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What does it really mean to regulate your nervous system?

Written by Osteopath Felix Adamson-Walter

Most people wake up and reach for their phone before they’ve even had a moment to check in with themselves. Before you’ve had a sip of water, your mind is already filled with notifications, messages, and plans for the day. From that moment, you’re switched on. Work, training, errands, family, social media, it’s a constant stream of stimulation. By the time evening comes, most people don’t actually unwind; they just crash. The body might be sitting still, but the nervous system is still running.


What nervous system regulation actually means


Your nervous system has two main modes:

  • Fight or flight (the sympathetic system), which helps you focus, move, and react

  • Rest and repair (the parasympathetic system), which allows your body to heal, digest, recover, and slow down


Regulation isn’t about being calm all the time; it’s about your body’s ability to move between these states as needed.


When you’re regulated, your system can switch gears easily, you can handle stress, then relax and recover. When you’re dysregulated, you stay stuck in one gear. For most people, that’s the “on” position.


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What dysregulation looks like


It can show up in ways people don’t always link back to their nervous system:


Physical signs

  • Tightness through the neck, jaw, or back

  • Digestive issues or bloating

  • Restless sleep

  • Fatigue or energy crashes

  • Feeling wired but tired


Emotional signs

  • Anxiety or irritability

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Feeling detached or numb

  • Constantly needing noise, caffeine, or stimulation


You might not feel stressed, but your body’s still carrying that load.



Why this happens


Our lives are built around constant stimulation. Phones, caffeine, social media, traffic, training, work pressure, the body never gets a real pause. Even our downtime often keeps us stimulated. Scrolling, watching Netflix, checking messages, it’s a distraction, not recovery.


If you never give your system a chance to down-regulate, it starts to feel like you’re always behind, even when you’re not. Your body can start showing signs through pain, poor sleep, or burnout.



How to start regulating


Regulation isn’t complicated, but it does take awareness. Try starting with small shifts:


  • Check in with yourself before you check your phone. How do you feel this morning? How did you sleep?

  • Breathe slowly and deeply before your first coffee.

  • Take a short walk without headphones and let your body and mind sync up.

  • Reduce evening stimulation by limiting screens and promoting more stillness.

  • Don’t always fill the silence, it’s often where your nervous system starts to settle.


    You are likely to feel uncomfortable without stimulation, so sit with that feeling.


A last thought


Healing and recovery don’t just happen in your muscles; they happen in your nervous system.


If you’re living in a constant state of ‘on,’ your body will find it harder to heal from pain, injury, or fatigue. Sometimes, the most productive thing you can do for your health isn’t to add more, it’s to slow down enough to let your body catch up.


Less stimulation, less ‘doing’, more breathing, more ‘being’.







References 

Valenza, G., Di Ciò, F., Toschi, N., & Barbieri, R. (2024). Sympathetic and parasympathetic central autonomic networks. Imaging Neuroscience, 2, Article imag-2-00094. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00094 MIT Press Direct


Siepmann, M., Weidner, K., Petrowski, K., & Siepmann, T. (2022). Heart rate variability: A measure of cardiovascular health and possible therapeutic target in dysautonomic mental and neurological disorders. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 47, 273-287. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-022-09572-0 SpringerLink


Beer, J. (2023). What is nervous system regulation & why is it important? Body & Brain. https://positivepsychology.com/nervous-system-regulation/ PositivePsychology.com


Xiao, Y., Li, R., & Li, X. (2023). Non-interchangeability between heart rate variability and pulse rate variability during supine-to-stand tests. ArXiv. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.07535 arXiv


Janig, W. (2021). Regulation of systemic metabolism by the autonomic nervous system consisting of afferent and efferent innervation. International Immunology, 34(2), 67-79. https://doi.org/10.1093/intimm/dxab023 OUP Academic


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