Supporting your nervous system is essential for overall health and well-being. A balanced nervous system helps regulate stress, emotional resilience, and cognitive function, and it plays a key role in your physical health too. However, this balance isn’t always easy to achieve in modern life.
Here are some ways you can support and strengthen your nervous system:
1. Practice Mindfulness and Relaxation
- Breathwork: Techniques like deep diaphragmatic breathing activate the parasympathetic nervous system (the calming side of your nervous system), helping to reduce stress and promote relaxation.
- Meditation: Mindfulness meditation helps calm the mind, reducing overactivity in the sympathetic nervous system (the “fight or flight” response) and fostering emotional balance.
2. Get Adequate Sleep
- Quality sleep is vital for the nervous system to repair and rejuvenate. Aim for 7-9 hours per night, and try to keep a consistent sleep schedule.
- Sleep Hygiene: Keep a cool, dark room, and avoid stimulants like caffeine or screen time right before bed.
- I suggest specific techniques with my clients to help with sleep, such as counting back from 100 and the use of specific words.
3. Regular Physical Exercise
- Aerobic Exercise: Activities like walking, jogging, swimming, or cycling help release endorphins, reduce stress hormones, and promote healthy brain function.
- Strength Training: Builds physical resilience and promotes neuroplasticity, which enhances brain function.
- Yoga and Tai Chi: These practices combine gentle movement with breathwork, fostering a calm mind and reducing stress.
4. Eat a Nourishing Diet
- Nutrient-Rich Foods: Focus on whole foods, including vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and healthy fats, to provide essential nutrients that support the nervous system.
- B Vitamins: These vitamins, particularly B1, B6, and B12, are crucial for nerve health. Foods like leafy greens, whole grains, and eggs are good sources.
- Magnesium-Rich Foods: Magnesium helps regulate the nervous system and supports relaxation. Sources include spinach, almonds, avocados, and dark chocolate.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Found in fatty fish like salmon, walnuts, and flaxseeds, omega-3s help support brain function and reduce inflammation.
- As a nutritional therapist, I work with targeted supplements that support the nervous system
5. Manage Stress Effectively
- Time in Nature: Spending time outdoors, especially in green spaces, has been shown to lower cortisol levels and promote a sense of calm.
- Social Connection: Engage in meaningful relationships and maintain a support network. Positive social interactions can reduce stress and improve mental health.
- Hobbies and Interests: Doing something you enjoy regularly can act as a buffer against stress and improve overall mood.
6. Avoid Overstimulation
- Limit Caffeine and Sugar: Excessive intake of stimulants can lead to nervous system overdrive and disrupt sleep and mood regulation.
- Digital Detox: Reduce screen time and take breaks from technology, especially social media, which can contribute to stress and overstimulation.
7. Herbal Support
- Adaptogenic Herbs: Herbs like ashwagandha, rhodiola, and holy basil are known to help the body adapt to stress and support the nervous system. NB. Some herbs are contraindicated with certain medications so please consult a nutritional therapist or ask your GP.
- Calming Teas: Herbal teas like chamomile, valerian root, or lavender can help calm the nervous system and promote relaxation.
8. Hydration
- Dehydration can stress the body and affect cognitive function. Drinking enough water is essential for optimal nervous system function.
9. Consider Wellbeing Coaching
- Wellbeing Coaching: In my sessions I suggest various techniques that can help address chronic stress, trauma, or emotional imbalances that affect the nervous system. I also offer nutritional therapy guidance on how to support nervous system function.
- Somatic Therapy: This approach focuses on the connection between body and mind, helping release stored tension and trauma in the body that may impact the nervous system. I use somatic exercises in both wellbeing coaching and holistic grief support sessions.
10. Support Gut Health
- The gut-brain connection plays a key role in emotional and neurological health. Probiotics, prebiotics, and a diet rich in fibre support gut health and, by extension, nervous system function.
- Fermented Foods: Incorporating foods like yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut can improve gut flora and enhance brain function.
11. Breathing Exercises and Grounding
- Grounding Techniques: Practices like walking barefoot on the earth or using a grounding mat can help reduce the impact of stress and re-establish a feeling of calm.
- Breathwork Practices: Techniques like box breathing can help balance the nervous system, calming the mind and energising the body.
By implementing a combination of these practices, you can begin to support and nourish your nervous system, creating a strong foundation for resilience, mental clarity, and emotional well-being.
Working with a practitioner who can guide you in specific ways to reduce stress levels and in supporting your nervous system can really make a significant difference. I specialise in grief, stress, anxiety and low mood, all of which affect the nervous system. Contact me to find out more
Read more about wellbeing coaching here
Vanessa May is a BANT registered Nutritional Therapist, ILM Accredited Wellbeing Coach and Certified Grief Educator and has helped hundreds of clients with her holistic approach to health and wellbeing. She specialises in stress, fatigue, low mood, anxiety and grief, giving women the confidence and tools to change their lives in a positive way.