15 Nervous System Regulation Ideas for You
Sep 09, 2025I am the kind of teacher and coach who is always reflecting on my personal experience and then using the lessons from my own life and experience to share with you. I figure we are all connected in ways we can't even begin to understand, so if something resonates with me or is “up” for me, good chance it may connect with you, too.
These last few weeks, I have been feeling a bit nervous system fried. For me, that shows up as fatigue, immune issues, feeling on edge/stressed, food sensitivities, and nightmares. We all have our cues - do you know what yours are?
It could be irritability, trouble sleeping, chest tightness, trouble swallowing, feeling keyed up, body pain, and so much more. Take a moment and check-in…how do you know when you are more stressed or your nervous system is more taxed than normal?
In light of needing some grounding and soothing myself, I wanted to offer some simple ideas for regulating your nervous system. Of course, many of us benefit from therapy, coaching, health treatments, and more long-term solutions, but these are some ideas as a reminder that incorporating simple practices into our lives to feel better and that nervous system practices really are always available to us (for free by the way!).
Here are fifteen nervous system regulation ideas for you to try that are free, short, and accessible:
- Put your phone in a separate room from your bed and read before bed (plus no doom-scrolling in the morning until you choose to go get your phone).
- 1-3 minutes of shaking/bouncing (can be gentle or vigorous)
- Journal for 10 minutes
- Take 5 deep breaths (breathe into the belly, long exhales)
- Move slower (getting dressed, doing chores, working - just slow the pace down)
- Release your jaw
- Hug someone you trust for 30 seconds
- Gift yourself 10-30 minutes on your yoga mat - no plan, no pressure, just move and breathe.
- Go for a walk without your phone
- Lay down in the grass or on the beach or somewhere in nature (you guessed it - without your phone)
- Put on your favorite song and daaaance!
- Express gratitude (write a gratitude list, text someone and let them know you are grateful for them, or in your head)
- Snuggle your pet
- Have some unstructured play time doing something you love
- Listen to a healing track on Spotify or Itunes (here is one I like, but there are tons of options)
Go through this list and pick just one or two to practice for the next few days and notice how it impacts you.
Healing our nervous systems from trauma, life experience, and medical issues takes time. Think about how long it took for your nervous system to learn its current patterns - it wouldn't make sense that it would heal overnight, right?
So let's hold space for the fact that this type of healing and work is a lifelong journey, while at the same time recognizing that more calm, presence, and regulation is available right now. You are possibly three deep breaths away from a total perspective shift, a totally different feeling in your body and in your nervous system.
So...go through the list, or through your own mental list, and see - is there one or two of these that resonate with me and I am willing to commit to this week?
I would love to hear if any of these resonate - and other regulation practices that work for you - please comment and share your nervous system regulation practices that work for you.
