For the One Who Can’t Sleep Lately
by Kristina Silvestry, MA, NCC, LPC, ACS, CCTP, RYT-500
Finding Your Ground in a World That Feels Unsafe
If you’ve been up at night lately, you’re not alone.
Not just tossing and turning.
Not just thinking too much.
But lying there with your heart heavy, your mind racing, and your body bracing as if something bad is about to happen.
Maybe you’ve felt it in the quiet moments when the house is finally still.
Maybe you’ve felt it while packing lunches.
While scrolling the news.
While trying to laugh at something funny and feeling guilty that you even can.
Maybe you’ve whispered to yourself:
I don’t feel safe.
I don’t feel okay.
I don’t know what’s coming next.
And I don’t know how to carry this.
And maybe the hardest part is this:
You’re still functioning.
You’re still showing up.
Still working.
Still parenting.
Still answering texts.
Still smiling in conversations.
Still doing what you have to do.
But inside, there is a heaviness sitting in your chest that does not lift.
This is not what “great again” feels like.
This feels like grief.
This feels like fear.
This feels like being a person with a heart in a world that keeps asking you to toughen up.
Why can’t I sleep when I’m exhausted?
When the world feels unsafe, your nervous system doesn’t wait for proof.
It responds.
Even if your brain is begging for rest, your body may be acting like it has to stay on watch.
You might notice:
you wake up around 2 or 3 a.m. and can’t settle again
your mind replays conversations, headlines, and worst-case scenarios
your chest feels tight or your stomach feels uneasy
you’re tired all day but wired at night
This isn’t your body “being dramatic.”
This is your body trying to protect you.
Why do I feel unsafe even when nothing is happening?
This is one of the hardest parts of living through scary or uncertain times.
You can be in your home.
You can be in your car.
You can be doing ordinary things.
And still feel like something is wrong.
Because safety isn’t only about what’s happening outside of you.
Safety is also about what your nervous system believes is possible.
When you’ve been exposed to chronic stress, fear, harm, or instability, the body starts scanning for danger automatically.
It is not a character flaw.
It is biology.
Why am I functioning on the outside but falling apart inside?
Sometimes fear doesn’t look like panic.
Sometimes fear looks like productivity.
Sometimes it looks like over-functioning.
Sometimes it looks like scrolling until your eyes hurt.
Sometimes it looks like shutting down because you can’t take in one more thing.
You may be holding it together for everyone else, while feeling like you’re quietly unraveling when no one is looking.
If that’s you, I want you to hear this clearly:
You are not weak.
You are carrying too much alone.
What does stress feel like in the body?
When people say, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, it’s often because the body is speaking first.
Stress and fear can show up as:
jaw clenching, headaches, or neck tension
digestive issues or loss of appetite
a sinking feeling in the chest
restless legs, difficulty sitting still, or a constant need to do something
tearfulness, irritability, numbness, or feeling disconnected
feeling “on edge” even when you want to relax
In Internal Family Systems (IFS), we might say:
A part of you is scared.
A part of you is watching.
A part of you is carrying too much.
And those parts don’t need shame.
They need support.
What helps when you feel scared and powerless?
I don’t have a perfect answer for this moment we’re living in.
But I do know what has helped me stay human inside of it.
Community that feels like care, not debate
Talking to people who are loving and grounded has been everything.
Not people who need to win an argument.
People who still remember how to be gentle.
People who are doing what they can, in their own way, without needing applause for it.
My cousin offered to do people’s laundry if it wasn’t safe for them to leave the house.
That hit me in the chest.
Because that is what love looks like when the world feels unsafe.
Not a big speech.
Not a perfect post.
Just a quiet, steady offering:
You are not alone.
I will help you carry this.
And when we witness that kind of care, something soft inside us remembers:
Maybe goodness is still here.
Reading and listening to grounded voices
When fear takes over, the mind spirals.
It fills in blanks with worst-case scenarios.
So I’ve been coming back to reading and listening to books not as an escape, but as a lifeline.
The Mayor’s Wellness Committee’s monthly book club has helped tremendously. Even when I can’t attend the discussion held by the library, just knowing there’s a place for reflection, thoughtfulness, community, and meaning steadies me.
Because fear isolates.
Reflection reconnects.
Therapy that helps you come back to yourself
Therapy has helped ground me again and again.
Not because it makes the world magically better.
But because it helps me return to myself inside of the world as it is.
Therapy is where I can take the parts of me that are scared and say:
I see you.
You make sense.
You don’t have to hold all of this alone.
It’s where I can exhale.
It’s where I remember I’m allowed to feel what I feel without collapsing under it.
Talking to local leaders who are actually showing up
I recently had a wonderful conversation with Mayor Angie Devanney, and her actions spoke louder than her words.
That mattered more than I can explain.
Because when the world feels chaotic, steady, human leadership reminds us we are not powerless.
There are still people who care.
There are still ways we can show up.
There are still choices available to us.
And sometimes even one conversation can return a little bit of hope to the body.
Does trauma-informed therapy help when the world feels unsafe?
Yes. And not because trauma-informed therapy changes the headlines.
Therapy helps because it changes what happens inside of you while you live through them.
It helps you:
name what you’re feeling instead of carrying it silently
understand your reactions without judging yourself
release what your body has been holding
come back to steadiness, clarity, and choice
Therapy is not only for crisis.
Sometimes therapy is simply a place where you don’t have to pretend you’re okay.
How does yoga help anxiety and stress?
When the world feels heavy, we often try to think our way out of it.
But trauma and chronic stress don’t live only in the mind.
They live in the body.
You can be informed.
You can understand what’s happening.
You can know all the facts.
And still be up at night, shaking inside.
That’s because the nervous system speaks a different language:
sensation, breath, muscle tension, heart rate, gut feeling, startle response, tears, and the inability to settle.
This is why somatic yoga and movement are not luxuries right now.
They are tools.
They are protection.
They are care.
Movement helps your body finish what stress starts.
Yoga, breathwork, sound healing, grounding, walking, stretching, and gentle repetition all tell your brain something important:
I am here.
I am safe enough in this moment.
I can feel my feet on the ground.
I can come back.
And that doesn’t mean we stop caring.
It means we stop drowning.
How do I stay grounded when everything feels chaotic?
One of the most overlooked truths in moments like this is that reflection isn’t passive.
Reflection is how we regulate enough to respond with integrity.
Because when we don’t pause, we react.
We lash out.
We freeze.
We dissociate.
We burn ourselves out trying to keep up with the chaos.
But when we create space to reflect, something shifts.
We can ask:
What matters most to me right now?
How do I want to show up in my home?
In my community?
In my relationships?
In my body?
What is mine to carry, and what isn’t?
What is one small thing I can do that aligns with my values?
Reflection is what turns fear into clarity.
It is what turns pain into purpose.
It is what keeps us from losing ourselves.
How do I start trauma-informed therapy for the first time or come back?
If you’re reading this and something inside you is whispering, I think it might be time to start for the first time or come back…
Back to support.
Back to your breath.
Back to your body.
Back to community.
Back to a space where you don’t have to pretend you’re okay.
We’re here.
At Peace of Mind, we offer trauma-informed therapy and body-based practices that help people come back to themselves in a world that feels heavy.
You don’t have to be in crisis to reach out.
You don’t have to wait until you’re falling apart.
You are allowed to get support because you are human.
If you’d like, we can help you take the next step gently.
Not rushing.
Not forcing.
Just supporting you in finding your ground again.
When you’re ready, we would be honored to hold space for you.