We treat “relaxing” like a task on a to-do list. We think if we just sit on the couch and turn on Netflix, we are relaxing. But for many of us, the body refuses to cooperate. Your heart races, your jaw clenches, and you feel a buzzing anxiety under your skin. You are physically still, but internally, you are running a marathon.
This inability to rest isn’t a personality quirk; it is a biological state known as “survival mode.” When you live with chronic stress—financial worry, a toxic job, or relationship instability—your nervous system gets stuck in the “on” position. It forgets how to switch off. Living in this state for too long is dangerous for your mind and your body. Here is why you can’t relax and what it is doing to you.
