The Hidden Toll of Hypervigilance: When You Can Feel the Air Move
If you’ve ever gone home from work utterly drained—without doing anything “physically” exhausting—you’re not alone. For many trauma survivors, the exhaustion isn’t about the workload. It’s about what your nervous system is doing all day just to keep you feeling safe.
For me, this shows up in ways I didn’t fully realize until recently:
I can tell how close someone is to me just by the way the air moves around my body. Even if I don’t see them. Even if they’re behind me. My body feels the shift and immediately knows they’re too close to my invisible bubble.
That’s not “intuition” in the mystical sense—it’s hypervigilance. And it’s exhausting.
What Is Hypervigilance?
Hypervigilance is when your nervous system stays on constant high alert, scanning for danger—even in safe environments. It’s a survival skill often formed in unsafe or unpredictable situations, especially in childhood or during ongoing trauma.
You might think of it as:
Noticing every sound, movement, or facial expression around you.
Feeling jumpy or startled easily.
Tracking people’s tone of voice or footsteps without meaning to.
Avoiding certain environments because you know they’ll feel overwhelming.
And sometimes, like in my case, it can be as subtle—and as intense—as sensing air movement when someone walks by.
Why It Happens
When you’ve lived through unsafe situations, your body learns to protect you with every sense available. You become finely tuned to the smallest cues—footsteps in another room, the change in someone’s breathing, or the shift in air when someone gets too close.
Your brain and body aren’t overreacting; they’re overperforming. They’ve been trained to anticipate danger so you can respond quickly.
The Cost of Living This Way
Hypervigilance can help you survive, but it comes at a cost. Constant scanning means your nervous system never gets to rest. By the end of the day, you may feel physically exhausted, even if you’ve been sitting most of the time.
It’s like your brain is running 10 background apps at once, draining the battery—fast.
You’re Not Broken
If you relate to this, please hear me: you’re not “too sensitive” or “making things up.” You’ve adapted to survive, and your body has been protecting you brilliantly. But protection doesn’t have to mean constant tension forever.
With the right support, you can teach your nervous system what safety feels like so it doesn’t have to scan every second.
Gentle Ways to Begin Easing Hypervigilance
Somatic healing: Safe, body-based practices to help you reconnect without overwhelm.
Sound healing or Reiki: Soothing nervous system regulation that can help you release tension you didn’t even know you were holding.
Root Cause Therapy: Identifying and unwinding the beliefs and experiences that keep your body stuck in high alert.
Micro-grounding breaks: Even one minute of slow, deep breathing can signal to your system, We’re safe right now.
Book Resource
📚 The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
A foundational look at how trauma lives in the body and the many ways it can be healed.
If you’ve ever felt this deep, quiet exhaustion from simply existing in a space full of people—you’re not alone. Your body is wise, your survival is valid, and there’s hope for learning how to feel safe without working so hard for it.
💛 If you’d like to explore gentle, trauma-informed ways to help your nervous system rest, I’d be honored to support you. You can learn more or book a session at www.restorativehealinghaven.com.