But what if slowing down doesn’t bring relief?

What if instead of calm, you feel unsettled, uncomfortable, or unsure?

If you’ve done a lot of work on yourself and still feel like something isn’t landing, this conversation is for you.

In this episode, Dori Brown explores why safety is so often misunderstood, and why many capable, self-aware people feel stuck even after years of insight and effort. This isn’t a willpower issue or a lack of tools. It’s about whether your nervous system has learned how to stay present without effort or self-override.

Dori unpacks:

• Why safety is not the same as calm, confidence, or having things handled

• How many of us learned to rely on pushing, minimizing, and staying functional to feel okay

• What internal safety actually looks like when effort stops working

• Why connection can feel draining or activating, even with people you care about

• How safety becomes the foundation for real capacity, choice, and change

This conversation is not about fixing yourself. It’s about understanding what your system has been doing to survive, and what it needs now in order to soften, stay, and receive something different.

Toward the end of the episode, Dori also explores how safety shows up in relationship, not as something to manage or fix in others, but as a way of recognizing your own nervous system responses in moments of closeness, tension, or uncertainty.

If this episode resonates and you’d like more ongoing support, you’re invited to join Dori inside the Sacred Return Community.

Inside the community, Dori shares weekly private podcasts, is live a few times each month, and is present throughout the week offering steadiness, perspective, and support as members continue learning and practicing together.

It’s a grounded, intentional space for those who want to keep going, without pressure. Click here to learn more.