You Make Sense

Ever wonder why the relationships with the most potential sometimes feel the hardest? In this episode of You Make Sense, Sarah unpacks the ways in which romantic partnerships often trigger our deepest wounds—and how they can also become the most powerful spaces for healing. Sarah dives into the role our nervous system and parts play in unconsciously shaping the way we show up in love, and what we can do to begin building more safety, intimacy and trust in our partnerships. Backed by the latest neuroscience and trauma research, this episode will help you step toward deeper connection and transform your relationships. Episode Highlights 00:00 Intro 01:09 Why We Struggle in Our Relationships 05:59 How Do We Choose the People We Choose? 06:52 Ways Safe, Healthy Partnerships Support Us 12:32 The “Good” Doesn’t Always Feel Good At First 17:28 Parts Work and Leaning into Exposure 20:53 Understanding Resistance to Vulnerability 24:35 Tools to Step Toward Vulnerability & Intimacy 29:28 The Rupture and Repair Process 35:38 Navigating Different Perceptions in Relationships 48:10 Anxious Attachment and Avoidant Attachment Dynamic Navigating Your Nervous System is Now Enrolling: Ready for more tangible tools to heal at the nervous system level? My 6-week live course, Navigating Your Nervous System, is open for enrollment through January 17th. Click below to learn more. https://bit.ly/sp-nyns Connect with Sarah on: Website - https://www.sarahbaldwincoaching.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahbcoaching/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Sarahbaldwincoaching/ Submit a Question: https://sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Important Keywords: Neuroception - Neuroception is the subconscious process through which our nervous system detects safety or danger in our environment. It operates automatically, scanning both internal and external cues to determine if a situation is safe, dangerous, or life-threatening, which deeply influences our emotional and relational responses. Autonomic Nervous System - The nervous system is our body’s command center, regulating everything from basic functions to complex emotional states. In relationships, its state determines how we perceive safety, connection, and danger, impacting our ability to connect. Vulnerability - Vulnerability is the act of allowing ourselves to be seen fully, including our fears, emotions, and imperfections. It is essential for building intimacy and trust, but it often feels risky because it exposes parts of us we’ve learned to protect. Attachment Styles - Attachment styles are relational patterns shaped often in early childhood that dictate how we connect with others. The common styles—secure, anxious, avoidant, or disorganized—impact our ability to feel safe, express needs, and navigate intimacy in adult relationships. Intimacy - Intimacy refers to deep emotional or physical closeness, where two people allow themselves to be fully seen and known. It goes beyond surface-level connection, requiring trust, presence, and a willingness to share vulnerable parts of ourselves. Rupture and Repair - Rupture and repair describe the natural process of disconnection and reconnection in relationships. While ruptures are moments of conflict or disconnection, repair involves addressing the issue, rebuilding trust, and deepening the relationship’s safety. Safety - Safety in relationships means feeling emotionally and physically secure with another person. It creates a foundation for vulnerability, intimacy, and trust, allowing individuals to show up fully without fear of judgment or harm. Healing - Healing is the process of addressing unresolved wounds and past traumas that influence our current behaviors and perceptions. In relationships, healing occurs when we create safe spaces to experience love, trust, and connection that our past may have lacked.

This episode unpacks the vital connection between our nervous system and how we lead—in business, at home, and in life. Sarah dives into the science of regulation, exploring how dysregulated states like fight/flight, freeze, or shut down often drive our decisions, keeping us stuck in survival mode. These patterns, rooted in past experiences of stress or trauma, influence how we show up as leaders, parents, and creators.With clear explanations and actionable tools, Sarah offers a roadmap for recognizing when we’re leading from dysregulation. She shares how to cultivate a regulated nervous system, unlocking creativity, connection, and clarity. Whether you're looking to grow a business, nurture your family, or simply lead yourself with more purpose, this episode offers the practical steps to create the life—and leadership—you desire.Episode Highlights00:00 Intro00:26 Leading from a State of Regulation01:20 Entrepreneurs Have Higher Stress Levels04:28 The Most Important Thing Parents Should Focus on06:43 Your Nervous System Affects Everyone Else08:23 Leading from Sympathetic (fight/flight)11:05 Leading from Regulation (safety)13:36 Leading from Dorsal (shut down)15:27 Leading from Freeze (tonic immobility)17:42 Consistent Neural Exercises20:41 How to Reshape Your Nervous System23:02 The Key to Somatic Manifestation26:57 Anchoring in Your Adult Self32:30 Trust Your Own Pacing38:19 Embodying Your Purpose  Take Sarah’s FREE Quiz:Ready to learn more about your nervous system specific to you? Take Sarah’s free quiz, “What’s Keeping You Stuck?” for a personalized guide and powerful somatic tools to help you gain control over your experience.https://bit.ly/yms-sp-quizConnect with Sarah on:Website - https://www.sarahbaldwincoaching.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahbcoaching/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Sarahbaldwincoaching/Submit a Question:https://sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcastImportant Keywords:Nervous System Regulation - The practice of bringing your system into safety in presence, which supports effective leadership, whether in business, parenting, or personal growth. Being in regulation allows for more creativity, clarity, and connection while reducing the reactive tendencies of stress and overwhelm.Ventral Vagal Complex - Your state of presence, safety, and connection where creativity, connection, and problem-solving thrive. It’s the optimal state for leadership and decision-making, allowing leaders to see possibilities and act with confidence.Co-Regulation - The process of connecting with another person in safety where each person's nervous system positively influences the others’. In leadership and parenting, co-regulation can set the tone for calm and productivity, creating a ripple effect in teams or families.Dysregulation - When your nervous system senses a threat (whether real or perceived), it sends you into dysregulation or active self-protection. Leading from this place can often result in stress, burnout, or stagnation.Capacity Building - Capacity building involves gradually increasing our ability to handle new or challenging situations. It’s about expanding the nervous system's tolerance and adaptability through small, intentional experiences of growth.

In this special New Year’s episode, Sarah invites listeners to reimagine the way they approach goals and resolutions. Kicking off the five-part Somatic Starter Kit series, Sarah dives into four reasons why traditional New Year’s resolutions often fail and offers transformative science-backed tools to use instead. You’ll learn how unresolved past experiences and traumas can keep you stuck in cycles of unmet goals.Listeners will learn the importance of taking tolerable steps, building nervous system regulation, and fostering safe connection to support personal growth. Sarah also shares actionable insights on cultivating self-compassion, replacing coping strategies with healthier habits, and understanding the deeper desires that drive us. The episode is both a manual for self-discovery and a compassionate reminder that you make sense, just as you are.Episode Highlights00:00 Intro02:26 Reason 1: We Aren’t Addressing Our Nervous System05:05 Do You Feel Like You’re Behind in Life?07:03 Connecting to What You Truly Desire09:41 Reason 2: Our Desires Often Have Flavorings of Past Danger14:03 Reason 3: We Aren’t Addressing Our Parts19:07 Reason 4: Lack of Support and Connection24:19 Safe Support and Connection is Crucial25:21 Take Tolerable Steps Towards Your Desires30:17 Consistent Regulation of Your Nervous System 31:37 Work at the Rate of Your Most Apprehensive Part37:39 Relation Between Money and the Nervous System46:00 What is a Coping Strategy?53:54 How Do You Know Your Life’s Purpose?01:01:36 Trying Something New Can Feel OverwhelmingJoin the Navigating Your Nervous System Waitlist:Want access to limited-time pricing for Sarah’s upcoming 6-week course? Make sure to get on the waitlist for Navigating Your Nervous System by January 5th to take advantage of the 24-hour only $100 off bonus.https://bit.ly/sp-nyns-waitlistConnect with Sarah on:Website - https://www.sarahbaldwincoaching.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahbcoaching/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Sarahbaldwincoaching/Submit a Question:https://sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcastImportant Keywords:Nervous System Regulation - This refers to practices that help balance the body's stress response, promoting a state of calm and safety. By regulating the nervous system, we can better handle challenges, make intentional choices, and build resilience in the face of discomfort or fear.Coping Strategies - These are habits or behaviors developed to manage discomfort or stress, often unconsciously. While they can serve as short-term relief, understanding and replacing maladaptive strategies with healthier alternatives promotes long-term well-being.Somatic Healing - Somatic healing focuses on reconnecting with the body to release tension and process trauma. This approach integrates physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts to foster self-awareness and recovery.Parts Work - This therapeutic concept involves recognizing and addressing different "parts" or aspects of ourselves, often tied to past experiences or emotional wounds. By understanding and integrating these parts, we can move toward greater wholeness and self-compassion.Safe Connection - Safe connection refers to relationships where we feel seen, valued, and accepted without judgment. These connections are essential for emotional and nervous system regulation, providing a foundation for personal growth.Capacity Building - Capacity building involves gradually increasing our ability to handle new or challenging situations. It’s about expanding the nervous system's tolerance and adaptability through small, intentional experiences of growth.Dysregulation - Dysregulation occurs when the nervous system is stuck in states of fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown. It manifests as heightened anxiety, emotional overwhelm, or disconnection and requires mindful practices to return to a balanced state.

This episode dives into the ups and downs of healing and why it can sometimes feel like you’re moving backward instead of forward. Sarah breaks down how coming back into our bodies is a marker of progress — but that it can also feel overwhelming at first. Experiencing grief, anger, or other deep emotions can all be signs of the work you’ve done.With real-life examples and simple, science-backed advice, Sarah shares how to move beyond just “knowing” about your patterns and into healing in a way that actually creates change. You’ll learn how to regulate your nervous system, work with your younger parts, and create space for more connection and joy.Episode Highlights00:00 Intro00:40 Why Healing Can Feel Like You’re Going Backward05:34 Information Gathering is Not Enough07:29 Why We Become Disembodied11:03 Healing is the Hero’s Journey15:31 Trauma & Energy Wells21:33 What To Look For in a Therapist or Practitioner31:20 Receiving & Working With Young Parts38:00 Why Do We Experience Chronic Dysregulation?42:56 Sarah’s Journey Join Sarah’s Email Community:Looking for more FREE resources? Click below to join Sarah’s email community for additional teachings and somatic tools to support you on your healing journey.https://bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterConnect with Sarah on:Website - https://www.sarahbaldwincoaching.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahbcoaching/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Sarahbaldwincoaching/Submit a Question:https://sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcastImportant Keywords:Nervous system - The nervous system is a self-protective system that determines your emotions, behaviors, and overall experience. It responds to safety, real threats, and perceived threats, influencing how you react and regulate in different situations.Regulation - We can only experience regulation when our nervous system believes we are safe. Our primary state of regulation is our Ventral Vagal Complex, where we experience things like joy, connection, presence, groundedness, and feeling “here.”Trauma - Trauma refers to overwhelming experiences that the body and mind were unable to process fully at the time they occurred. These unresolved energies get stuck and stored in the body, impacting mental and physical well-being until they are resolved.Healing - Healing is the journey of addressing past wounds—both physical and emotional—to achieve greater freedom and alignment in life. It involves learning to regulate the nervous system, release stored trauma, and tending to younger parts of ourselves.Dysregulation - Dysregulation occurs when the nervous system believes we are in danger, whether it is a real or perceived threat. Chronic dysregulation is often a result of unresolved trauma and can significantly impact daily functioning.Internal Safety - Creating safety within our bodies and nervous system is the foundation of healing. This is what we are working toward when we take steps to regulate our nervous system.