One of the most common myths right now is the idea that you can, and need to, reset your nervous system. In the land of one-size-fits-all, this reset is supposed to happen in seconds. Flip a switch and get back on the productivity train.
This idea persists because it’s partly true. Breath, sound, and movement can shift your nervous system state quickly. Real change can happen in a matter of moments.
But how often does it? Your nervous system isn’t like a computer. You can’t reboot it and return to factory settings. And not everyone is starting from the same point.
You may not love the nervous system patterns you’ve developed over your life. That doesn’t mean anything is broken, and you’re not stuck. Your system may simply be favouring certain responses, often for very good reasons.
Because the nervous system is complex, metaphors can help, even though they’re incomplete. For example, you could think of it like a piano keyboard. In a full life, you get to play all the notes. But if you played the same few notes all the time, life becomes predictable, even tedious.
Or, you can liken it to the gears in a car. Different gears allow you to drive in a variety of situations. None of them is wrong.
Fight or flight has a real purpose. If you’re hiking and you see a bear, you want to be instantly sharp! It’s no time to stay in rest and digest when you’re under a true threat.
The goal isn’t to get rid of nervous system states. It’s the ability to use the full range to your advantage. Most people are good at going into stress. What’s harder is recovering from it, but those skills are learnable.
Learning to Work with Nervous System Energy
As a musician, I used to suffer from stage fright. Before concerts, I used to find myself in prolonged states of fight or flight. I’d feel anxious weeks in advance. My sleep suffered, and learning anything new felt impossible.
Over time, I learned how to work with my nervous system instead of fighting it. I slowed down, especially in the practice room. I learned to breathe properly while playing. I noticed when I held my breath and when tension crept in.
The change didn’t happen all at once. It came about slowly, but surely. That’s important because the nervous system responds best to steady, gentle input.
Think of Tai Chi. You practice slowly, but the skills are there when you need them.
To give a meaningful performance or speech, you need to be calm, but energized; focused and present. You actually want a bit of edge. It means you care about what you’re sharing.
On the other hand, most people digest better when they calm down before eating. The same is true for sleep. Most of us don’t toggle especially well between activities, but we can learn.
Low Energy Can Be a Message
There’s also the dorsal state, which is also misunderstood. This can look like exhaustion, lack of motivation, or feeling stuck on the couch.
I’m also very familiar with this state. Yes, there were physical and nutritional factors. There was also deep fatigue and stored stress.
This state needs to be respected, as this is how the body-mind talks when it needs healing. When you shame yourself or try to push through it, it tends to last longer. When you listen and respond with care, deep rest becomes part of your recovery.
Healing takes time, but when you honour your process, it doesn’t last forever.
Creativity, Pressure, and Nervous System States
Another myth is that people often think creativity only comes from calm. Sometimes that’s true, too. A relaxed state can support deep focus.
But creativity can also appear under pressure.
In The Inner Game of Music, the author forgets his black socks right before a concert performance. Instead of panicking, his intuition leads him to a storage room. He finds black duct tape and wraps it around his ankles, creating the appearance of black socks.
That solution came from maintaining a flow state while in a seemingly stressful situation.
We can create, respond, and problem-solve in many different states. Your habits make a difference, and you can start wherever you are.
Daily Habits That Train Your Nervous System
Think of habits as training. What you practice every day shapes how your nervous system responds at the speed of life.
- Practice small resets often. Short breaks throughout the day are more effective than one long reset. I recommend working in 20-minute segments. Between segments, take a minute or two to stand up, walk around, and take a few slow breaths. These moments teach your system how to stay regulated while you work.
- Hydrate well. Water sends a message to your brain that your body is safe. Consistent hydration supports mental clarity and good digestion, too.
- Eat without rushing. Take a few breaths as you sit down to eat. Calm meals are always more nourishing, and they add more reset touchpoints in the day. Soon, you’ll start to notice when you’re eating while stressed.
- Move before stress builds up. Schedule your movement time and hold it sacred. Your workouts don’t have to be intense; they can be even more effective if they’re not. Walking, stretching, or gentle yoga helps stress move through instead of building up.
- Create screen-free bookends to your day. Starting and ending the day without screens improves your quality of life. Finishing the day in low light or candlelight entrains the sleep frequency.
What a “Reset” Really Is
These habits serve best when they’re repeated often. Over time, they increase your nervous system’s capacity and agility. By making the regulation familiar, you can access it with increasing speed.
What people call a reset isn’t a single 60-second practice. It’s built from small, repeated actions. Those actions build discernment. You start to feel the difference between a legitimate threat and a trigger. I call them paper tigers. They seem real at first, but there’s no substance to them.
With consistent practice, these tools become second nature. Recovery happens faster, and reactions get smaller as you develop the skills.
The 60-90 second reset works because you’ve trained for it. Just like Tai Chi, the power isn’t in doing it once. It’s in practicing until it becomes an automatic response at the speed of life.
Developing Discernment
There’s one more thing. When you experience a stressful event, chemicals flood your system. If you let them, they’ll move through your system in 60-90 seconds.
So why is stress such a big deal? Oftentimes, the mind gets involved. When it does, it makes up stressful stories to go with the event. Every time we think about it, our body releases the chemicals all over again. The more we believe our mental stories, the more we perpetuate the stress response.
Telling ourselves these stories on repeat leads to beliefs, often subconscious ones. Especially the ones we learned when we were young.
Everything helps. And, these deeper patterns often need more than a few simple habit changes to release. It’s important to bust the myth that a few deep breaths can solve all your problems without anything else.
Want to Go Deeper?
Join the Nervous System Mastery Masterclass
This masterclass helps you notice your nervous system in real time. It gives you tools to stop reacting, rushing, and eating from stress.
You will:
- Notice your nervous system in the moment. This will help you pause before reacting or eating.
- Discover recovery habits that can actually stick. It IS possible to stay present even when life gets intense.
- Use breath and movement tools for digestion and heart coherence. Feel calmer, grounded, and emotionally steady.
To go to the masterclass, click this link.
If you feel called to go deeper, feel invited to connect with me here, at the Wellness Universe. You can ask me about trying out Gutsy Yoga, where we work actively with the nervous system in every class.
Or ask about working with me 1:1 to reduce any stress your nervous system is holding onto.
Your nervous system isn’t broken. With understanding and training, you can master the way you experience it.
Connect with Holly on The Wellness Universe and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
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Holly Blazina’s Gutsy Type Method is an alchemy of the Yoga and Ayurveda traditions, Embodied Vision™ Coaching, and her work as an author, flamenco guitarist, composer and recording artist. She helps empaths solve their gut issues, amplifying their personal power in service of their life’s purpose.
Your emphasis on steady, daily habits is a beautiful message, Holly. True regulation feels less like flipping a switch and more like building a loving relationship with ourselves over time. Thank you for reframing healing as a practice of discernment, patience, and self-respect.