From Survival Mode to Self-Trust Nervous System Regulation for High Achievers

High achievement is often celebrated, but what happens when success comes at the cost of health, energy, and self-trust?

In this second half of the ANEW Insight conversation, Dr. Supatra Tovar is joined again by nervous system coach and Phoenix Effect founder Beth Bishop to explore why so many high achievers remain stuck in survival mode despite doing everything “right.”

This episode unpacks the hidden costs of productivity culture, perfectionism, and equating worth with output. Beth and Dr. Tovar discuss why stress cannot be thought away, how nervous system dysregulation shows up in food relationships, burnout, and exhaustion, and what it actually takes to move toward regulation and balance.

The conversation also dives into practical, realistic tools—from redefining priorities and daily habits to morning and evening routines that support long-term wellbeing without requiring drastic lifestyle changes.

This episode is for anyone who looks capable on the outside but feels depleted on the inside, and for those ready to stop pushing through and start listening to their body.

Main Points Covered

• Why high achievers often wear burnout as a badge of honor
• The misconception that stress can be solved through willpower alone
• How productivity culture keeps the nervous system stuck in survival mode
• Reframing success, perfectionism, and self-worth
• Building awareness around time, priorities, and life satisfaction
• Nervous system regulation through simple daily habits
• Food freedom, body trust, and moving away from restriction
• Morning and evening routines that support stress recovery
• Why sustainable health starts with self-trust, not control
  
  

Share This Episode

Know someone who’s accomplished, driven, and quietly exhausted?
 Share this episode with anyone who’s ready to stop living in survival mode and start building a healthier, more sustainable relationship with work, food, and their body.

#anewinsight #deprogramdietculture #burnoutprevention #nutritionalpsychology #nervoussystemhealth #bodyimagehealing #mindfuleating #womenandwellness #holistichealth #selftrust #balancedliving #emotionalwellbeing #anti_dietculture #sustainablehealth #drsupatratovar #drtovar #supatratovar #deprogramdietculture #nutrionalpsychology #anewinsightpodacst #bethbishop

Transcript

dr--supatra-tovar_4_12-10-2025_112831: 0:00

Welcome back to the ANEW Insight podcast. We're back for the second half of our interview with TEDx Temecula, speaker, founder of the Phoenix Effect and nervous system coach Beth Bishop. Beth gave us some really amazing insight into her highly effective and very simple method for tackling stress and anxiety. So excited. I love talking about this stuff because this is all like practical tools for people, ways to increase their awareness and to optimize their health in so many ways. So let's ask this question first. Um, what misconceptions do you frequently encounter about stress, productivity or emotional resilience that actually keep people trapped in survival mode? What do you see in that realm?

squadcaster-g6ij_2_12-10-2025_112831: 0:03

So a really interesting exercise that one of my coaches first gave me and I love to use with with my clients, is you take a sheet of paper and you write down all the ways that you spend your time, whether it's work or with family or friends, or going to the gym or going to the grocery store, whatever it is, and you make each piece as big as you think the time takes. It's like, no, it doesn't. And then that's where that awareness comes in and that's where you can make that change and say, okay, I don't know how yet, but I know that I want something different for myself. That's very, very important. It's a choice. It's a

dr--supatra-tovar_4_12-10-2025_112831: 0:05

Mm-hmm. Well, I think too, we're coming out of an age. See this in with women more than men, and we have been conditioned to think that we not only can do it all, but have to do it all, meaning we have to have a career. And then you're not a real person if you don't have kids. And you, you, um. You need to be the one who carries the entire mental load of the household, meaning you know exactly when the kids need to get picked up and you are the one coordinating it all the while you might have a partner who's just like, you know, I'm not doing anything, and those are a lot of the people that come into my office, you know, completely, you know, jacked up, burned out, stretched as thin as possible. Is that something that you can delegate out? Is that something that you can just completely eliminate, really looking at the why of what you're doing? Say it's like, you know, the, the mom was doing it all. So that, that running to-do list. Mm-hmm. Powered by what they wanna do. And that purpose-driven person is also going to prioritize their self-care. They're going to prioritize their mental health, their wellbeing, time with family and friends, and realizing that

squadcaster-g6ij_2_12-10-2025_112831: 0:10

just buy the things that bring me joy. So I call it high vibe fridge. You inspired this and, and now it's not about like restriction. I'm like looking at all these rainbows of food and, and amazing things that may bring me joy. And now food and cooking is about, it's about joy. It's not about I need to get in these vegetables because health,

dr--supatra-tovar_4_12-10-2025_112831: 0:11

And help them reformulate their idea of, of the good and bad foods, reducing that and seeing food as nourishment. If you've had an entire, like giant bag, how does your body feel after like the first couple bites? You have a first couple bites, you're like, Ugh, this is all good, right? Right, because there are some days you're gonna want that farmer's market. You know, your, your body's gonna be like, I need all of the vitamins. Gimme the, I need the vitamins. I need the fiber. And then there's some days where your body's like, but I would love to haveve some mashed potatoes. Liberation. And the liberation is from disordered eating or eating disorders. It can be from that relentless restrictive pursuit of perfection. And what I find for most of them is that they naturally find their way back to whatever their best body is, whatever's right for them. They just naturally do that. Love. I'm so happy to hear that, that like you, you have no idea how that fills my heart to hear something like that. Well, let's, let's, let's talk about a breakthrough story. From anybody that you've worked with, what give me like your most inspirational client or workshop or something that really continues to inspire you and reminds you of the impact of your work.

squadcaster-g6ij_2_12-10-2025_112831: 0:16

We did a uh, a 28 day stress reset. It was all about leadership, right? So these, all these people are coming in because they wanna be better leaders. They wanna have an edge, they wanna, they wanna be the best. And it was so amazing working with all of these leaders, going through how to build better habits in the morning, how to deal with acute stress in the moment, right? How to set yourself up to have great restful evenings and like, have, uh, disconnect from work. And the really cool thing about that that was just so inspiring is that people, we did a, a stress assessment at the beginning and then we did a stress assessment at the end, and the average score went down by a 50%. So some, so much of that stuff is like, what not to do, just use your time in a different way. And that makes such an impact,

dr--supatra-tovar_4_12-10-2025_112831: 0:18

I had, um, one of the lead researchers in circadian rhythm come on the podcast, and I'm really interested in that on, you know, kind of from an evolutionary perspective. That's why I kind of asked about time and about the circadian rhythm and, um. A, he did say the most important thing is the consistency. And those for obvious reasons, we, we didn't have electric lights, you know, we had to hunt and gather. We eventually had to farm in the morning. And so when you look at that from a physiological perspective, we've kind of gotten outside of that. You can see the health detriments of that Right. And then also realizing that we have better, uh, facility of our energy stores in the morning to the early afternoon. So a lot of people, what they'll do, and this is, uh, you know, just kind of a, um. A little free tip out there if you're really struggling with your weight. A lot of people will hold off on breakfast as long as possible. Especially in the morning. I mean, we're talking better use of carbs or whole foods, you know, like whole grains and, uh, plants and, and fruits and things like that. But having that earlier in the day can really power you through the day.

squadcaster-g6ij_2_12-10-2025_112831: 0:22

Wow. So mine has three parts. One is I do a brain dump of all the things that I'm thinking about. There's been so much research around just writing things down and how it allows you to be less stressed and anxious later on. So you just write.

dr--supatra-tovar_4_12-10-2025_112831: 0:24

Mm-hmm. Oh, great. These are great ideas. Absolutely. And I think you're, you're totally right, you have to have some whatever it is in the middle of the day. Like I have like back to back clients often, and so I have 10 minutes in between and you can bet, well, of course I used to run and pee and all of that stuff, but there's gonna be stretching, there's gonna be moving. Is really hard. But here's some tips for people, and this is coming from that, uh, circadian rhythm, Dr. Panda who was on the podcast. We are pretty bad about that, but there are also filters that you can put on your devices. There's a color filter that, a red color filter that you can put on there, and I tend to keep my, my devices on night shift all the time, And even at night, you know, if you are on your screens, it's not gonna be that big of a deal if you've got those filters. Beth, there's so much more I wanna ask you when we're out of time. I would love for you to tell people how they can get ahold of you, how they can work with you, how they can go to your gym. Oh my gosh, Beth you're the best. I am so grateful to know you and I know we're gonna be lifelong friends. I have this feeling that we are gonna be hanging out a lot since we are both LA ladies and we will. I know. It's so awesome. So thank you so much for coming on my podcast, Beth.