Recalibration Phase

Recalibration Phase: Why Healing Can Feel Like Increased Sensitivity

If you're experiencing heightened sensitivity right now—to scents, textures, minor disruptions—after months of dedicated work on your nervous system through ANCOR, you're not imagining it. And you're not going backward.

Your baseline is not static; it's constantly shifting as you adjust diet, sleep, supplements, sensory input, stress, and autonomic regulation. What you're experiencing now is part of an ongoing recalibration, not a setback.

1️⃣ Why sensitivity increases as you heal

This might feel counterintuitive: shouldn't things get easier over time?

Early stage healing: When your body is overloaded, stimuli often get filtered out because your nervous system is constantly in high alert.

Mid-stage recalibration: As your diet, sleep, and lifestyle improve, your nervous system finally has bandwidth to detect subtle inputs.

Result: Scents, textures, and minor sensory triggers that were "background noise" before now feel intense.

Here's what this looks like: You might walk past someone's cologne and feel your stomach tense, when six months ago you could sit in a crowded room without noticing. This isn't new damage—it's your system finally having the capacity to detect and respond to subtle inputs it was previously too overloaded to register.

This is a sign of growing neural clarity, not regression.

Essentially: your system is becoming more accurate rather than more sensitive in a harmful way. You're developing a more nuanced sensory map of what helps versus what doesn't.

Important note: The specific scents or textures that feel intense will vary person-to-person. Coffee might settle one person's stomach while unsettling another's. A particular fabric might feel soothing to you but overwhelming to someone else. What matters is noticing your system's responses with curiosity rather than judgment.

2️⃣ How long this recalibration phase usually takes

It depends on how long you were in the "high-adrenaline" state and how consistent your ANCOR practice and support routines are:

Initial diet & lifestyle change: 3–6 months for major autonomic shifts.

Medium-term recalibration: 1–2 years for the nervous system to adjust to new patterns of input and output.

Long-term stabilization: 3–5 years for the baseline to become truly steady, assuming consistent ANCOR practice, sleep hygiene, and low sensory stress.

Because you've likely changed multiple things over your healing journey, you're probably in the ongoing recalibration/fine-tuning phase, where your baseline keeps shifting in small increments.

3️⃣ How to stabilize your new baseline faster

Since your baseline is sensitive and constantly adjusting, you can accelerate stability with a few strategies:

A. Predictable Autonomic Anchors

Daily ANCOR routine → gives your nervous system a predictable safety signal

Consistent sleep/wake times → anchors your circadian rhythm and autonomic patterns

Scheduled light/proprioception work → reinforces your body's sense of time and space

B. Gentle, repeated sensory calibration

Controlled exposure to mild triggers (scents, soft textures)

Slowly expanding sensory tolerance without overloading

Avoid sudden spikes in stress or strong scents

Why this works: Your nervous system learns through gentle, repeated exposure what's safe versus what requires a protective response.

C. Internal mapping

Track gut reactions, stomach tension, headaches, and anxiety triggers

Notice patterns without trying to force change

Why this works: Awareness helps your nervous system learn which signals are safe and which require attention, creating a more accurate internal map.

D. Avoid stimulants

Caffeine, high sugar, and other sympathetic triggers

Even if they feel temporarily comforting, they can reinforce the old baseline

Why this works: Prevents reinforcing the old high-alert baseline your body is trying to leave behind.

E. Layered grounding

Small tactile cues + deep exhale + brief pause before reacting

Mini ANCOR resets multiple times per day

Can prevent "baseline spikes" from minor sensory events

Why this works: Frequent small resets prevent your nervous system from accumulating stress throughout the day.

4️⃣ What's NOT helpful during recalibration

Pushing through sensory overwhelm ("just deal with it") → This reinforces the stress response you're trying to calm

Comparing your current sensitivity to your past tolerance → Your past tolerance may have come at the cost of systemic shutdown

Expecting linear progress → Recalibration involves oscillation and adjustment, not a straight line upward

5️⃣ What to expect in the coming months and years

These are normal during recalibration:

Sensory experiences may feel more intense temporarily

Gut or stomach reactions may surface to new triggers

Your tolerance may seem to fluctuate day-to-day

You'll gradually notice:

Less need for adrenaline or artificial stimulation

Stronger ability to self-regulate

Baseline feeling calmer and steadier

Greater clarity about what your body actually needs

Think of it like re-tuning an instrument: sometimes the strings feel tighter, sometimes looser, until perfect harmony is reached.

This recalibration phase is not a detour from healing—it's an essential part of the ANCOR process. Your nervous system is learning to operate from a place of rest and accuracy rather than constant alert. Trust the process, even when it feels uncomfortable.