdoor athletes, guides, professionals, and high-achievers build:

• stronger nervous system regulation

• resilience under pressure

• courageous action

• emotional steadiness

• clearer decision-making

If you’re preparing for a big season, goal, or life shift, this is the work.

I offer a 3-session intro coaching package for $575 or a full 6-session series for $1500.

Your fear isn’t the problem.
Your relationship to it is.
And that’s what we can train together.