172: New Life Perspectives with Liz Larson and Bill McKenna - Episode 172172: New Life Perspectives with Liz Larson and Bill McKenna - Episode 172
UK Health Radio Podcast
Liz Larson and Bill McKenna talk about what really happens in the body and mind when someone goes no contact, ghosts or breaks off a relationship. They focus on the nervous system’s role, the emotional and physical fallout, and how their Cogno Movement approach aims to bring people back to a calmer, more balanced state.
45:47•10 Aug 2026
When Going No Contact Doesn’t Set You Free: Nervous System Truths
Episode Overview
- Going no contact can trigger a strong fight-or-flight response, with the amygdala driving decisions more than the logical mind.
- Emotions such as anger, guilt, shame, fear and grief often surface after cutting someone off and can feel exhausting and overwhelming.
- Past experiences and memories colour how current relationship breaks are felt, making situations seem bigger and more personal than they may be.
- Even when a relationship appears repaired, the body can stay hypervigilant, scanning for betrayal and affecting long-term physical health.
- Cogno Movement is presented as a way to shift the nervous system out of fight or flight into a calmer, more neutral state before and after major relationship decisions.
“"The going no contact didn’t really get them out of your life. In this case, it has them living rent free in your head in a much greater way."”
What drives someone to seek a life without certain people in it, and why does the body still feel trapped even after cutting ties? This episode of New Life Perspectives with Liz Larson and Bill McKenna looks straight at the messy reality of going "no contact" – ghosting, cutting someone off, or quietly fading from a relationship – and how your nervous system may keep replaying the drama long after the last conversation.
Liz talks through different ways people step away from relationships: slow backing away, sudden break-ups triggered by abuse or explosive rows, or decisions pushed by family, politics and peer pressure. You’ll hear how the amygdala – the brain’s fight-or-flight centre – often calls the shots, flooding the body with adrenaline and anxiety while your logical mind sits in the back seat.
Rather than treating no contact as a simple, clean break, the conversation unpacks the emotional fallout: anger, guilt, shame, grief, exhaustion and that familiar sense of "why does this always happen to me?" Liz explains how old memories and past pain pile into the present, making every social media post, silence or rumour feel like a personal attack, even when the other person isn’t actually thinking about you.
Things get especially raw when a relationship appears to repair after a betrayal. The body may still be on high alert, scanning for danger through the reticular activating system, and that can quietly undermine health, digestion, energy and even long-term wellbeing. Throughout, Liz shares how the Cogno Movement system is designed to help shift the nervous system out of fight or flight and into a calmer, more neutral state, ideally before and after big decisions like going no contact.
Rather than telling anyone what they "should" do, the episode focuses on recognising what your body is doing, why it’s doing it, and how you might reclaim your equilibrium. If you’ve ever cut someone off and wondered why you still don’t feel free, isn’t it time to look at what your nervous system is trying to say?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.