What is nervous system regulation, really?
The phrase “nervous system regulation” is trending right now, but what does it even mean? Well, let’s start with what your nervous system is. The nervous system is made of your brain, spinal chord, and nerves. It’s basically the powerhouse controller of the happenings within your body. The job of the nervous system is to keep you alive and make sure the systems of your body function properly. Lifestyle, stress, trauma, and medical conditions can greatly impact your nervous systems ability to function properly. When your nervous system is dysregulated, you might experience emotional reactivity, hypervigilance, feeling jumpy, anxiety, depression, overwhelm, difficulty focusing, muscle tension, digestive distress, sleep disturbance, fatigue, difficulty processing information, inability to manage stress, headaches, and other somatic, cognitive, and emotional symptoms. Basically, a dysregulated nervous system will leave you feeling all out of sorts greatly impacting your relationships, health, work, and sense of self. It’s no wonder “nervous system regulation” is such a hot topic!
What does regulating your nervous system actually entail? Well, some lifestyle factors are important, remember the three pillars of health? Sleep, movement, and diet. That is the foundation for a healthy nervous system. Next, learning to manage and regulate stress. Stress is going to happen, however using the right tools to both manage it and help your nervous system build up tolerance for discomfort, discernment between imagined and real threats, and flexibility to move in and out of stress states is key. Then, learning how to understand your emotions and work with them, instead of simply reacting to them will help you feel more regulated. When it comes to healing trauma in the nervous system, a sense of safety must be established so your nervous system doesn’t interpret everything as a threat. What we are trying to do in nervous system regulation is teach your nervous system flexibility. We don’t want to turn off your stress response, your emotions, or your bodily functions. We can’t eliminate things that will activate you. We can however, help your nervous system heal from trauma and learned maladaptive responses by creating sense of internal safety and flexibility to move in and out states when needed and when you want, instead of being stuck in them.
Questions to ponder.
What are the signs your nervous system is dysregulated?
What are the signs your nervous system is regulated?
How flexible do you feel to move in and out of different states of being?
