What “Overdrive” Really Means: Your Nervous System After COVID

When your body feels like it’s running on fumes

You’re exhausted but can’t fully relax.
You fall asleep, only to wake up alert — heart thumping — for no clear reason.
You startle easily, lose track of things, or notice a low hum of tension even when life is calm.

If this sounds familiar, your body may be moving through what many people describe as overdrive: a pattern where the system keeps preparing for something that’s no longer happening.

After a major stressor or long illness (including Long COVID), people often describe feeling like their internal rhythms don’t settle back to baseline right away. It can feel as if the body is still waiting for the “all clear.”

The survival response that doesn’t fade quickly

During illness or intense stress, the body naturally shifts into protection mode: raising alertness, tightening muscles, sharpening focus, and mobilizing energy to get you through it.

That response is appropriate in crisis. But for many people, especially after something prolonged or overwhelming, the system can keep running that pattern longer than expected — like a smoke alarm that keeps beeping even after the fire is out.

The result can look like:

• fatigue that comes in waves

• sudden spikes of anxiety or dread

• dizziness

• breath that feels tight or shallow

• emotional or physical crashes that seem to appear out of nowhere

These experiences don’t mean something is “wrong.” They’re often the body’s way of trying to keep you safe with the tools it used during the hard part.

For more on how long-term survival mode affects your entire body, read Why Long Covid Feels So Random (and why it’s not your fault).

Why the nervous system can stay on high alert

The nervous system has two broad modes:

• Sympathetic — the get-up-and-go state, built for challenge, effort, and protection

• Parasympathetic — the settling state, built for restoration, stillness, and ease

After long stress or illness, many people notice it’s harder to shift between the two. It can feel like the body gets “stuck in the doorway,” revved when you want to rest, flat when you need energy, and sensitive to things that never bothered you before.

This isn’t weakness — it’s a system that’s been working overtime.

That constant internal “hum” can make digestion feel sluggish, sleep feel light, and small stressors feel bigger than they are.

The chemistry of safety

When the body truly feels safe — not just intellectually, but physically — things begin to change.

Breathing deepens.
Muscles soften.
Heart rate settles.
Digestion gathers momentum.
Your awareness expands instead of narrowing.

And it’s not a matter of staying calm all day long, this level of safety is your system sensing that it doesn’t have to stay on guard.

And here’s the hard part: you can’t think your way into that shift. You have to feel your way into it — through breath, grounding, sensation, and gentle rhythm.

How energy work can support that shift

Energy work is one of the ways people access this felt sense of safety. Because it works through the same channels your nervous system already pays attention to: breath, presence, subtle rhythm, and coherence.

When things quiet in the energetic field, many people describe a deep internal settling.
A sense of space.
A feeling of being finally held instead of holding everything.

Clients often describe their first sessions as “deep rest for my whole system.” It’s not sleep — it’s a kind of reset that helps the body remember what ease feels like.

Simple ways to support yourself when you feel overactivated

You can start inviting your system into more steadiness right now:

• Place a hand over your chest or abdomen and breathe slowly, letting your exhale be a touch longer than your inhale.

• Drop your shoulders and feel the weight of your body being supported.

• Look around the room and gently name five things you see.

Each of these sends a quiet message to your system: I’m here. I’m safe enough. We can soften. Your body listens more than you realize.

Ready to support your system in finding its rhythm again?

Try one of the grounding techniques in the free mini guide — 3 Ways to Calm Your Body’s Overdrive.