If you look steady on the outside but feel overwhelmed, numb or quietly disconnected on the inside, this guide will help you understand why… and what’s possible when your body starts to thaw.
Do you ever feel like you’re holding everything together for everyone else while quietly falling apart inside?
Maybe you’re the dependable one
the one people lean on
the one who always shows up
the one who copes.
But when life finally slows down even for a moment
everything inside becomes too much
or not enough.
You’re exhausted.
You’re overwhelmed.
You’re shut down.
And yet… you keep functioning.
This isn’t failure.
This is functional freeze.
And it’s more common than anyone realises.
Why This Matters
Functional freeze keeps you going when your body doesn’t feel safe enough to stop.
It’s intelligent.
It’s adaptive.
It’s not who you are.
But when you learn to recognise it…
when you understand how your nervous system is protecting you…
something begins to soften.
Space opens.
Feeling returns.
Life becomes more textured, more meaningful, more real.
This guide is designed to help you take the first gentle step.
Meet Laura
Somatic therapist and creator of HeartSomatics™ Laura Starky brings 25 years of experience in trauma and mental health, along with her own healing journey, to support sensitive, high-functioning adults living with overwhelm or shutdown. She is known for her gentle, body-first approach that helps people feel more, not do more.
What This Guide Will Give You
In this free guide, you’ll learn.....
• what functional freeze actually is (and why it’s so easily missed)
• the emotional, behavioural and physical signs most people overlook
• why slowing down feels so uncomfortable even when you want rest
• how childhood patterns and over-responsibility quietly shape freeze
• why sensitive, high-functioning adults are especially vulnerable
• simple somatic practices to help you thaw gently and safely
• how to begin feeling again without becoming overwhelmed
This isn’t about forcing change.
It’s about learning how to feel more with support and compassion.
Why This Matters
Functional freeze keeps you going when your body doesn’t feel safe enough to stop.
It’s intelligent.
It’s adaptive.
It’s not who you are.
But when you learn to recognise it…
when you understand how your nervous system is protecting you…
something begins to soften.
Space opens.
Feeling returns.
Life becomes more textured, more meaningful, more real.
This guide is designed to help you take the first gentle step.