Why Your Body Can Hold On To Stress Even When You're Mentally Calmer

Charlotte Van Loon
2025-01-26T13:50:57+01:00

Everyone knows it, a stressful period in which you are constantly "on". Your thoughts are racing, your muscles are tense and you feel rushed. You take a few deep breaths, feel mentally calmer, but... your body doesn't seem to understand. Your heart rate remains high, your muscles still feel tense and maybe you still don't sleep well. Why is that?

In this blog, we’ll explain why your body can sometimes lag behind your mind, and why it’s important to be patient with your recovery process. Understanding how this works can help you be kinder to yourself and take action to better support your body.

Your nervous system: a system that needs time to disappear

Your body responds to stress through the so-called "fight-or-flight" mechanism, an evolutionary system that helps us survive in dangerous situations. When you experience stress, a lot of stress hormones are released, such as cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones ensure that your body is in a state of readiness:

Your heart rate increases.

Your muscles tense.

Your digestion slows down (because energy has to go to your muscles)

Your breathing becomes more shallow and faster.

The problem is that this system does not stop immediately once the stressful situation is resolved. Your body can remain in this "on" mode, even if you are already mentally much calmer. This is because the hormones that are released during stress do not disappear from your system all at once. It can take hours, days or even weeks for your body to fully adapt.

Why recovery takes time

There are several reasons why your body remains in stress mode:

1. Biological Inertia: Hormones like cortisol have a relatively long half-life (the time it takes for their concentration to halve). Even after the source of stress is gone, your body continues to break down and process these hormones for a while.

2. Conditioned patterns: Stress can literally nestle in your body. Muscle tension, unconscious rapid breathing and increased alertness can become a kind of automatism. Your body needs time to let go of these habits. Good chest breathing can support you in this.

3. Chronic Stress Consequences: If you have experienced stress for a long time, your stress system can become overloaded. This means that your body takes longer to get back into balance.

What you can do

The most important thing you can do is realize that this is normal. It’s not “wrong” that your body is behind; it’s how the system works. That said, there are ways to support your recovery process:

1. Stay consistent with your routines: Try to incorporate regular sleep, healthy eating and relaxation exercises into your day. Think of breathing exercises, yoga or meditation.

2. Exercise regularly: Light exercise such as walking or stretching helps release built-up tension in your muscles and supports your body in eliminating stress hormones.

3. Use supplements to support: Stress and sleep support supplements can be a valuable addition to help your body recover. They support your nervous system and promote relaxation, so that your body returns to a balanced state more quickly. But be patient here too. Don't just give up if something doesn't help immediately or after one day. The body also needs some time here.

4. Give it time: Your body has its own pace to recover. Be patient and don't force anything.

Recovery is a process, not a sprint

It can be frustrating when you are mentally further along but your body seems to be lagging behind. However, this is a normal part of the recovery process. By understanding how your body works and giving it the time and support it needs, you will lay a solid foundation for long-term rest and balance.

It is important to know that stress is a very broad term. Stress can be experienced during many different life events, such as a relationship break-up, mourning,...
It is also important to take good care of your body and give this process the necessary time.