Understanding the flight nervous system response in entrepreneurs, and how to shift it.

Welcome back to The Worthy Woman, a space for entrepreneurs, coaches, creatives, and service providers who are ready to heal from the inside out. I’m Johanna, a manual osteopath, holistic coach, and nervous system guide, and in today’s episode, we’re diving deep into something many ambitious women experience but don’t always have the language for: why we feel anxious and avoidant in our business, even when we know what to do.

Spoiler: It’s not because you’re lazy or unmotivated, it’s because your nervous system is in a state of flight.

What Is the Flight Response?

The flight response is a state of the sympathetic nervous system, our body’s instinctive way of avoiding perceived threats. While it’s normal and healthy to want to survive, modern-day "threats" like launching a program, sharing your truth online, or simply showing up in your business can activate the same biological mechanisms that were once reserved for life-or-death scenarios.

Your nervous system isn’t wired to understand that posting a reel isn’t the same as being chased by a bear. It reacts based on what feels unsafe, not what logically makes sense.

How the Flight Response Shows Up in Business

Many women experience the flight response without realizing it. It might look like:

• Constant procrastination

• Overworking or jumping between tasks

• Avoiding social media visibility

• Rewriting your website or offers over and over again

• Signing up for more certifications instead of selling

• Feeling too anxious to launch or promote your work

• Overplanning without executing

• Cleaning your house instead of writing your content

In short: you’re moving a lot, but not moving forward.

This is your nervous system doing its job, trying to keep you safe from perceived harm, like criticism, failure, rejection, or burnout.

Why We Stay in Flight Mode

There are several root causes that may contribute to you being stuck in a flight response:

• Past experiences of failure, rejection, or burnout

• Trauma (big or small)

• Conditioning from childhood, school, or society

• A lack of safety in your body when taking risks

• Constant exposure to stress or overstimulation

Many of us are praised for being in flight. Society loves a woman who "does it all", but that praise often masks burnout, dysregulation, and avoidance.

So What Do You Do When You’re in Flight?

1. Regulate First—Don’t Push Harder

When your nervous system is in flight mode, trying to force yourself through the resistance only adds more stress. Instead, you need to create safety in your body so you can move forward without overwhelm.

Some quick ways to regulate your nervous system during the workday:

• Go for a walk

• Gentle stretching or shaking

• Breathwork (keep it soft and non-forceful)

• Humming, singing, or vagus nerve toning

• Splashing cold water on your face

Avoid trying to meditate if you’re feeling very buzzy or anxious, your body may need movement first before it can find stillness.

2. Make It Bite-Sized

Overwhelm is often the result of too big a task in too dysregulated a state. So break it down.

Instead of saying “I need to write five posts today,” try:
➡️ “I’m just going to open Canva.”
➡️ “I’ll write the headline.”
➡️ “I’ll choose one image.”

Small actions help the nervous system realize: Oh—this isn’t dangerous. Before you know it, you’re in the flow.

You can apply this to anything, from meditating to launching to writing your first email. The key is: start small, start safe.

3. Ask Yourself: What Am I Running From?

This is the deeper work, exploring what’s underneath the response.

• Are you afraid of failure?

• Do you fear rejection?

• Are you worried about burning out again?

• What would happen if you slowed down?

If you’re always in motion, what’s chasing you?

When we start asking these questions, we uncover the beliefs, emotions, and experiences that have shaped our patterns. This is where true healing begins, by meeting the parts of you that are scared and showing them you are safe now.

You’re Not Lazy—You’re in Survival Mode

These nervous system responses are not flaws. They’re survival strategies.

Your business feels like a survival issue to your body, because it touches things like money, worth, visibility, and identity. The key is learning to work with your nervous system, not against it.

You can regulate these patterns.
You can rewire them.
You can create a business (and a life) that feels safe and sustainable.

Ready to Rewire & Rise?

If you’re a woman entrepreneur who’s tried all the strategies and still feels stuck, I’d love to support you inside my ElevateHER Coaching Program. This program is designed to help you build a regulated business and body, especially if you’re navigating a transition, burnout, or the weight of "doing it all."

We don’t just focus on strategy, we focus on the nervous system, your energy, and the way you show up in your business from the inside out.

📩 DM me on Instagram if you want to connect or ask questions.
🔗 You’ll find the link to the program and my quiz on nervous system states in the show notes.

Final Thoughts

You’re not broken. You’re not lazy.
Your nervous system is just trying to protect you, and that’s something to honor.

The flight response is one of many ways our bodies respond to perceived threat. As you begin to understand these patterns, you create space to shift them, to regulate your nervous system, and to build a business that’s aligned with your worth, not your survival response.

Next week, I’ll be diving into the freeze response, which brings its own unique flavor of shutdown and stuckness. Until then, take what you’ve learned here and begin exploring how your body might be communicating with you.

If this post resonated with you, share it with a fellow entrepreneur, leave a comment or review, or reach out on Instagram, I’d love to hear what landed for you.