The Aftershock of High Performance: Why Recovery Feels Harder Than the Event Itself

executive leadership high performance keynote speaker leadership nervous system rituals Jun 03, 2025

Have you ever delivered a performance so powerful that the applause echoed in your mind long after the room emptied—only to find yourself unable to exhale?

Last week, I delivered four live sessions in one day—an opening keynote, two breakout sessions, and a closing keynote for hundreds of public health leaders. I was prepared. I was proud. I was fully present. And by every external measure, the day was a complete success.

But here’s the truth I want to share—especially for other speakers, coaches, executives, and high-stakes leaders:

👉 The applause ends. 👉 The audience leaves. 👉 But your nervous system… doesn’t.

The Aftershock We Don’t Talk About

After a major event, we expect to feel relief. But sometimes, what actually lingers is:

A racing mind
Physical tension that won’t subside
Shallow breath or tightness in the chest
Trouble sleeping or resting
A sense of pressure that you cannot name

So you meditate, walk, stretch, journal—using the very tools that helped you prepare—and yet… nothing’s shifting. Why?

Because your body has imprinted those very same tools as performance cues. After a performance, they no longer signal calm—they signal readiness. Let me explain.

When Recovery Tools Become Performance Triggers

In the weeks leading up to a high-stakes event, I did everything right:

Daily meditation to regulate my breath and clarity
Walks and strength training to keep my energy up
Visualization to see myself leading with grace and strength
Electrolytes, magnesium, high-protein meals to stay focused

And they worked. They got me into a heightened state of energetic leadership. But here’s what neuroscience shows us: When we repeatedly pair a ritual with a high-performance outcome, the brain begins to link the two.

So what happens post-event?

I go for a walk… and my brain says, “Are we prepping again?”
I sit to meditate… and my nervous system whispers, “Gear up—big moment ahead.”
I stretch, breathe, visualize… and suddenly I’m back on stage, in my mind.

That tightness, that unshakeable feeling of anxiety—it’s not weakness. It’s nervous system residue + association mismatch. The body doesn’t yet trust that it’s safe to rest because the rituals you used are now energetically linked to “go time.”

The Solution? Create New Cues for Safety and Release

What the body needs after performance is not more optimization. It needs completion. Closure. Permission. Here’s how I’ve learned to reset—and how I now coach my clients to do the same:

1. Flip the Ritual Intention

You need to tell your body, through action, that the rituals now have a NEW job: “This is not preparation. This is release. This is not for performance. This is for peace.”

Say this mantra before any calming activity: “This is the after. I am letting it leave my body now. It’s done.”

Say it out loud—so your body hears your leadership.

2. Introduce Unfamiliar Rhythms

Your prep rituals were structured, dialed in, high performance. Now you need the opposite: messy, unstructured, non-performative actions.

Dance badly to loud music. Shake your limbs. Be ungraceful.
Record a voice note to yourself as if you’re your best friend: “You don’t need to hold anything anymore. You are done. You did it. You’re safe. You can rest.”
Scribble on paper with a colorful marker or paint with your fingers and no agenda.
Surrender breath—no box breathing—just sighing, yawning, groaning out loud.

Let the body know it is off the clock.

3. Create a Ceremony of Release

You need to tell your body, through action, that the performance loop is closed:

Write out everything you carried leading up to the event.
Say it aloud: “I carried this. I gave this. I release this.”
Rip the paper. Literally signal to your system: It’s released.
Take a warm-to-cold shower and say, “It’s done.”

You’re not just emotionally letting go. You’re signaling to your limbic brain that the performance loop is closed. These are cues that trigger the parasympathetic nervous system. They help release the tension and you start experiencing equilibrium.

4. Speak Safety, Not Just Strategy

Most leaders tell themselves: “It’s over. Let it go.” But your nervous system doesn’t respond to logic. It responds to safety.

Try saying out loud: “You don’t need to process the event anymore. You don’t need to analyze, learn from it, or go back through it. I release the need to hold onto the experience. My body will keep the wisdom. I’m letting go of the weight.”

Say it out loud so your nervous system hears you.

5. Honor Recovery Like an Athlete

You just ran an internal marathon. Treat it accordingly:

Magnesium glycinate to calm the brain
Warm food and slow movement to signal restoration
No overthinking. No performance recap. No productivity.
Get sunlight. Nap without guilt. Be in nature. Be with people who expect nothing of you.

Final Thought

You don’t have to “earn” your exhale. You already gave everything.

And if your body hasn’t relaxed yet—there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re not broken. You’re just a leader who cared deeply, gave fully, and needs a new way to come home.

The mission isn’t just to perform well. It’s to recover fully. So you can rise again—stronger, calmer, clearer.

What about you?

Have you experienced this post-performance aftershock? What rituals or practices have helped you recover? I’d love to hear your thoughts—let’s learn from each other.

Polly Meyer Executive Coach | Keynote Speaker | Leadership Trainer

#HighPerformance #PublicSpeaking #NervousSystem #EmotionalRegulation #SpeakerRecovery #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipLongevity