Global High-Intensity Activation, Rhythmicity & Healing with Mahshid Hager – How We Can Heal S6 E10

When slowing down feels dangerous, your body might be living in Global High-Intensity Activation(GHIA): always on, always braced, always moving. Today we sit down with licensed marriage and family therapist and Somatic Experiencing faculty member Mahshid Hager to name that pattern, trace where it comes from, and chart a humane path back to rhythm.

Mahshid explains why a body wired for survival often resists rest, and how to work with that reality using micro-rests that your system will actually allow. We unpack the gas-and-brake reciprocity between sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, the difference between hyperarousal and global high, and how swings between overdrive and full collapse can fuel chronic pain, inflammation, and exhaustion. Along the way, curiosity shows up as the quiet superpower ~ because genuine curiosity cannot coexist with threat.

Mahshid shares a story about her relationship with the mountains over the years, and how the same thing that triggers panic can become a source of awe years later - not with forced exposure, but with care for the body. We also reflect on capitalism’s applause for burnout and the 24/7 news cycle that delivers shock without local action. You’ll hear smart, doable suggestions for managing news & technology in a way that keeps you engaged , but not overwhelmed.

If you’re always in GO mode, running on fumes, or trying to support clients through trauma, this conversation offers language, tools, and hope. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a break, and leave a review to help more listeners find their way back to rhythm.

Learn more at https://mahshidhager.com/ and https://traumahealing.org/.

Chapters

0:03 Meet Mahshid Hager

0:40 Defining Global High-Intensity Activation

1:28 Somatic Experiencing Finds A Way

8:40 Culture, Rest, And American GO Mode

8:47 What Global High Looks & Feels Like

11:41 Capitalism, Rewards, And Wear And Tear

14:39 Micro-Rests & Building Capacity

18:42 Gas, Brakes & Rhythmicity

25:49 Hyperarousal vs Global High

31:14 Freeze, Dissociation & Health Costs

36:01 Diagnoses, Trauma & Regulation

40:08 Your Innate Rhythm

43:29 What is Somatic Experiencing?

48:07 Intergenerational Patterns

49:12 A story about mountains: From Trigger To Resource

58:18 Technology, news & how to manage it all

1:07:38 Choosing Presence Over Constant Input

1:08:55 Closing Reflections & Resources