5 Ways to Regulate Your Nervous System

The nervous system has a profound impact on how we feel, both mentally and physically. It’s responsible for regulating our emotions, our body’s responses to stress, and more. When the nervous system is balanced and functioning well, we tend to feel calmer, more focused, and better equipped to handle life’s ups and downs. However, when it’s overstressed or out of sync, it can lead to feelings of anxiety, fatigue, irritability, or even physical discomfort like muscle tension or headaches.

Taking the time now to focus on your nervous system can have a lasting impact on how you feel both mentally and physically. Here are some of my favorite ways to support nervous system health, for children and adults!

1. Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback is a powerful tool that helps regulate the nervous system by training the brain to function more efficiently. It works by using real-time brainwave monitoring to provide feedback to the individual, helping them learn how to control and optimize their brain activity. When the brain is functioning outside of its ideal patterns, whether it’s overactive, underactive, or stuck in a stress response, it can contribute to issues like anxiety, poor focus, or difficulty relaxing.

During a neurofeedback session, sensors are placed on the scalp to measure brainwaves, and the data is used to provide real-time auditory and visual feedback. This targeted feedback helps the brain learn to adjust its activity toward more balanced patterns. Over time, the brain creates healthier patterns and becomes better at regulating itself. This reduces stress responses and promotes a calmer, more focused state. The goal is to help the nervous system maintain a state of balance, improving emotional regulation, mental clarity, and even physical well-being!

2. Prioritize Sleep

Prioritizing sleep is so important when working on nervous system regulation because it directly impacts how the brain and body function. Sleep plays a critical role in the body’s ability to recover, repair, and reset. During sleep, especially during deep sleep stages, the nervous system goes through important processes that restore balance and health.

When we get restorative, high-quality sleep, it helps reduce the levels of stress hormones like cortisol, calming the “fight or flight” response and allowing the body to rest and recover. This helps to prevent the nervous system from staying in a heightened state of alertness. Sleep also allows for the restoration of neurotransmitters, which regulate mood, focus, and overall cognitive function.

Regular, restful sleep is a major part of keeping your nervous system in balance, so you can feel more relaxed, energized, and mentally clear throughout the day!

3. BrainTap

BrainTap is a technology designed to help regulate the nervous system using a high-tech headset that combines light and sound frequencies with targeted guided meditation sessions. Through a process known as brainwave entrainment, BrainTap helps synchronize brain activity to a desired state, whether that’s relaxation, focus, or deeper sleep. The system uses binaural beats, pulsed light, and isochronic tones to stimulate different brainwave frequencies, such as alpha, theta, and delta waves. By guiding the brain into these states, BrainTap helps reduce stress, improve sleep, and enhance mental clarity, effectively promoting a balanced autonomic nervous system.

If you have trouble with traditional meditation, BrainTap is a great alternative to help you relax and focus, allowing you to receive the full benefits of meditation! I like to joke that it meditates for you. Every patient at New Beginnings Wellness is invited to experience a complimentary BrainTap session. Just let us know that you’d like to try it during your next visit!

4. Move Your Body Daily

Moving your body daily, especially outdoors, is incredibly beneficial for regulating the nervous system. Physical activity helps balance the body’s stress response, encouraging the release of endorphins, the “feel-good” hormones that naturally reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. Exercise also lowers cortisol, the stress hormone, and stimulates the production of serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters that support mood, focus, and relaxation!

Outdoor movement, like walking, jogging, or yoga in nature, brings even more benefits to the nervous system. Exposure to natural light helps regulate your circadian rhythm, which is essential for good sleep and a balanced mood. Sunlight boosts serotonin production, improving mental clarity and promoting a calm, positive state of mind. Being outdoors also helps reduce the effects of stress by allowing you to connect with nature, which has a calming, grounding effect on the nervous system.

Regular movement outdoors helps to keep the nervous system flexible, reduces muscle tension, and increases overall resilience to stress. It’s a simple but powerful way to support physical and mental well-being daily.

5. Chiropractic

Chiropractic care helps regulate the nervous system by focusing on the alignment of the spine and the proper functioning of the nervous system. When the spine is misaligned, it can cause interference with the nervous system, often referred to as subluxations. These misalignments can disrupt the flow of nerve signals between the brain and the rest of the body, leading to various health issues.

Chiropractic adjustments help correct these misalignments, ensuring that the vertebrae are properly aligned and that the nervous system can function optimally. By removing this interference, chiropractic care supports the body’s ability to heal itself, enhances communication between the brain and the body, and helps to maintain balance in the autonomic nervous system.

Chiropractic care can result in improved overall health, reduced pain, better stress management, and enhanced physical and mental well-being.

If you’d like to explore more about regulating your nervous system or have any questions, feel free to reach out!