How to get unstuck

Hi friends,

It’s only January and I heard from many of you that you’re already feeling a bit stuck: long to-do lists, too many projects, not enough clarity.

If you’re the curious, nerdy analytical type, your default response might be to think harder, plan more, or improve your productivity systems. But this seemingly logical approach can actually make you feel even more stuck.

This week, we’re exploring a different approach: the science of using the body to change your cognitive and emotional state and help you get unstuck more quickly.

 How to Get Unstuck
When we’re stuck creatively, productively or intellectually, we often tend to frame the problem as a lack of ideas, discipline, or motivation. So we try to push, to think harder, or to optimize our tools and systems.

But “stuckness” is rarely a thinking problem. It’s a nervous system state, which can be regulated much more efficiently through the body than through effortful thought.

Why thinking harder doesn’t work
Cognition doesn’t operate in isolation. It’s continuously shaped by signals from the body, whether that’s your posture, movement, breathing, muscle tension, or other sensory input. These signals all modulate arousal, attention, and threat perception before conscious thought even begins.

This is why small physiological changes can have surprisingly large cognitive effects. A slight change in breathing pace, a brief bout of movement, or a shift in posture can alter how clearly you think and how flexible your cognition is.

Somatic regulation is the practice of using your body to change cognitive and emotional states instead of relying on top-down thinking alone.


Somatic Healing versus Somatic Regulation table
Somatic regulation treats bodily signals as useful inputs, creating the conditions for movement – mental movement included.

Practical ways to get unstuck
There are many ways to feel stuck. Rumination, avoidance, and perfectionism… These loops tend to persist because there’s a mismatch between what the task requires and your current physiological state. Change the state, and the loop often loosens on its own.

Here are three ways to get unstuck, depending on the kind of “stuckness” you’re experiencing:

1) Creatively stuck. Creative work benefits from variability. Changing posture – such as sitting to standing, collapsed to upright – or changing location can be enough to introduce new sensory input. A short walk outside without additional stimulation (no phone, no podcast) can also help when you feel creatively stuck.

2) Productively stuck. Difficulties with being productive often reflect an arousal mismatch: your energy may be too low or too high for the task. Brief, gentle movement such as stretching, swaying, or light dancing can help bring your arousal level into a workable range. So get up from your desk, put your favorite song on, dance like no one’s watching, and then only get back to work!

3) Intellectually stuck. Deep thinking relies on working memory and a sense of safety to give the task your full attention, both of which degrade under stress. Slowing the breath slightly, especially by lengthening the exhale, can help reduce stress and give your nervous system a cue of safety before returning to the problem you’re trying to solve.

After the state shift, reflect to notice patterns. What kind of stuckness was this? What changed after adjusting the state? This simple metacognitive practice doesn’t have to take a lot of time. One or two sentences in your journal or note-taking app.

Over time, these field notes will become a personal map of how different states interact with different kinds of work and tasks.

Getting unstuck is rarely about better ideas or stronger discipline. It’s about restoring movement – first physical, then emotional and cognitive. When you feel stuck, start below the neck. Change the state first.

BTW THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE DOING IN OUR WEEKLY YOGA CLASSES AND IN OUR UPCOMING RETREAT. WE FOCUS ON OUR SOMATIC EXPERIENCE THROUGH MOVEMENT, BREATH, AROMAS AND TASTE! We often finish with a journaling practice, right there, when your mind is free.