Calm Your Nervous System Naturally: Simple Ways to Help Your Body Recover From Stress
Have you ever been completely exhausted but still felt like you couldn’t relax?
Maybe you get into bed tired, but the moment your head hits the pillow, your brain suddenly becomes wide awake. You start thinking about everything you need to do tomorrow, something that happened earlier in the day, your finances, your family, work—and before you know it, an hour has passed.
Or maybe you feel like you’re constantly “on.” You’re tired but wired. Your shoulders are tight. Your jaw is clenched. You’re easily irritated, have trouble focusing, and don’t sleep as well as you used to.
A lot of people simply call this stress.
And while stress is certainly part of the picture, there’s more happening beneath the surface.
Your nervous system plays an important role in how your body responds to stress—and how well it returns to a calmer, more restorative state afterward.
Understanding Your Nervous System: The Gas Pedal and the Brake
Think about driving a car. You have an accelerator and a brake, and you need both.
Your nervous system works in a similar way.
The Sympathetic Nervous System: Your Gas Pedal
Your sympathetic nervous system helps prepare your body for action. When you need to be alert, focused, or ready to respond, this system helps increase your level of arousal and directs resources toward dealing with whatever is happening around you.
Your heart may beat faster. Your muscles become more prepared for movement. Your breathing can change, and your attention becomes more focused on potential threats or challenges.
That response is not inherently bad. In fact, you need it.
The problem comes when it feels like the gas pedal stays down all day.
Work deadlines, financial concerns, poor sleep, chronic pain, excessive caffeine, constant notifications, blood sugar fluctuations, and hours of digital stimulation can all add to the demands your brain and body are trying to manage.
Over time, you may start feeling like you’ve forgotten how to shut things down.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System: Your Brake
The parasympathetic nervous system is the other side of the equation.
Think of it as the brake.
This part of the autonomic nervous system supports functions associated with rest, digestion, recovery, and energy conservation.
You need both systems. The goal isn’t to eliminate your stress response or stay relaxed every minute of the day.
A healthy nervous system needs flexibility—the ability to respond when necessary and then recover when the challenge has passed.
How Neurotransmitters Affect Your Brain and Nervous System
Your nervous system isn’t only electrical. Your brain also uses chemical messengers called neurotransmitters to communicate.
You’ve probably heard of neurotransmitters such as GABA, dopamine, and serotonin. Each plays different and often complex roles in brain function.
GABA: One of the Brain’s Braking Systems
GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, is an inhibitory neurotransmitter.
In simple terms, GABA helps decrease certain types of neuronal activity. I like to think of it as one of the brain’s braking systems.
When your days are filled with stimulation, activity, screens, deadlines, and constant demands on your attention, intentionally creating periods of calm and recovery can become especially important.
Dopamine: Motivation, Reward, and Attention
Dopamine is often described as the “pleasure chemical,” but that explanation doesn’t tell the whole story.
Dopamine is involved in motivation, reward, learning, attention, and movement.
Think about how easy it is to pick up your phone intending to check one thing and suddenly realize you’ve been scrolling for 20 minutes.
Every notification, message, video, and new piece of information gives your brain something else to process.
Now imagine repeating that pattern from the time you wake up until you go to bed.
Your brain doesn’t get much downtime.
Serotonin: Mood, Sleep, Appetite, and More
Serotonin is another important neurotransmitter involved in several functions, including mood, sleep, appetite, and digestion.
But these systems don’t operate independently.
Your brain, nervous system, hormones, gut, sleep, movement, and environment constantly interact with one another.
That’s why supporting your health often requires looking beyond a single symptom or one part of the body.
Your Brain Is Constantly Listening to Your Body
Most people think about the brain as the part of the body that sends instructions.
That’s true—but communication goes both ways.
Your brain is constantly receiving sensory information from throughout your body.
Your heart is sending information.
Your gut is sending information.
Your muscles and joints are sending information.
Your eyes and balance systems are sending information.
Even your breathing pattern provides information that your brain can use.
Your brain continually processes this information and determines how your body should respond.
This two-way communication is one reason we pay so much attention to the nervous system at Life Springs Family Chiropractic.
What Does Your Spine Have to Do With Your Nervous System?
Your spine does much more than hold you upright.
The joints, muscles, and surrounding tissues contain sensory receptors that provide your nervous system with information about movement, position, and your physical environment.
Spinal Movement Provides Sensory Information to the Brain
Every time you move, sensory information travels from your body toward the central nervous system.
Pain, stiffness, injury, and changes in movement can alter the sensory information coming from an area.
A chiropractic adjustment provides a specific mechanical stimulus to joints and surrounding tissues.
That doesn’t mean an adjustment simply “boosts serotonin” or “increases GABA.” The nervous system is far more complicated than that.
Research into spinal manipulation and manual therapy suggests that these interventions can influence sensory processing, pain perception, and certain measures related to autonomic nervous system activity.
This is why we look at chiropractic care as more than simply “putting a bone back into place.”
We’re working with a body that is constantly sending information to the brain.
Try This Simple Nervous System Calming Exercise
You don’t need special equipment to begin changing some of the signals your brain receives.
Try this:
Sit comfortably and place both feet on the floor.
Relax your shoulders and unclench your jaw.
Now breathe normally, but allow your exhale to become slightly longer than your inhale.
Try breathing in comfortably for about four seconds and breathing out for about six seconds.
Repeat this for five breaths without forcing it.
Then notice how you feel.
Did your shoulders drop?
Did your jaw relax?
Does your heart rate feel different?
Do you feel slightly less rushed?
Breathing is one example of how you can influence your physiological state through signals traveling between your body and brain.
5 Natural Ways to Calm Your Nervous System Every Day
Supporting your nervous system doesn’t necessarily require completely changing your life. Small habits practiced consistently can make a meaningful difference in how you manage and recover from everyday stress.
1. Slow Down Your Breathing
When you notice yourself becoming tense or overwhelmed, pay attention to your breath.
A comfortable, slower breathing pattern—particularly one with a slightly longer exhale—may help support a shift toward a calmer physiological state.
You don’t need to force it. Even a few intentional breaths can be a useful reset during a busy day.
2. Move Your Body
Walk. Lift weights. Play tennis. Stretch. Ride a bike. Garden.
Movement provides your brain with an enormous amount of sensory information and is an important part of overall physical and neurological health.
It doesn’t need to be complicated. Find something you enjoy and make movement part of your day.
3. Get Outside in the Morning
Natural light, particularly earlier in the day, helps provide timing cues for your circadian rhythm.
Your circadian rhythm influences your sleep-wake cycle and plays an important role in sleep, alertness, and daily energy patterns.
Try stepping outside shortly after waking—even if it’s only for a few minutes.
4. Keep Your Energy More Stable
If your day consists of caffeine, sugar, another coffee, and then an afternoon crash, your body may be dealing with additional physiological demands on top of everything else.
Focus on the basics: whole foods, adequate protein, fiber, hydration, and balanced meals that help you maintain steadier energy throughout the day.
5. Give Your Brain a Break
This may be one of the hardest habits to practice.
Put your phone down.
Turn off unnecessary notifications.
Stop checking your email for a few minutes.
Sit outside. Take a walk without headphones. Eat a meal without scrolling. Spend time with someone without having your phone on the table.
Give your brain a few moments where it doesn’t have to respond to another piece of information.
Are You Pushing the Gas Pedal or Applying the Brake?
Throughout your day, ask yourself one simple question:
“Am I pushing the gas pedal or applying the brake?”
If you’re rushing, breathing quickly, clenching your jaw, constantly checking your phone, and jumping from one task to another, your body may be spending more time in a heightened state of alertness.
If you’re moving regularly, breathing comfortably, eating well, spending time outside, connecting with people, sleeping consistently, and allowing yourself periods of recovery, you’re creating opportunities for your nervous system to slow down.
Calming Your Nervous System Is About Becoming Better at Recovery
The goal isn’t to eliminate stress.
Stress is part of life, and your stress response exists for a reason.
The goal is to become better at moving between periods of activity and recovery—to use the gas pedal when you need it and the brake when you don’t.
Your brain and body are communicating with each other every second of every day.
So the question becomes:
What are you telling your nervous system today?
Could Your Nervous System Be Stuck in a Stress Pattern?
If you constantly feel tired but wired, struggle to relax, have difficulty sleeping, experience brain fog, or feel like your body is always “on,” it may be worth taking a closer look at how your nervous system is functioning.
At Life Springs Family Chiropractic in Denver, Colorado, we take a brain-based approach to evaluating how the nervous system is functioning and adapting to stress.
If you’re ready to take the next step, contact us today to set up your initial examination or join us at an upcoming workshop.
Life Springs Family Chiropractic – Denver, CO
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