The Surprising Link Between Serotonin, Stuckness, Safety & Self-Trust

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Hello again returning readers and welcome to those of you who have recently joined the newsletter.

As a passionate reader, hobby-researcher and general curious human being, this community gives me the place to share some of what I am learning both in training but also through my coaching journey with clients. It’s so inspiring to hear how you have taken bits and pieces to put into practice or share with people you love.

So thanks for reaching out to tell me over emails, messages and in person in the street! That’s what it’s for and I’m so glad you’re here.

Today I want to talk to you about the role your emotions play in everyday life. And how we can begin to reshape them by working with the body’s own hormonal chemistry. That way, you’re not at the mercy of fluctuating states of mind. Instead, you can regain more peace and a renewed sense of empowerment; believing that things are, well, possible again.

Below, you’ll find seven ways to boost your serotonin levels and a tried-and-tested grounding exercise for moments when you feel flooded.

I’ve always wondered why we sometimes have ALL the information, all the reasons why and even the time, but we don’t act. We feel like we’re in a fog of overwhelm where there’s appears to be no feasible (or appealing) way out. Or, we are in a room ignoring a giant pink elephant sitting in the corner while we carry on day to day pretending that we absolutely can go another day, week, month without dealing with that, thank you very much.

There was a season in my life when resistance felt like a fog that never lifted.
I knew what I wanted.
I even knew what I needed to do.
And yet, I couldn’t do it.

P.S. I stayed in this state for around 2 years. (I know, right).

This resistance; this looping and overwhelm; led me to explore and research more deeply the relationship between our emotional states and the unfolding of the challenges we face.

What I began to see is simple:
The struggles we meet in the external world often have roots in the internal.
Our emotional state doesn’t just influence our experience of life, it shapes it.

The hormone Serotonin (often called the ‘safety hormone’) especially influences our overall tone or mood of the brain because it acts as a neuromodulator in the brain, coordinating all of the neurons to work in harmony so that we have overall mood stability and can cope with stress. So, it’s no wonder we can feel pretty out of sorts when it’s out of balance!

Our emotional state colours what we see - like a lens through which we view the world and what we believe is possible. Thus, it then must influence the way we act.

When we feel anxious, overwhelmed, or overstretched, we tend to seek control or comfort in things outside ourselves: schedules, status, substances, social approval, and those ‘busy’ tasks which give us a quick dopamine hit (that lasts around five minutes).

We cling to the familiar, even when it no longer serves us, because it gives the illusion of safety. But real safety isn’t found there. In fact, it’s often in the familiar where we feel at odds with our goal of who we actually want to be.
Safety starts by addressing this contradiction from the inside.

The Stress Response: Why Some Stress Is Necessary, But Chronic Stress Isn’t

The feeling of stress when you’re overwhelmed is your body’s natural response to a challenge. We need a certain amount of stress to move forward in life. It helps mobilise us, activates focus, and gives us the internal chemistry required to respond; including the release of cortisol and adrenaline, which heighten our ability to react and protect ourselves.

But, when this response becomes our default reaction, not just in times of true danger, but in response to everyday stressors like emails, family tension, making a mistake at work or even social engagements, the body stays switched on. It begins to live as though everything is urgent. Everything is unsafe.

I often borrow the term hyper-vigilance to describe that feeling of always being ‘on guard,’ never quite relaxing and being aware of a sense of ‘everything could implode at any time’. Sound familiar?

That constant over-activation lasting for a long period of time becomes chronic stress, and if it’s left unchecked it can lead to anxiety, depression, insomnia, a feeling of being detached from life, emotional dysregulation, fatigue, or burnout.

This is why presence is not just a nice idea, it’s a form of nervous system healing.
A way to come home to yourself when your body’s still fighting a battle you’re not in.

The Biology of Safety: Serotonin as a Foundation for Action

When the body feels safe, the mind begins to soften and possibility returns; the world opens back up.
You may have experienced this feeling after an encouraging pep talk, or perhaps a coaching session, or even just spending time around people who accept and inspire you. You suddenly feel like things are possible again.

One of the key players in this shift is serotonin. It supports mood stability, emotional regulation, impulse control, and our capacity to feel connected to others. It also helps lower inflammation and stress levels. When serotonin is functioning well, our nervous system no longer reads the world as a threat – it reads it as engageable.

This is what allows us to move from protection mode into growth, creation, and expansion.
In other words: We stop fighting ourselves and start living.

What Happens When Serotonin Is Out of Balance?

When serotonin levels are low or dysregulated, we can feel flat, disconnected, and unable to enjoy things we once loved. Even small tasks can feel overwhelming. It becomes harder to bounce back from stress, regulate emotions, or feel a sense of reward from everyday actions.

Low serotonin is associated with conditions such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, and heightened reactivity. You might notice a greater tendency to ruminate or spiral, a shorter fuse, or a deeper sense of emotional fragility.

Why Does Serotonin Become Depleted?

A few common reasons:

• Chronic stress: Constant activation of the stress response system uses up resources faster than they can be replenished.

• Poor gut health: Around 90% of serotonin is produced in the gut. An imbalanced microbiome or inflammatory diet can significantly impact serotonin availability. (This one actually blew my mind. Next issue perhaps…?)

• Lack of natural light and movement: Both are essential triggers for serotonin production.

• Social isolation or disconnection: Serotonin thrives in safe, meaningful relational contact.

• Unprocessed emotional experiences: When we suppress, ignore, or override our emotions consistently, our nervous system stays braced making it harder for serotonin to do its job.

• Insomnia and sleep problems. Yep, serotonin also helps regulate sleep which is vital for repair and recovery.

Understanding this helps us meet ourselves with more compassion, rather than frustration, when we notice we’re not feeling quite like ourselves.
The invitation, then, is not to force positivity but to create conditions where serotonin can be supported, and safety can slowly return.

Science Speaks: Body and Brain Are Not Separate

Modern research affirms what many wisdom traditions have long known; we are not minds floating above beautiful bodies, but embodied beings whose emotions are stored in our nervous systems, tissues, and breath.

Two pioneers in this space illuminate this beautifully:
Pat Ogden, PhD, founder of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, teaches that unprocessed trauma and emotional residue live in the body and that healing must include both body and mind.

"The body always leads us home... if we can simply learn to listen," says Ogden.

Dr Peter Levine, creator of Somatic Experiencing (SE), emphasises that small, felt shifts in the body can help release stuck survival energy, allowing the system to return to safety.

As Levine says: "Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness."

And when safety is felt, action becomes possible.

The Space Between Knowing and Doing

We often think the problem is lack of willpower, that we just need to try harder. But what if the real issue is that the nervous system doesn’t yet feel safe enough to move?

Presence is the bridge. Presence is the act of feeling without fleeing (or distracting ourselves) and it is profoundly transformative.

We can learn to:

• Notice the sensation of anxiety, and name it, rather than immediately reacting to it.

• Allow the discomfort of uncertainty, without rushing to fix it.

• Let the body speak first and trust what it says.

This soft, curious attention creates space.
And in that space, clarity emerges.
Capacity returns.

A Simple Somatic Practice for When You Feel Stuck

When we are overwhelmed, we often feel like we cannot focus. We struggle to complete one task without flitting to another and we often have a sense of not quite getting anything finished. We may notice a feeling of panic and like we are rushing, but that we are not really focusing on any one thing properly.

This leads to a feeling of having a scattered brain, and a sense that we haven’t achieved anything. At times like this, we often try to flee from the discomfort by starting a ‘busy task’ which is low cognitive load but gives momentary relief – but this in itself starts a cycle that won’t bring the shift we’re searching for.

If we can catch ourselves in this moment and take a second to step back and notice it – that is a huge move towards taking the impact away from the restlessness.

From Peter Levine’s work, try this grounding practice when you feel flooded or despairing: