You Make Sense

• Creating an Aligned Life and Finding Purpose in the Work You Do

  What if the work you do isn’t just a paycheck but a path to alignment and fulfillment? In this episode, Sarah breaks down how our nervous system influences career choices and why so many of us end up in survival-based jobs rather than roles that truly inspire us. She explores the impact being misaligned in our work has on our nervous system, relationships, health, and overall well-being.If you’ve ever felt like you’re meant for more, this episode will teach you how to step into a career (and life) that truly aligns with your gifts. You’ll learn how to create congruency in your current role, identify your true calling, and take tangible steps toward your desires. When you’re aligned with your purpose, it not only allows for deeper personal fulfillment — it also lights up the world around you.Episode Highlights00:00 Intro00:27 Choosing a Career or Job From Survival06:45 Human Beings Thrive When Purposeful08:39 Finding Your Unique Gifts11:03 How Being Misaligned Impacts Our Relationships13:53 How Being Misaligned Impacts Our Health14:51 Tools For Becoming More Aligned22:50 Changing Your Role As You Heal25:12 Our Systems Deeply Desire Alignment26:47 Transitioning Careers and Finding Fulfillment 32:51 Work Environments Can Replicate Dynamics From Childhood37:55 Why Self-Like Parts Keep Us From Our Purpose  Download Sarah’s FREE Workbook: Want more science-backed tools? Download Sarah’s free workbook, “How to Gain Control Over How You Feel,” for actionable prompts and exercises to help you start feeling better on a daily basis.https://bit.ly/yms-sp-workbookConnect with Sarah on:Email Community - https://bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahbcoaching/Website - https://www.sarahbaldwincoaching.com/Submit a Question: https://sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcastImportant Keywords:Protective Parts - Protective parts are internal mechanisms (or versions of ourselves) developed to shield us from pain or harm, often formed during childhood. These parts use behaviors like perfectionism, overachievement, or avoidance to keep us safe from perceived threats. While they are well-intentioned, they can also keep us stuck in unhelpful patterns until their needs are addressed.Nervous System Regulation – Techniques and strategies used to calm and stabilize the nervous system. Regulation helps move the body out of a fight/flight, freeze, or shut down responses and into a balanced state of presence and connection.Internal Safety – The feeling of stability and security that comes from within, rather than external circumstances. Sarah emphasizes that without internal safety, change can feel terrifying or overwhelming for our system and parts, making it difficult to step into a fulfilling career.“Self-Like” Parts – These protective parts often sound like adult you but are in fact a protective part that is coming online to keep us safe. This often looks like self-doubt, avoidance, hesitation, retreating, or seemingly “rational” arguments that are based in fear.Alignment – The state of living in accordance or congruency with one’s purpose, values, and natural gifts. Sarah explains that when we are aligned with our work, it energizes us rather than drains us, creating a ripple effect of positive impact.Disconfirming Experiences – New, positive experiences that challenge and override old self-protective beliefs. For example, if it was unsafe in the past to use our voice, any time we tolerably step toward using our voice in the present, that is a disconfirming experience, showing our nervous system the past is over and it’s now safe to speak up.

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• Family of Origin: Navigating Difficult Family Dynamics in Adulthood

  In this episode of You Make Sense, Sarah dives into the complex layers of family dynamics, personal boundaries, and healing from past experiences. You'll learn how the dynamics within your family of origin created the roles you had to play, how those roles shape your adult relationships, and how to begin breaking free from those roles to step into your most fully-expressed self.Through personal insights and therapeutic wisdom, Sarah discusses why our family of origin often triggers or activates us the most—and why we often see our caregivers as an extension of ourselves. If you’ve ever dreaded going home or struggle to set boundaries with your family, this episode will equip you with the somatic tools necessary to release the pain of the past and move forward with more ease.Episode Highlights:00:00 Introduction 00:15 Why We Struggle with Our Family of Origin12:57 Becoming the Primary Parent to Your Parts22:45 Access Healthy Aggression 27:41 Finding Belonging Through Chosen Family30:58 Differentiating From Our Caregivers37:37 Creating Safety & Setting Boundaries49:40 Processing Recent Traumatic Experiences 56:58 Healing From AbuseConnect with Sarah on:Email Community - https://bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahbcoaching/Website - https://www.sarahbaldwincoaching.com/Join the 10-Week You Make Sense Course:Ready to go even deeper into somatic healing? Sarah’s 10-week live course, You Make Sense, is now open for enrollment. You’ll get tangible, science-backed tools to help you step toward the relationships, purpose, and life you desire.https://bit.ly/sp-ymsSubmit a Question: https://sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast  Important Keywords:Family of Origin – The family system you were born into or raised in that shaped how you relate to others, your sense of belonging, and your identity. This dynamic then informs the way you show up in your adult life.Boundaries – Boundaries are not a cognitive process but a somatic one that is informed by our internal truth, limits, and needs. We are all born with an innate ability to know our internal truth, but many of us become disconnected from that truth as a result of trauma. Somatic Healing - Somatic healing focuses on addressing trauma and stress stored in the body, rather than just the mind. It involves practices that help release trapped activation/energy, regulate the nervous system, complete the incomplete response to trauma of the past, and reconnect with the physical self. Techniques like movement, touch, and breathwork are commonly used to support this healing process.Healthy Aggression - A term coined by Peter Levine, this is our lifeforce energy, which is needed to set boundaries, protect oneself, and assert personal needs. It’s also the energy that allows us to experience full aliveness, connection, wonder, and awe. When suppressed, it can lead to unresolved anger, resentment, and even physical symptoms, but when expressed appropriately, it helps complete past emotional responses.

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• Resolving Sleep Issues Through Nervous System Regulation

  If you’ve ever tossed and turned at night, wondering why you just can’t seem to get the rest you need, you’re not alone. In this episode of You Make Sense, Sarah Baldwin breaks down how insomnia, struggling to stay asleep, and other sleep disorders are often deeply connected to what’s happening in your nervous system.Sarah explains why stress, unresolved trauma, and even daily overwhelm can keep you stuck in fight-or-flight, making deep sleep and rest nearly impossible. From easy, science-backed strategies like movement and time in nature to simple bedtime routines and setting boundaries, this episode is packed with practical tools to help you experience better quality sleep.Episode Highlight:00:00 Intro00:35 Why Do We Struggle with Sleep?04:31 7 Things You Need to Achieve Deep Rest12:36 Effects of Chronic Lack of Sleep16:50 The Epidemic of Sleep Disorders21:24 3 Categories of Sleep Struggles30:02 Why Nervous System Regulation is Needed for Deep Sleep32:57 Creating a Nighttime Routine39:00 Finding Relief From Insomnia43:30 Unresolved Emotions or Grief Can Impact Sleep46:58 What To Do When You Wake Up During the Night    48:40 Setting Boundaries Around SleepJoin the 10-Week You Make Sense Course:Ready to go even deeper into somatic healing? Sarah’s 10-week live course, You Make Sense, is now open for enrollment. You’ll get tangible, science-backed tools to help you step toward the relationships, purpose, and life you desire.https://bit.ly/sp-ymsConnect with Sarah on:Email Community - https://bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahbcoaching/Website - https://www.sarahbaldwincoaching.com/Submit a Question: https://sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcastImportant Keywords:Nervous System Regulation – Techniques used to discharge activation and bring the nervous system back into a state of rest. Regulation helps move the body out of a fight/flight, freeze, or shut down response and into a balanced state of presence and connection.Dysregulation – A state of active self-protection where the nervous system perceives danger. This can either be caused by a real threat based in the present moment or stem from past trauma, danger, or hardship, causing our system to superimpose a past experience onto the present.Sympathetic Nervous System – When our system believes there is something we can do about the threat, it will send us into this mobilized state of dysregulation, often sometimes referred to as “fight or flight.” This is where we experience things like anxiety, terror, rage, panic, fear, agitation, or irritation.Freeze State – A blended state of dysregulation experienced as tonic immobility. It is made up of equal parts mobilizing sympathetic energy and immobilizing dorsal energy, rendering us stuck. This state of dysregulation can make it difficult to fall or stay asleep..Circadian Rhythm – The body’s internal clock that regulates sleep-wake cycles. Exposure to natural light in the morning and evening helps align this rhythm, making it easier to fall and stay asleep.Restorative Rest – True rest that recharges the nervous system, which is different from passive activities like watching TV or scrolling on your phone. Practices like meditation, sound baths, and deep breathing help bring the body into a relaxed state before sleep.

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• Processing Endings and Making Space for New Beginnings

  In this episode of You Make Sense, Sarah explores the profound shifts that occur as we heal—both within ourselves and in our relationships. She delves into the challenges of evolving while being in partnerships, the difficulty of letting go when growth outpaces connection, and the natural distance that can emerge between those on different healing journeys.Sarah also answers listener questions about navigating major life transitions. From unfulfilling marriages and moving forward when a partner is unwilling to grow, to forgiveness and releasing resentment following a betrayal, these questions spark a powerful conversation about trauma, self-protection, and reclaiming life after pain.Episode Highlights:00:00 Introduction 00:15 Processing Endings03:26 Internal Safety and Connectivity06:42 Unwritten Contracts and Change in Our Relationships09:59 Healing Decreases Our Toleration for Suffering12:15 Giving Ourselves the Things We Never Got13:21 Healing Invites Space for Change18:58 Meeting New Parts of Ourselves28:14 Leaving A Stagnant Relationship32:13 Navigating Betrayal and Resentment36:41 Forgiveness and Resolving Past TraumaJoin the FREE live training:There’s still time to RSVP for Nervous System Starter Kit! Take this work to the next level in Sarah’s FREE 75-minute live training to help you get into the driver’s seat of your experience and step toward your desireshttps://bit.ly/sp-nsskConnect with Sarah on:Email Community - https://bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahbcoaching/Website - https://www.sarahbaldwincoaching.com/Submit a Question: https://sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcastImportant Keywords:Resentment – Resentment often signals unmet needs or unprocessed emotions. Nervous system regulation helps in addressing these feelings by discharging the underlying dysregulation.Forgiveness – True forgiveness can only happen when a person has processed the appropriate response and emotions related to their trauma, by accessing what’s called healthy aggression.Relational Shifts in Healing – As healing progresses, people may feel disconnected from past relationships, social circles, or roles. This is a natural part of transformation, signaling new growth and self-awareness.Somatic Experiencing – Created by Dr. Peter Levine, this therapeutic modality uses body awareness, movement, and nervous system regulation to release and resolve stored trauma. By building capacity to be in our embodied experience, we can teach our nervous system how to pendulate, resulting in the discharge of stored trauma and overall regulation of the nervous system.

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  44:07
• A Trauma-Informed Understanding of Forgiveness and Letting Go

  There can be a lot of talk around forgiveness in the self-help space, but what does it actually mean to forgive? Forgiveness is not just a mindset shift or something we can “think” our way into—it is a somatic process that requires addressing the nervous system and accessing our healthy aggression. Using the latest neuroscience research, Sarah explains how unresolved trauma gets stored in our bodies until we are able to “complete the incomplete experience” or access the appropriate response to what occurred. If you’ve struggled to let go and move forward in life, this episode will give you a step-by-step guide to somatically resolve these wounds, so that you can find freedom from the past and release feelings of shame and resentment.Episode Highlights00:00 Intro00:46 Time Does Not Heal All  04:36 We Must First Process What Occurred08:01 What is Healthy Aggression?11:20 What is Unhealthy Aggression?12:36 Building Your Capacity for Healthy Aggression15:56 Practical Applications for Somatic Forgiveness 21:31 Accessing Your Unmet Needs24:09 Struggling to Move On After a Betrayal27:21 Healing Shame and Anger from Childhood Trauma32:48 How to Overcome Parental Guilt42:07 Spiritual Bypassing Around Forgiveness RSVP to Sarah’s FREE live training:Ready for tangible somatic tools? Take this work to the next level when you join the Nervous System Starter Kit — a FREE 75-minute live training to help you get into the driver’s seat of your experience and step toward your desires.https://bit.ly/sp-nssk Connect with Sarah on:Email Community - https://bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahbcoaching/Website - https://www.sarahbaldwincoaching.com/Submit a Question: https://sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcastImportant Keywords:Polyvagal Theory - This theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, explains how the autonomic nervous system regulates our responses to stress, danger, and safety. It highlights the role of the vagus nerve in shifting between survival states (fight, flight, freeze, and shut down) and social engagement, which is crucial for emotional healing.Healthy Aggression - A term coined by Peter Levine, this is our lifeforce energy, which is needed to set boundaries, protect oneself, and assert personal needs. It’s also the energy that allows us to experience full aliveness, connection, wonder, and awe. When suppressed, it can lead to unresolved anger, resentment, and even physical symptoms, but when expressed appropriately, it helps complete past emotional responses.Trauma - Trauma is the overwhelm of activation (energy) experienced in our bodies, in the face of helplessness. If we do not have the conditions necessary for trauma to process through our bodies, it becomes stuck and stored, leaving lasting emotional, physical or psychological imprints. It disrupts the nervous system causing chronic dysregulation, disconnection and/or hypervigilance.Somatic Healing - Somatic healing focuses on addressing trauma and stress stored in the body, rather than just the mind. It involves practices that help release trapped activation/energy, regulate the nervous system and complete the incomplete response to trauma of the past, and reconnect with the physical self. Techniques like movement, touch, and breathwork are commonly used to support this healing process.Titration of Trauma - This refers to the body's natural process of releasing stored energy from past trauma or stress. It can happen through movement, sound, breathwork, or other somatic practices that allow the body to complete an unfinished emotional cycle and pendulate through stress responses.

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