Episode 114: The 3 Phases of Building Stress Resilience (A Nervous System Approach)
Stress resilience is often misunderstood. We’re told to push through, tolerate more, optimise harder — but that version of resilience is what leads many people straight into burnout. In this final episode of the stress series on The Goode Health Podcast, we redefine what stress resilience actually means and explain why real resilience is built through nervous system regulation and recovery, not endurance.
If you’re recovering from chronic stress or burnout, this episode will help you understand why stress recovery is not linear, why you may feel worse before you feel better, and why pushing harder delays healing. You’ll learn the three phases of rebuilding resilience: safety, regulation and capacity. And why sequencing matters when restoring stress tolerance. We also explore why high-intensity tools (like intense exercise, fasting, cold exposure or aggressive optimisation) can backfire when your nervous system is depleted.
This episode answers questions like:
“How to recover from chronic stress”
“Signs your nervous system is dysregulated”
“Why rest feels uncomfortable”
“Why meditation doesn’t reduce stress”
“Common stress recovery mistakes”
“Why stress management isn’t working for me”
“How to build stress resilience”
By the end of this episode, you’ll know how to measure recovery properly (hint: not by productivity), how to protect recovery while rebuilding capacity, and how to increase stress resilience naturally without burning out again. This episode also includes an invitation to the Goode Health Studio, a paced and structured space for building stress resilience without switching your life off.
DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast and related website is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice. It is not intended to be used to diagnose or treat, instead it is designed to help educate and inspire. Always seek the advice of a professional medical practitioner or qualified health practitioner. Never ignore or disregard advice given to you based on information in this podcast or related website and do not delay in seeking medical advice.
Timestamps:
[01:50] - What Stress Resilience Really Means
Why pushing through stress isn’t true resilience, and how endurance often leads to burnout.
[03:20] - Why Stress Recovery Is Not Linear
Understanding non-linear stress recovery, nervous system healing, and why progress happens in layers, not straight lines.
[07:10] - Why Sequencing Matters in Burnout Recovery
The biggest mistake in stress recovery: doing the right tools at the wrong time.
[08:00] - Phase 1: Safety (The Foundation of Nervous System Healing
Why nothing changes until your body feels safe, and how reducing threat signalling restores recovery capacity.
[09:20] - Phase 2: Regulation (Restoring Nervous System Flexibility)
How sleep, cortisol rhythm, digestion and stress tolerance begin stabilising through consistent nervous system regulation.
[10:30] - Phase 3: Capacity (Rebuilding Stress Resilience Safely)
How to increase stress tolerance and energy without triggering crashes or returning to burnout.
[12:00] - Why You Feel Stuck: Optimisation Before Regulation
Why intense exercise, fasting, cold exposure and aggressive routines can delay chronic stress recovery.
[14:30] - The 5 Common Stress Recovery Mistakes
Forcing calm, treating rest as laziness, overhauling everything at once, measuring progress by productivity, and pushing too soon.
[17:00] - Guided Stress Recovery: How The Studio Supports Nervous System Regulation
How structured support improves burnout recovery without overwhelming a depleted nervous system.
“You cannot build resilience on top of an already stressed system. Pushing harder, optimising more, adding intense exercise, strict routines or aggressive tools doesn’t restore capacity — it adds load. The nervous system rebuilds resilience in a sequence: safety first, regulation second, capacity third. If safety isn’t there, everything feels fragile. If regulation isn’t stable, capacity collapses. Real stress resilience grows when recovery is protected, not sacrificed.”
Essential learnings from this episode…
Stress resilience is about recovery, not endurance. True stress resilience is your body’s ability to return to baseline after stress, not how much pressure you can tolerate. Endurance without recovery leads to burnout.
Stress recovery is non-linear. Chronic stress healing happens in layers. Fluctuations, fatigue awareness and temporary dips are part of nervous system regulation, not signs of failure.
You can’t build resilience on an unsafe nervous system. Nothing changes until your body feels safe. Reducing threat signalling is the first step in rebuilding stress tolerance.
Recovery happens in three phases: Safety, Regulation and Capacity. Sustainable burnout recovery requires sequencing. Safety restores stability, regulation rebuilds flexibility, and capacity expands resilience gradually.
Optimisation before regulation delays healing. High-intensity tools like aggressive exercise, fasting or cold exposure can overload a depleted nervous system and prolong stress recovery.
Measure recovery by flexibility, not productivity. Early progress shows up as fewer crashes, smoother recovery and more predictable energy, not immediate increases in output.
EPISODE 114
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