Back to School, Two Feet in

September has a funny way of feeling like January—new notebooks, new planners, new routines — and along with them, new stress.

Whether you’re a student, a parent, or just someone who feels the ripple of “back-to-school energy,” your nervous system knows change is happening. And change? It’s exciting, but it’s also exhausting.

Why the Fog Hits Early

During transitions, your prefrontal cortex (decision-making) gets overloaded.Schedules, deadlines, new patterns.

That’s why you feel foggy before things even get busy (McEwen, 2007).

Fog isn’t failure.

It’s your brain asking for rhythm.

Two Feet In

When things feel like too much, I come back to something simple:

Feet on the ground.“I’m here.”

Sneakers in the gym.Bare feet on the porch.Dress shoes walking into a meeting.

It’s a reset.

You don’t need the perfect plan. You just need to arrive.

A Quick Reset for the Season

3–3–3 breathing

• Inhale for 3

• Exhale for 3

• Repeat 3 times

It helps regulate your nervous system and bring you back online (Porges, 2011).

Simple. Fast. Effective.

Final Step (pun intended)

This season, don’t aim for perfect routines out of the gate. Aim for presence. Show up with two feet in. Take a breath. Reset.

That’s how resilience is built- not all at once, but step by step, breath by breath.