How to Regulate Your Nervous System: 5 Tips from a Naturopath

As the command center of your body, your nervous system has a strong tie to your health. Your thoughts, feelings, movements, sleep, gut health, and stress response are all guided by your nervous system, and when it’s thrown out of balance by various conditions or stressors, your health can be affected in a major way. Feeling overwhelmed? Having sleepless nights? Digestion out of whack? Yep, that’s your nervous system speaking to you.

The best way to keep your nervous system healthy is to be proactive with managing your health. Certified clinical naturopath and Alo Moves Pilates instructor Bianca Melas shares the top five ways you can regulate your nervous system and feel balanced inside and out.

Move every day.

According to Melas, it’s all about “daily movement that feels good for your body, mind, and soul.” All forms of exercise apply here — you don’t have to be at the gym every day to benefit from movement. Along with strength training and cardio, low-impact activities like walking meditations, dancing, yoga, and Pilates can help you get your daily movement in.

The neurological benefits of movement also make it worth your while. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, movement can balance your emotions, strengthen your learning and problem solving, improve your memory, elevate your sleep quality, reduce anxiety and depression, and reduce your risk of cognitive decline.

Find your favorite way to move with a complimentary 2-week membership to Alo Moves.

2. Eat nourishing whole foods.

Melas recommends adding protein to your diet to keep your nervous system running smoothly. “Protein is part of the building blocks for our neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine,” says Melas. This means that protein is essential for giving us that mood boost of happy hormones. When possible, seek out protein from plant-based sources as a win for your health and the planet. Add a variety of lentils, peas, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. She also recommends healthy fats, which include fish, nuts, beans, seeds, and vegetable oils.

Need a few recipe recommendations? Try this blender vegetable soup topped with pepitas or this easy veggie omelet.

3. Surround yourself with nature.

Your immediate environment has a huge impact on your stress levels. The sights, sounds, and sensations that you process have the power to affect your body, including your blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety. And the increased peace that you feel when you visit a beach, forest, mountains, or tree-lined park isn’t just in your head — surrounding yourself with the quiet of nature has been linked to improved cognitive function, blood pressure, mental and physical health, and sleep.

The good news — even if you don’t live near a large natural space, just viewing scenes of nature or having plants in your room can give you the same benefits. Get outside as much as you can, bring on the houseplants, and change your phone and computer screen to a beautiful scene that inspires you.

4. Try a cold shower or cold plunge.

“Cold showers help to regulate our nervous system, bringing it back into a rest and digest state,” says Melas. Studies show that exposure to cold showers can boost your immunity, decrease depression symptoms and anxiety, lift your mood, and improve your circulation (translation: way less post-workout soreness).

Want to supercharge the effects of your cold plunge? Take a refreshing dip in the ocean whenever you get the chance to add the restorative power of nature. “Ocean swims do wonders for the soul and the negative ions generated in the ocean balance our levels of serotonin,” says Melas.

5. Practice daily meditation and breathwork.

You’ve probably already heard about the magic that is meditation, but there’s a reason it’s so hyped up — the research backs it up. Mindfulness meditation deactivates your sympathetic nervous system (your fight or flight response) and turns on your parasympathetic nervous system (your rest and digest response). Studies have shown that consistent practice of mindfulness meditation and breathwork can reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, pain, and depression.

The key word here: practice. Change doesn’t happen overnight, and it requires daily attention and dedication. When you prioritize your wellness, you’ll see and feel the benefits in your body, mind, and spirit.

Want to learn how to meditate? Check out three tips on how to create a daily meditation practice from a mindfulness teacher.