Why Fighter Pilots Wiggle Their Toes (And You Should Too) | Podcast

What if one of the best trauma regulation tools… was hiding in your shoes?

Elite fighter pilots are trained to handle extreme stress—not just with mental focus, but with bodily awareness. One of the simplest techniques they use?

Wiggling their toes.

It sounds ridiculous, until you understand the science: sensory movement brings your brain into the present moment. It sends a signal to your nervous system that says: “I have a body, and it’s safe here.”

Listen to the podcast here:

What You’ll Learn

• Why fighter pilots train their toes (yes, really)

• What “felt safety” means for trauma recovery

• How the Instant Stress Reset helps you regain calm

From fighter pilot boots to your living room—this one simple trick can help you get grounded fast.

Catch this episode on YouTube:

Meet your hosts: 

🧠 Sarah McDugal – high-conflict communication strategist guiding protective parents through family court chaos with integrity, clarity, and calm under pressure (no tiptoeing, no legalese, no playing nice with coercive control)

🧬 Bren Wise Mays – neuro-sensory wellness provider translating wild-but-true neuroscience into real-world tools for resolving toxic or traumatic stress (no fluff, no fakery, no bypassing—just real regulation)

Together, we blend somatic support, legal strategy, and zero-BS tools to help you stop spiraling and start thriving.

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START RESOLVING YOUR STRESS TODAY

THINGS IN THE PODCAST

"Exposing the PLAYBOOK: the 3-Step Blueprint to Anticipate Your Abuser's Next Move in Family Court"

The $7 Investment That Could Save You Thousands

• What’s Inside:

  ✅ The three biggest myths that can sabotage your case before it even starts.

  ✅ The 3-step strategy to anticipate their next move before they even make it.

  ✅ The exact tactics abusers use to manipulate the system—and how to fight back.

  ✅ Insider tips to protect your sanity and self-care while navigating family court.

• Get it here.

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• Join the SCOOP for $17/mo (it’s like our Patreon, but with mega-perks!)

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What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Sarah: Okay. Bren, true or false? Elite fighter pilots are trained to use their toes to stay calm under pressure.

Is that for real?

Bren: True! And honestly, I wish someone had told me that instead of "just relax" when I was frozen like a glitching Roomba underneath the table.

Sarah: Okay, friends, welcome back to This WILD Journey. Today we're taking a weird little detour into pilot training, nervous system science, and yes, what your toes have to do with trauma recovery.

Bren: Well, here's a wild fact. In high stress flight simulations, the pilots who stayed calm didn't just have mental toughness, they had body awareness.

And one of the grounding techniques they're taught is to wiggle their toes inside their boots, because it brings them back around into their body in real time. Not into their thoughts, not into analysis, but sensation.

Sarah: Okay, so wiggle your toes. I'm just sitting here at my desk, wiggling my toes. That... seriously though, that's the secret sauce?

Bren: I know it sounds absurd! But when your amygdala's throwing a tantrum, your toes might just be the adults in the room.

Here's the thing, it works! Because it gives your brain a very clear, very specific message. " I'm not just spinning thoughts here. I have a body and it's right here. Not in a memory, not in a threat loop, but here."

And the moment your brain registers that physical cue. Your nervous system gets the memo, like, dial it down, we're grounded.

Sarah: Wow. So in a sense, your body isn't just reacting to stress, it's also broadcasting safety... if we know how to send the right signals. Is that accurate?

Bren: And, and here's where it gets really interesting. You can't think your way into safety. You have to feel your way into it.

A felt sense of safety: physical, emotional, relational... isn't something you talk yourself into. It's something your body has to register at the sensory level.

And that kind of regulation? It happens through body to brain signals, not motivational quotes, and not perfect insight, and willpower.

Sarah: Well, this is why I love the Instant Stress RESET that you've created, Bren. And if you're listening and you haven't discovered this yet, it's a five day experience of body first, body-based trainings and tools that get you out of your head and into your biology... where the real change happens.

And let's be honest, there's a lot of self-care crap out there that you just download, forget, and then feel guilty about because it's just one more thing that you never followed through on.

The Instant Stress RESET is not like that.

Bren: There's no journaling required, no emotional excavation, just practical tools you can use in just a few minutes, even when your brain feels like scrambled eggs.

So toes today. Maybe, postural adjustment tomorrow. Then vagal tone, somatic movement, body sensation, interoception.

Each one is a building block. It's how we rewire stress responses without needing to, to unpack our whole life story first.

You just need a body and a willingness to listen when it whispers, "Hey, we're not doing so great."

Sarah: So if you're listening and you've been trying to logic your way out of panic or overwhelm or shut down...

and I'll be honest, I am the first one to need this because I am a very logical creature and I tend to sometimes not even realize that I am feeling big feelings until way later when they crash over me...

I focus on the logic and the data, and this stuff has been so incredibly helpful for me. Because it's a permission slip to wiggle my toes and unclench my jaw and start speaking my body's language.

And to be honest, that's not something I was ever taught how to do.

So we kind of grow up feeling like this disconnect between our brain and our body means we're broken... but your nervous system, it's not broken! It's brilliant!

It's just trying to protect you with the only tools that it's ever had until now.

If you've ever felt like you should be able to push through, we really want you to know there's a better way!

Bren: Yeah, Instant Stress RESET was built for exactly this. It's not fluff, it's not flaky. It's body-based. It's science backed. And built for people who've already tried everything else and still feel stuck.

Sarah: So we'll link the Instant Stress RESET in the show notes. It's regularly $47 and it's worth a ton more, but right now we have it for just seven bucks. And honestly, it's probably way cheaper than your last impulse buy on Amazon and about 5000% more helpful.

Bren: Your nervous system deserves better than toxic positivity and vague advice, so let's give it something it can actually work with.

Sarah: Starting by wiggling your toes!

So anytime you're feeling stressed or overwhelmed this week and you need to ground yourself, wiggle your toes and see what happens.

We'll be back next week with more real tools for your body, your brain, and your battle plan.

And until then, stay grounded. Literally. And remember, you do not have to walk this wild journey alone.