4 Practices to Calm Your Nervous System

Lets be real— whose nervous system wouldn’t benefit from a little support these days?

If you feel like you’ve been in go go go mode, are stressed, exhausted, and straight up cranky… keep reading.

We need to balance our doing with being.

If you’ve been moving fast and are feeling the effects from being in overdrive, maybe its time to adopt some practices to help you shift back into a more restful and restorative state. Use these 4 practices to activate your parasympathetic nervous system and take your body out of fight-or-flight mode.

4 Practices to Activate Your Parasympathetic Nervous System

Humming

Humming stimulates the Vagus Nerve, which is a key nerve of the Parasympathetic Nervous System. Humming improves the vagal tone, which refers to the activity of the vagus nerve. By increasing your vagal tone, your body has a higher capacity to relax faster following stress.

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is an ancient guided meditation practice that harnesses the body’s biological process of sleep for healing and spiritual expansion. Yoga Nidra restores harmony to the nervous system and can heal the body from the effects of stress.

Breathwork (Pranayama)

There are many different breathwork styles - some are designed to boost alertness and energy, and some are meant to relax and bring calm. In general, practices that have longer. exhales are calming. Examples of breathing styles to activate the parasympathetic nervous system: Box Breathing, Nadi Shodhana, 1:2 ratio breath, & Hummingbee Breath.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture stimulates the body's natural feel-good hormones and reduces the level of stress hormones. Acupuncture can help balance the nervous system and restore the body to homeostasis.

Show up for yourself and your body - allowing yourself to rest and receive. You deserve it!