Sarah breaks down how the autonomic nervous system shapes your entire lived experience, using clear metaphors to explain why you may feel blocked from the relationships, purpose, and opportunities you long for. She shares why the nervous system responds to what you show it (somatically), not what you tell it, and how regulation helps create the internal conditions for growth and fulfillment.

The episode closes with questions about finding purpose, knowing when to push versus pause, and navigating fear during big transitions. Join Sarah to learn how small, steady capacity-building steps can help you move toward the life you long for with more trust, clarity, and ease.

Episode Highlights:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [01:11] Why effort and willpower alone aren’t enough
• [05:03] Your nervous system creates your entire experience
• [11:29] Healing unresolved experiences is how we create the life we desire
• [15:04] Why our deepest desires are often an invitation into our healing
• [20:47] The power of nervous system regulation
• [25:23] Simple ways to build the capacity in your nervous system
• [31:00] Using parts work to build trust with your younger parts
• [0:36:27] The importance of walking, and not sprinting, toward the life you want
• [0:43:06] Question 1: Tools for how to figure out your purpose
• [0:56:05] Question 2: Pushing through discomfort versus slowing down
• [1:03:03] Question 3: Consistent regulation during fear or uncertainty at work

Join the Waitlist for Navigating Your Nervous System:

Living a full, expansive life starts with nervous system regulation. If you’re looking for practical tools and support on your healing journey, you can now get on the waitlist for my upcoming 6-week LIVE program.

Everyone on the waitlist receives access to limited-time pricing:

https://bit.ly/sp-nyns-waitlist

Take Sarah’s FREE Quiz:

Feeling stuck in your life? Not sure where to start with somatic healing? Sarah’s free quiz, “What’s Keeping You Stuck,” will equip you with free tools and a personalized guide to better understand your nervous system specific to you.

Click below to get started:

https://bit.ly/yms-sp-quiz

Connect with Sarah on:

Email Community - bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter

Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching

Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com

Submit a Question:

sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast

Quotes:

“No amount of energy, no amount of focus, of pushing, of grinding is going to get us the life we’re desiring. It can work to a degree, but we do reach a point where the fullness of life that we want cannot be found on that treadmill.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:02:46]

“What we have to do is we have to learn to speak the language of our nervous system and begin letting it know in a way that it understands that the life we want is actually safe for us.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:11:16]

“Your nervous system does not want to be working so hard. When you are in dysregulation, it is working very hard; it wants to rest. Resting is the doors opening, but it needs to know you're safe.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:29:33]

“What we have to do is begin becoming the primary protector of our vulnerable parts.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:32:04]

She explores the difference between embodied boundaries and self-protective boundaries, which form as a result of unmet needs and misattunement in childhood. You’ll learn how to reconnect with your adult self, identify the protective parts that might be informing the way you set limits, and communicate your needs without reverting to old patterns.

Through practical guidance and compassionate teaching, Sarah offers a path back to boundaries that reflect who we are now, not who we once had to be. Tune in to hear how a somatic approach can support healing, authenticity, and deeper connection!

Episode Highlights:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [01:10] Why family dynamics pull us back into younger roles
• [04:48] How early nervous system development shapes regulation
• [06:50] The importance of honoring a child’s boundaries
• [11:16] Ways that childhood boundary violations impact adult patterns
• [15:50] The 3 boundary styles: diffuse, rigid, and embodied
• [21:45] Learning to anchor in the adult self around family of origin
• [26:23] Preparing for resistance when shifting long-term dynamics
• [28:50] Working with protective parts who fear boundary setting
• [32:34] What to expect from internal and external resistance
• [37:06] Leading with the adult self when communicating boundaries
• [39:34] Applying embodied boundaries in family and holiday settings
• [42:27] Question 1: Staying regulated when younger parts panic
• [45:54] Question 2: Naming needs in relationships when anxious attachment shows up
• [51:24] Question 3: Navigating boundaries with unsafe or traumatic family systems

Join the Waitlist for Navigating Your Nervous System:

Living a full, expansive life starts with nervous system regulation. If you’re looking for practical tools and support on your healing journey, you can now get on the waitlist for my upcoming 6-week LIVE program.

Everyone on the waitlist receives access to limited-time pricing:

https://bit.ly/sp-nyns-waitlist

Download Sarah’s FREE Workbook:

Not sure where to get started with somatic healing? Sarah created a FREE trauma-informed workbook called "How To Gain Control Over How You Feel" to help you step toward a life filled with more freedom, ease, and empowerment.

Click the link below to download the workbook:

https://bit.ly/yms-sp-workbook

Connect with Sarah on:

Email Community - bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter

Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching

Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com

Submit a Question:

sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast

Quotes:

“[Setting boundaries] is what allows us to navigate life as our authentic self. And this is also what allows us to navigate life in a way that gets our needs met in a multitude of ways. So it is really vital that we are able to come into this experience.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:10:40]

“Even with loving parents, most of them did not know how to parent, and that meant that they didn't realize the imperative nature of honoring and validating your embodied boundary.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:11:27]

“Whatever we need to do that makes it tolerable to set the boundary, that's what we want to focus on.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:32:29]

“The more that you're doing parts work on a regular basis, the more these parts are going to trust you as you begin setting these boundaries. [It’s] really important that we're engaging in that regularly.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:36:55]

“[When you’re] re-parenting [your parts], what actually happens is you become the parent they never had. You become their home internally. And now the parts are no longer looking for your caregivers to be their mom and dad.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:54:24]

“Accessing our ability to set healthy boundaries is good. It is a gift for everyone. It's an invitation to them into their own healing, and it's not our business whether they take the invitation or not. So how do we do this? As always, one tolerable step at a time.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:58:39]

You’ll learn about the importance of consistency in reparenting your parts, why this process is about relationship-building, and how to find love for the protective parts of you that are often responsible for challenging behaviors or patterns. When you do this work, without having an agenda, it’s possible to feel self-love in a way that lasts and transforms every area of your life.

Episode Highlights:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [01:12] You can’t “talk” yourself into self-love
• [05:00] An overview of Parts Work (Internal Family Systems)
• [12:37] An explanation of how to reparent your younger parts
• [19:15] The importance of building trust with your parts
• [21:39] Loving both your vulnerable and protective parts
• [35:31] The integration process and making your parts whole with you
• [38:26] Question 1: Deciphering if choices come from truth or trauma
• [49:33] Question 2: Parts work when you’ve disconnected from memories
• [56:51] Question 3: The root of being self-critical about our bodies

Build a toolbox for regulation inside Nervous System Essentials:

Ready to make tangible shifts in your life? Sarah’s introductory course, Nervous System Essentials, will teach you how to regulate your nervous system and get into the driver’s seat of your experience, so that you can move through life with more ease, calm, and presence.

Click below to learn more:

bit.ly/sp-nse

Take Sarah’s FREE Quiz:

Feeling stuck in your life? Not sure where to start with somatic healing? Sarah’s free quiz, “What’s Keeping You Stuck,” will equip you with free tools and a personalized guide to better understand your nervous system specific to you.

Click below to get started:

https://bit.ly/yms-sp-quiz

Connect with Sarah on:

Email Community - bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter

Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching

Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com

Submit a Question:

sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast

Quotes:

“We have to fall in love with all parts of ourselves; not just some of the parts of ourselves, all parts of ourselves.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:16:45]

“Whatever part that you’re working [with] is going to need something really different.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:30:49]

“We have to teach our parts what love is if they didn’t fully get to receive it.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:33:01]

“Everything you feel is a truth to a version of you, it just might not be a truth to adult you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:40:56]