423 - 3 Reasons Why Trying to Calm Down is Keeping You Stressed

High Capacity – Nervous System Regulation, Stress Management, Burnout Recovery, Somatic Tools, Anxiety, Boundaries, Overwhelm

Michelle Grosser – Inspired by Mel Robbins, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and Dr. Becky Kennedy

Education, Time Management, Anxiety, Productivity, Nervous System, Self-improvement, Mental Health, Emotional Regulation, Parenting, Somatic Tools, Kids & Family, Health & Fitness, Overwhelm, Work-life Balance, Burnout, Mindset

4.9 • 538 Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Free Somatic Workshop Jan. 8 & 9, 2026 - >> REGISTER HERE << -- If you’ve ever told yourself to “just calm down” — and felt even more stressed afterward — there’s a reason for that. Most high-achieving women are trying to regulate stress from the top down: thinking their way into calm, forcing stillness, or pushing their body to quiet before it’s ready. And while that approach sounds logical, it often backfires. In this episode, I’m unpacking why trying to cal...

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Alive and Well, the podcast for the new era of high achievers.
0:07.8	You're done burning out and you're ready to lead, work, and live in a rhythm that honors
0:14.5	both your brilliance and your body. I'm your host, Michelle Grocer. I'm a trial attorney turned nervous system strategist,
0:23.4	and I've lived the burnout story. I know what it's like to chase your goals at the expense of
0:29.1	your well-being. And I also know it doesn't have to be that way. Here, we're redefining success. It's where productivity feels peaceful,
0:41.2	boundaries feel like freedom, and energy comes from within. Each week, I'll share practical
0:49.0	tools for nervous system regulation, time mastery, and somatic strategies so you can show up with clarity,
0:57.5	calm, and confidence in every part of your life. Because you, my friend, were given a spirit
1:05.1	of power, love, and a sound mind. So here's to life and living it fully. This is the path to feeling alive and
1:16.6	well. Let's dive in. Hey, you're listening to Alive and Well. It's Michelle here. Thanks for being with me
1:24.9	today. We're going to talk about why when we try to calm down, it actually
1:31.2	keeps us feeling stressed out or in a stress state. And I don't know about you guys, but there have
1:38.1	been times where I have felt really overwhelmed or I'm mentally trying to like put 7,000 puzzle pieces together or I'm thinking
1:48.0	about all the things that need to be done for something that's coming up, whether it's like
1:52.5	the holidays or a school project. I know my kids are working on or maybe it's a vacation or
1:59.2	something like that. And I feel the stress creeping up. And if I
2:04.6	share that I'm stressed and someone, and it's usually my husband, let's be real, tells me that
2:10.8	it's not a big deal. Like, let me help you with this or, you know, just calm down. If you guys have
2:17.4	ever been told that, just, just calm down. Or, um this or, you know, just calm down. If you guys have ever been told that,
2:19.1	just, just calm down. Or if you ever said that to yourself and noticed, surprise, surprise,
2:27.1	it didn't work. Right? Like if only it were that easy for us to just tell ourselves to calm
2:33.3	down. It's say every time someone
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Michelle Grosser – Inspired by Mel Robbins, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and Dr. Becky Kennedy, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Michelle Grosser – Inspired by Mel Robbins, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and Dr. Becky Kennedy and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.