Catnip for the frazzled, wired-but-tired generation, “nervous system regulation” has become one of this year’s biggest wellness pursuits. “Regulating” has replaced “relaxation” as people home in on the science behind alleviating stress, turning to one of the body’s most fundamental systems in search of answers.
It’s an understandable shift. Chronic stress has become a significant public health issue – so prevalent that research suggests about 62 per cent of people experienced stress that had an impact on their daily lives at least once in a given year. Google searches for the word “overstimulated” are up, while the concept has racked up hundreds of thousands of posts on TikTok. If those extolling the benefits of nervous system regulation are to be believed, it could be our ticket to healthier, happier lives. But the sceptic in me wonders: is this simply stress relief repackaged in scientific wellness speak, or does it have legitimate roots in contemporary neuroscience? Intrigued, I spoke to some experts to find out.
The nervous system is the body’s key communication network; it functions a little like inbuilt air-traffic control, relaying signals between the brain, spinal cord and the rest of the body, and governing how we move, think, feel and respond to the world around us. It’s made up of several parts, but as neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart explains, it’s the autonomic nervous system – and its two main branches – that dominate conversations around regulation. The sympathetic nervous system governs our fight-or-flight response, while the parasympathetic is responsible for rest-and-digest. “They are primarily governed by the vagus nerve,” she explains, “the longest cranial nerve in the body, connecting the brain to the diaphragm, lungs and gut.” You can’t be in both states at once. “They compete with one another,” says Dr David Spiegel, Stanford psychiatrist and founder of Reveri.
“When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, it releases adrenaline and noradrenaline, increasing heart rate and blood pressure and telling the brain that you need to act – to fight or flee. In parasympathetic mode, acetylcholine is released, which slows the body down and allows it to rest and digest.” The sympathetic response is a finely tuned alarm system. In early human history, its purpose was to help us escape lurking predators – lions, tigers, bears… The problem is that it fires in much the same way today when we encounter psychological stressors: a critical email, a negative social media post or a disappointed colleague.
“We tend to treat perceived threats as though they’re physical threats to life and safety, when mostly they’re not,” says Dr Spiegel. “You’re ready to fight or flee when it’s just that your boss wasn’t pleased with some work you did.” Therein lies the issue. Our nervous systems haven’t evolved to exist in a world of constant stimulation from screens, notifications and endless information. “If you’re anxious, hypervigilant, struggling to switch off, having trouble sleeping or feeling as though all you do is work, you may be dysregulated,” says Nahid de Belgeonne, somatic practitioner and author of Soothe. Other signs include irritability, brain fog, bloating and heart palpitations. Left unchecked, chronic stress keeps cortisol levels elevated. Over time, this can suppress immunity, disrupt sleep and digestion, contribute to weight gain, and impair brain functions such as creativity, collaboration and complex problem-solving, explains Dr Swart.
The brain reallocates resources accordingly, adds de Belgeonne, meaning that digestion, reproduction and sleep might no longer receive sufficient resources to function optimally. The skin often bears the brunt too. Persistently raised cortisol and adrenaline levels can increase inflammation, exacerbate conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, rosacea and acne, weaken the skin barrier and impair collagen production. It’s a recipe for dull, dry and sallow skin at best. Rather than remaining stuck in a chronic sympathetic “stress” state, the aim is flexibility: to meet challenges when necessary (for which a certain degree of sympathetic action is needed), then return to rest. Stress itself isn’t the enemy; our inability to switch it off is.
“Financial worries, relationship issues, work: we can’t always control the stressors in our lives,” says Dr Zoe Williams, a GP. “But we can influence how that stress is processed in the body, right down to the level of our cells and organs.” The first step is awareness. Breathwork coach Rob Rea encourages clients to regularly check in with their bodies. “I guide people through a body scan,” he explains. “Where are you holding tension? Are your shoulders creeping up towards your ears? Is your jaw clenched?” Tracking heart-rate variability (HRV) through devices such as an Oura Ring or Apple Watch can also offer insight into your nervous system state. A low HRV indicates sympathetic dominance, reflecting stress and mental overload.
Stillness, too, is powerful – and increasingly hard to come by. Rea often asks clients simply to sit quietly for two minutes. “It’s harder than you think,” he says. “We’ve trained our bodies to respond to stimulation – short, attention-grabbing videos, constant scrolling – so stillness becomes a muscle that needs rebuilding.” Meditation and mindfulness have been shown to help switch on parasympathetic activity, with some research suggesting that 25-30 minutes a day builds grey matter in the brain.
The more grey matter we have, the better our emotional control and ability to bounce back during times of stress. Apps such as Calm, Headspace and Othership offer accessible entry points. Dr Spiegel advocates “open presence” meditation, in which emotions are allowed to pass through the body like a storm. “It helps people tolerate discomfort,” he says, “which ultimately calms the nervous system. That, and cultivating compassion for yourself and others.” Cognitive hypnotherapy – which promises to rewire negative thought patterns, habits and behaviours by guiding the brain into a focused, highly suggestible state where new associations can be formed – can also enhance parasympathetic activity.
Through apps such as Reveri, it can be practised at home in as little as 10 minutes. Breathwork is one of the most immediate ways to influence nervous system state. “Try inhaling through the nose for four, then exhaling through the mouth for six,” suggests Rea. A longer exhale reliably increases parasympathetic activity. Dr Spiegel favours cyclic sighing: inhaling fully through the nose in two stages (one into the belly, then up into the diaphragm, then slowly exhaling through the mouth), a technique that stimulates the vagus nerve and rapidly reduces physiological stress.
Practices such as humming, gargling and cold exposure may help improve vagal tone – a marker of nervous system resilience – and devices (such as Yojo, Nurosym and Sensate) designed to stimulate the nerve have also grown in popularity. “They’re another way to hack the system,” says Dr Williams, who explains that they use barely noticeable electrical pulses to stimulate this nerve through the ears or via the chest.
The strongest evidence for vagus nerve stimulation exists in medical contexts, where implanted devices are FDA-approved for conditions such as epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression. Research into non-invasive, auricular stimulation is ongoing, with early findings suggesting it may blunt our stress responses. Other approaches focus on retraining the body entirely. De Belgeonne works with subconscious movement patterns – clenched jaws, gripped fists, hunched shoulders – that often originate during periods of early stress.
“When the nervous system doesn’t feel safe, it manifests as muscular contraction,” she explains. “And if you maintain that contraction unnecessarily, you’re constantly signalling danger to the brain.” Movement, she says, can act as a powerful circuit breaker. If you sit for long periods at a desk, for example, take regular breaks to shake it all out. Routine matters too. Regular sleep and wake times, consistent meals and predictable movement help the nervous system feel safe.
“We tend to drag nighttime into the day and daytime into the night,” says Dr Spiegel. “Be active during the day, wind down at night and don’t look at the clock when you wake at 3am. It’s an arousal cue.” Time outdoors, moments of awe, physical activity and meaningful connection all support regulation. Loneliness, by contrast, is associated with dysregulated stress responses. Community matters – in real life, not just online.
Other cultures have long understood this. In traditional Chinese medicine, regulation is framed as calming the Shen and restoring balance. “We don’t heal by fighting stress,” says HVN acupuncturist Susan Gu, “but by restoring harmony and living in rhythm.” Alongside acupuncture, she emphasises warm, nourishing meals, regular eating times and early intervention at the first signs of imbalance. Herbs such as He Huan Pi and Bai Zi Ren can also help ease emotional tension and calm anxiety.
The challenge today isn’t that our bodies have forgotten how to regulate, but that the environments we inhabit no longer support it. Our ancestors walked barefoot, gathered around fires, gazed at the stars, hummed, danced and moved together. We sit, scroll, rush and feel wholly disconnected. Yes, our bodies are designed to self-regulate, but they weren’t built for constant stimulation, sedentary lives and perpetual urgency. Perhaps, ultimately, regulation isn’t really about adding more to our lives; it’s about trying to live more simply.