A behind-the-scenes gift from The Regulated Woman
Hello my love, and welcome back to the Shamelessly Ambitious podcast.
Today’s episode is a bonus—and a little peek behind the scenes of The Regulated Woman, which is my signature program. One of the core components of that work is the private podcast: short, potent audio practices designed to help you regulate your nervous system, interrupt stress loops, rebuild capacity, and reclaim your energy in real time.
Inside that private feed are dozens of audios you can use:
- between meetings
- after a hard interaction
- when you’re overstimulated or shut down
- when you’re “fine” mentally but exhausted in your body
Today, I wanted to gift you one of those practices—because this one is foundational.
We’re talking about emotional residue.
What emotional residue actually is
Emotional residue is what your body holds onto when something happens and you don’t get to fully process it.
It can come from:
- irritation you brushed past
- disappointment you didn’t have time to feel
- overstimulation you powered through
- a boundary that got crossed
- a moment you felt unseen or dismissed
Even if your mind says, “I’m okay,” your body might not be.
And here’s the key thing most of us forget:
unfelt emotions don’t disappear.
They lodge themselves in the body.
Your nervous system then has to work overtime holding onto them—burning energy, tightening muscles, shortening your breath—until that response gets completed.
Think of it like this:
Every time you feel something and don’t finish the cycle, it’s like picking up a five-pound weight.
How many of those do you pick up in a single day?
By 10 a.m., your body is exhausted—not because you’ve done too much, but because it’s holding too much.
Why this drains your energy so fast
This is one of the biggest reasons people feel:
- wiped out early in the day
- reactive “for no reason”
- emotionally fragile or snappy
- overstimulated but numb
- tired even after rest
It’s not always burnout.
It’s not always trauma.
Often, it’s accumulated, unfinished stress responses.
The good news?
You don’t need a full therapy session or a 30-minute breathwork practice to release it.
You just need to let the body finish what it started.
A 60-second emotional residue release
This is a micro somatic intervention—designed for real life, not perfect conditions.
Step 1: Identify the “hit”
Not the story.
Not the meaning.
Not the emotion label.
Just the moment your body reacted.
- the second your jaw tightened
- the instant your chest clenched
- the drop in your stomach
- the irritation spike
- the overwhelm wave
Pick one. Your body already knows which one needs attention.
Step 2: Name what your body did
This is crucial.
You’re not analyzing—you’re acknowledging.
Examples:
- “My jaw locked.”
- “My throat closed.”
- “My chest tightened.”
- “My shoulders shot up.”
This signals to your nervous system:
“I see you. I’m not ignoring this.”
That alone begins regulation.
Step 3: Complete the physical response
Now you let the body finish what got interrupted.
Choose one:
- press your palms together firmly
- shake your hands like you’re flicking off water
- stomp your feet
- roll your shoulders with force
- take a deep, growly exhale
This isn’t about “expressing emotions” dramatically.
It’s about completing the stress response.
Once completed, the energy gets released instead of stored.
Why this works (and why it matters)
Your body doesn’t need you to:
- solve the problem
- understand the root cause
- journal about it
- make meaning of it
It just needs permission to finish.
When you release even one piece of emotional residue, you often feel:
- clearer
- calmer
- more present
- less reactive
- noticeably more energized
Multiply that by several times a day, and your entire baseline changes.
This is how you get your energy back.
If you want more of this kind of support
Inside The Regulated Woman, this is the kind of work we do consistently:
- short, effective somatic practices
- nervous-system-first regulation
- tools you can use in real life, not just ideal conditions
You can join through:
- the Live Experience (with monthly recalibration calls), or
- the Self-Paced Experience (instant access to the private podcast + regulation vault)
Both meet you where you are—psychologically and somatically.
For now, I hope this practice helps you release what you’ve been carrying and reclaim some of your energy today.
You don’t need to push harder.
You just need to let your body finish.
xx, Ash
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