#20 What Your Palpitations Are Really Trying to Tell You

If your heart has ever raced, skipped beats, fluttered, or pounded out of nowhere—you know how terrifying that can feel. But here’s what most people don’t know: palpitations aren’t random, and they’re definitely not proof your body is broken.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
 ✔ The biological reason your heart may start racing or skipping beats
 ✔ The deeper connection between palpitations and life experiences
 ✔ How to shift what’s happening beneath the surface so your body no longer sounds the alarm

What your body’s trying to tell you might surprise you. Tune in to find out!

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Transcript

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Today we're talking about a symptom that sends so many people spiraling into fear. Palpitations. If your heart has ever raced, skipped beats, fluttered, or pounded out of nowhere, I get it. It's scary. I've been there too. But here's what most people don't know. Palpitations aren't random. They're not dangerous in most chronic cases. And they're definitely not proof your body is broken. But they are signs that your body is trying to communicate. And understanding what it's saying is the first step to getting your power back. In this episode, I'm breaking down the biological reason your heart may start racing or skipping beats, the deeper connection between your palpitations and your life experience, and how to start shifting what's happening beneath the surface so your body no longer feels the need to sound the alarm. Stick with me because understanding the full picture about your palpitations changes everything. Welcome to the Rebellious Healer, where we ditch the fear, decode the symptoms, and take healing into our own hands. I'm Jenny Peterson, a former holistic practitioner, turn symptom-free mind-body rebel. I help women break free from protocols and step into trust, confidence, and full body healing. If you're done with the rules, restrictions, and outsourcing your power, you're in the right place. Before we get into all the connections to palpitations, I have to say this one thing. If this is your first time experiencing palpitations, go get it checked out. Just to rule out anything that could be serious. Most of the time, palpitations aren't a medical emergency, but it's always smart to make sure. Once you've been told that there's nothing concerning happening, and chances are they'll tell you it's probably stress or anxiety, at least you can set that fear aside and start looking at what's happening beneath the surface. I remember the first time my heart thumped so hard in my chest. It felt like my heart was exploding. My brain instantly went to the worst-case scenario. Heart attack, death, you name it. I ended up in the ER. They ran every test you can imagine. Heart scans, blood work, EKGs, and all of it. And the verdict? My heart was perfectly healthy, one of the healthiest they've seen. They told me it was probably anxiety and suggested I talk to my doctor about getting medication. Let's just say I didn't follow that suggestion. After all, I'm a rebel, and I knew deep down that slapping a label on it wasn't enough. I needed to get to the true root cause. What they didn't tell me was why. They didn't explain what my body was trying to communicate. They didn't tell me how my subconscious patterns were creating the overwhelm that triggered my body's response. I was left with no answers and a whole lot of fear until I discovered the real reason behind those palpitations. Overwhelm. Now it's important to understand the biology of palpitations if you want to resolve them. Your body is hardwired to survive. And when your subconscious perceives something that is overwhelming, this activates your sympathetic nervous system because overwhelm doesn't feel safe to our survival brain. This kicks our body into adaptation mode. Palpitations are one of those adaptations. They happen to ensure proper blood transport, they support oxygen delivery when your system feels pressure, and it keeps you functioning even when your subconscious believes you're under threat. Your heart races, flutters, skips beats, not because your body is failing, but because it's adjusting to help you cope. It's also worth noting that physical deficiencies, like low iron, can also play a role in palpitations. If your body isn't transporting oxygen efficiently, your heart may compensate for that. That's why checking your labs, especially iron levels, is important. But when palpitations become chronic or show up repeatedly despite everything looking quote unquote fine on paper, it's often not just a physical issue. It's your body responding to ongoing subconscious overwhelm. And let me be clear, palpitations that stem from overwhelm usually aren't coming from your to-do list. Because let's be honest, if they did, we'd all be walking around with palpitations 24-7. Most often, palpitations are connected to a person or a situation that's applying pressure. A boss, a parent, your child, your partner, even yourself or your pet. It's those moments where you feel trapped, overloaded, or under pressure that your body steps in to adapt. I can still remember exactly what triggered my first round of palpitations. At the time, I was in the middle of moving, already dealing with the pressure of getting the house ready, the stress from the realtor constantly pushing me to meet deadlines, my husband was gone already working in his new job, and everything else that comes with packing up your life. But the tipping point, it was a phone call I had that day with my business mentor. She was yelling at me, pressuring me to do certain things in my business that I physically and emotionally couldn't handle with everything else on my plate. That night I had my first panic attack. It started with my heart thumping out of my chest. And from that point forward, I experienced palpitations daily for two years. I share that to say palpitations may feel like they show up out of nowhere, but there's always a deeper layer. And your body is never random in its response. Now, my situation that led me to having palpitations may have not caused someone else to have palpitations or panic attacks. Like my husband, he would have dealt with that situation completely different. It was all about my perception, the filter through which I viewed and responded to the world, my subconscious patterns. Sure, I could have looked at that situation and said, it's done, it's over with, nothing more to work on. But here's the thing: the palpitation didn't magically disappear after that situation passed. That's your sign when something becomes chronic, a sign that your subconscious is still being triggered to feel overwhelmed. Something is reminding your body that it's still under pressure. So your body keeps adapting. This is where looking at the deeper patterns driving how you perceive situations is critical. So here are the most common subconscious patterns I see driving overwhelm. And they're also patterns that I personally had to address to resolve the palpitations for good as well. Number one, perfectionism. The belief that you're only safe, accepted, or worthy when you're getting everything right. Constantly holding yourself to impossible standards, fearing failure or disappointing others. Number two, overachiever identity. Tying your worth to productivity, believing the more you do, the more valuable you are. Pushing yourself beyond your limits, feeling guilty for resting. You have a to-do list a mile long, but slowing down feels unsafe. Number three, having a lack of boundaries with yourself and others, struggling to set clear boundaries or say no, even when you're overwhelmed, feeling responsible for keeping everyone else happy, while ignoring your own limits. You're exhausted, your body's begging for rest, but you say yes to yet another commitment. Number four, fear of asking for help or appearing weak. This is where you believe you have to do everything yourself to be strong, capable, or worthy. You're avoiding help or support, even when you're at capacity, because you fear looking weak or failing. When these patterns run unchecked, your system stays stuck in perceived overwhelm. And the result? Palpitations become your body's alarm, the signal that your subconscious patterns are no longer sustainable. Here's the thing: you weren't born wired for overwhelm. Your nervous system didn't default to perfectionism or anxiety on day one. These patterns got programmed early, often in childhood, when your developing brain was trying to make sense of your environment. I lived this. Growing up, I learned to overachieve, keep it together, improve myself. Resting? That was being weak. Slowing down, dangerous. Showing vulnerability, absolutely not. Fast forward to motherhood, and those subconscious patterns went into overdrive. I was managing my home, caring for my son, and carrying the belief that it was all on me. I couldn't ask for help, I couldn't drop the ball, I couldn't rest. The result? Chronic overwhelm. And when I ignored that overwhelm, my body spoke louder with palpitations, panic, and eventually full-blown health anxiety. So maybe you're thinking, but my palpitations came out of nowhere. One day I was fine, and the next day my heart was racing or having that fluttering feeling. I get it. It feels sudden, but here's the thing: they didn't come out of nowhere. The symptom may have shown up recently, but that pattern that's been running behind the scenes for years, sometimes decades. Your body doesn't randomly react this way. Palpitations are your body's biological way of saying these old patterns of overwhelm, pressure, and survival, they're no longer sustainable. So here's how to start shifting this because real healing doesn't happen from symptom suppression. It happens when you work with your body, not against it. Number one, normalize the symptom. Stop seeing palpitations as random, dangerous, or proof your body is broken. Again, this is your first go-around. Make sure there's nothing concerning about the palpitations. But once you've been told everything is fine on paper, we need to start seeing palpitations as being a sign of a biological response. Because the moment you understand they are of a biological response, your body adapting to perceived overwhelm, you take the fear out of the equation. Fear only adds more fuel to the fire. Number two, identify your patterns. If your body is still getting the signal of overwhelm, then the deeper patterns are still running the show. Get radically honest with yourself. Where am I holding impossible standards? Where am I pushing, proving, or performing to feel worthy? Where do I say yes when my body is screaming no? Where am I avoiding help because I fear looking weak? These aren't conscious choices, they're subconscious survival patterns. And until you shine a light on them, they keep triggering the same overwhelm response. And then the third step is to rewire the subconscious. This is where true long-lasting healing happens, by teaching your nervous system that it's safe to rest, to slow down, to set boundaries, to ask for help, to live differently. Rewiring takes repetition. It's layered, it's very individual. But most of all, it's not just thinking differently. It's taking action so your subconscious can feel what this new way of being is. It's how you break the old cycle for good. So your body no longer needs to adapt. This is the real work, the work that gets missed when we stay stuck managing symptoms instead of addressing the root. Before we wrap up, here's exactly what I want you to remember. Number one, your palpitations are a biological adaptation to overwhelm, not a sign your body is broken. Number two, deep-rooted subconscious patterns, often established in childhood, fuel the overwhelm behind the palpitations. And third, healing happens when you rewire those patterns, create safety in your subconscious, and stop living in fear of your body. And I'm gonna be blunt. Listening to this podcast alone won't resolve your palpitations. You don't need more information. But this gives you the missing piece, the awareness of what's actually happening beneath the surface. The real change that happens when you do the work to rewire the subconscious. And that's what our programs Evolve are designed for. If you know it's time to stop managing symptoms and actually heal the patterns creating them, this is your moment to take action. To find more information about the Evolve programs, click on the Start Here link in the show notes. Remember, you're not broken. Your body isn't failing you. Your symptoms are simply the language your body uses to say, it's time for change. You've got this rebellious healer. I'll see you in the next episode.