We live in a world that often celebrates chaos—the “busy is better” mindset—and can often feel like our nervous system is under attack. That can us to the other extreme, where we think avoiding stress entirely is a better approach. But it's actually when we find a middle ground that we build resilience and better adapt to the flow of life and its demands.
Regulating the nervous system involves hormetic (healthy) stress, as well as both quick, in-the-moment tools AND consistent lifestyle practices for longer-term resilience. Immediate strategies can help calm you right away, easing the "fight-or-flight" response and help you regain comfort. Meanwhile, the gold is in the consistent lifestyle practices that support a more balanced and regulated nervous system over time. This builds your fortitude to stay more resilient even when life throws punches your way.
Hormetic stress is, yes, purposeful stress. What? Why would you want to stress yourself and your body? Brief, manageable exposure to stressors is beneficial because it strengthens the nervous system’s resilience. It teaches it to quickly return to balance after a stressor ends and therefore build a more balanced stress response over time. Examples are intense physical exercise (e.g., HIIT), extreme temperature changes like a sauna or ice bath/cold shower, mental challenges, and dietary calorie restriction.
Quick on-the-go calming strategies act as mini resets and are useful for regulating the nervous system in real-time, helping you get out of a fight or flight response. The more you are tuned into your body and its reactions to stressors, and know when you need to intervene with a quick strategy, the more effective these will be. Examples include EFT tapping, meditation, deep breathing, listening to music, putting your legs up the wall, co-regulating (hugging/snuggling) with a loved one or pet, doing something creative, spending time in nature (take a quiet walk, being barefoot in the grass), shaking your body/dancing, and journaling (gratitude journaling or just expressing what you're feeling on paper).
Consistent lifestyle practices are where the magic really happens. Think of it like tending a garden. If you make it a daily practice to pull the weeds, you prevent them from growing and spreading and taking over the garden. Tending to stress with ongoing lifestyle practices helps keep your nervous system more resilient and able to handle what comes your way. This is how we prevent chronic stress from building up and supporting our long-term mental and physical health.
In addition to foundational practices like regular sleep, exercise and nutritious eating, let's talk about the more intangible practices that can help you keep your nervous system regulated.
Shifting energy. Through emotional awareness and processing - tuning into, understanding, and accepting your feelings without judgment, you are better able to shift to a new emotional space and replace depleting emotions with renewing emotions. The energy of emotions speaks to every cell in your body and has a profound effect on your well-being. The HeartMath Institute has a great mini-course called HeartMath Experience that dives deep into heart qualities and how our emotions shape our world.
Stillness. Whether it's meditation, yoga, breathwork, or spending quiet time in nature, finding space between our thoughts to connect with ourselves through our hearts is a powerful practice. This is where we hear our soul speaking to us, giving us guidance on our challenges in life, helping us spark new creative ideas, seeing possibilities that hide in the dark when we're in busy mode. Finding time to just BE with yourself and let go of the monkey mind is one of the best gifts you can give yourself for overall wellness and for managing your stress level.
Letting go. Let's face it, we don't have control over much of what happens outside of our own mind. I know, I know - it's not what you want to hear, but it's true. When we intentionally focus on what we CAN control - our thoughts, our actions, our behaviors, we can start to let go of the rest - namely other people's actions and reactions. So much stress comes from trying to manage and worrying about others' reactions, and the inner turmoil we create can be overwhelming. Let go of expectations of others. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have boundaries and manage your own reaction to them, but accepting that everyone is in a different place on their journey and letting go of the expectation that everyone understand you and like you can be quite freeing.
It's a journey and it's not easy. I hope you picked up a couple nuggets here that sparked your interest and you might consider giving a try. I'd also love to hear from you about practices you've found to be helpful!
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