9 Tips for Nervous System Regulation

9 easy ways to shift your nervous system state from fight, flight or freeze - with tools you always have available. 

Hint: they’re within your body!

#1 Deep Breathing 

Slow, deep breathing is the go-to tool to increase feelings of stress release and relaxation. 

When you're stressed, fearful or overwhelmed, the breath tends to become shallow and quick. 

 When you're relaxed and calm, the breath grows deeper and slower.

This is an autonomic response based on how your body responds to stress and overwhelm. 

Unlike many body-based responses, the breath can offer a gateway into relaxation. By intentionally paying attention to your breath and slowing it down, you are sending signals of safety to the brain and nervous system. You may continue to feel anxious, then over time and with attention to the breath, the sensation will begin to subside. 

Biological benefits of deep breathing: 

• Enhances vagal tone (resilience to stress!)
• Increases oxygen saturation in the brain and tissues
• Slows heart rate

#2 Singing

For many people, singing comes naturally when in a ‘good mood’. When feeling anxious, it doesn’t tend to be top of mind - or even feel natural!

This tool requires mindful effort. When you notice your body tensing or mind racing -> think of any tune. No matter how softly you sing, the song will support you in finding nervous system regulation. 

Singing changes the pattern or your breath. As the breath slows, the brain and nervous system receive signals of safety. The stress building up in your body begins to release.

When stress ramps up, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) Axis produces a range of chemicals to motivate the body to find safety. 

When stress is reduced, the HPA axis is deactivated, and the flood of ‘survival’ chemicals stops flowing. This leaves the body feeling calmer, more relaxed, and with the capacity to try something different.

Biological benefits of singing: 

• HPA axis deactivated; leads to efficient digestion, enhances immune system response, boosts mood and increases energy
• Decreases rate of breath
• Slows heart rate
• Stimulates cranial nerves

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#3 Humming

Much like singing, humming is a natural response to relaxation and regulation. It’s not something most people find themselves doing when they feel stressed or overwhelmed. 

Yet, it’s an effective tactic to reduce sensations of stress, fight, flight and freeze. Humming is much easier to achieve quietly, which benefits a person experiencing overwhelm or collapse. Normally, people experiencing shutdown don’t want to be seen. Humming quietly is a more subtle choice than singing. 

Much like deep breathing, humming shifts the body out of survival mode by stimulating the cranial nerves through vibration. The cranial nerves tell the Vagus nerve that the body is safe, and then, the HPA Axis is deactivated. 

Biological benefits of humming: 

• HPA axis deactivated; leads to efficient digestion, enhances immune system response, boosts mood and increases energy
• Decreases rate of breath
• Slows heart rate and increases heart rate variability (a sign of resilience!)
• Stimulates the cranial nerves

#4 Inhaling or exhaling through pursed lips

Purposeful breathing, in practically any form, offers a pathway to stress reduction.

Breathing through pursed lips is a technique to mindfully slow down the breath and stimulate the cranial nerves. That means the vagus nerve gets a double-hit of stimulation, sending signals of safety and switching off stress hormone production. 

If you choose to breathe in through pursed lips, allow yourself to breathe out normally through your nose. 

If you choose to breathe out through pursed lips, allow yourself to breathe normally through the mouth. Play with which direction feels best in your body. The direction that works for you may also vary day-to-day.  

Biological benefits of inhalation/exhalation through pursed lips: 

• Slows heart rate
• Increases heart rate variability
• HPA axis deactivated
• Supports efficient digestion, enhances immune system response, boosts mood and increases energy
• Stimulates cranial nerves

#5 Spending Time in Solitude

A few moments in solitude can offer hours of resilience. 

Research shows that people who spend time in silence experience more heart rate variability throughout the day. 

Removing outside stimulation creates the space to focus on the present moment. It offers the opportunity to address what emotions or sensations may need attention, and to take a step back from what is causing too much stress. 

Taking this time in solitude outside in nature adds the additional benefit of co-regulation with the plants and animals in your environment. 

Biological benefits of spending time in solitude:

• Decreases rate of breath
• Slows heart rate and increases heart rate variability
• HPA axis deactivated
• Supports efficient digestion
• Enhances immune system response
• Boosts mood 

#6 Social Connection

Reaching out to a loved one can provide a sense of calm and safety. 

Self-generated positive connections - either by making a phone call, sending a message or doing a loving-kindness meditation - increases vagal activation and stimulates your state of regulation.

Biological benefits of social connection

• Slows heart rate
• Co-regulation
• Boosts mood

#7 Self Massage 

By massaging specific points on the body, like along the neck, up and down the face, and through the belly, you activate the vagus nerve and lower blood pressure. A few minutes of self massage decreases sympathetic activity. 

Self massage may include using your hands to massage muscles or lymph glands, foam rolling on the body, soft massage balls on the body, acupressure along the meridian points, or gua sha or jade roller on the face. There's many forms of self massage that contribute to nervous system regulation.

Biological benefits of inhalation/exhalation through pursed lips: 

• Lymph flow
• Muscle stimulation
• Nerve stimulation and release

#8 Movement

Movement not only regulates the nervous system, but also increases blood and lymph circulation. 

Gentle movement decreases sympathetic activation, whereas intensive movement can increase sympathetic load and cause collapse. Intensive movement can also stimulate obsessive thoughts, especially when exercise is forced or disliked. 

Obsessive thoughts are stimulated when the sympathetic or dorsal section of the system is under load. When the nervous system switches into a state of flight, flight or freeze - the part of the brain responsible for critical, rational thought goes offline. Decisions become difficult, if not impossible. To avoid activating obsessive thoughts when slipping into a state of stress, try a mild form of exercise. 

When feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed gentle movement is an excellent way to shift the state. Movement like walking qigong, tai chi, and yin yoga connects the mind to the body. 

Biological benefits of inhalation/exhalation through pursed lips: 

• Slows heart rate
• Stimulates the vagus nerve
• Enhances vagal tone
• Increases heart rate variability. 

#9 Time

Sometimes time is the best tool to achieve regulation. A single-minded focus on making space, without needing to do anything, is a great tool to finding regulation. 

Giving yourself the permission to take time to find regulation without a deadline to change and improve performance, gives the body permission to be as it is. 

This permission takes bravery; most of society operates on a timeline that forces the body to stress far beyond its natural capacity. So taking time to rest and be at peace can feel very unusual. The benefits, however, speak for themselves. 

Biological benefits of taking time to find regulation: 

• Reduces sympathetic stimulation
• Increases heart rate variability

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