why nervous system regulation matters

While scrolling on Threads the other day, I came across a post that said " The most luxurious thing I own is a regulated nervous system", and honestly, I couldn't agree more.

Also, anyone else obsessed with Threads or is it just me? I feel like I found my community there.

Anyway, after everything I have been through in my life, and I have been through a lot, I can confidently say that regulating my nervous system is my greatest accomplishment yet. Sounds a bit dramatic, but I am standing ten toes down on this one.

In my other life I am a practicing lawyer of over 10 years, and I have quite a number credentials to my name - CPS (K), CPM, CIFE, and many others, but none of them can compare to a regulated nervous system.

It all started in January 2025 when I came across an invitation to join a course on how to regulate my nervous system, and potentially teach others as well. Easily the best money I ever spend on education and self-improvement.

In the Course, I learnt that I had pretty much lived my whole life in fight or flight. In survival mode, if you will. This state is also referred to as the sympathetic nervous system.

Common signs of a dysregulated nervous system were there, like bloating, anxiety, chronic stress, digestive issues or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), irritability, etcetera.

Poor me thought this was normal, because it's all I had known my whole life. Can you imagine that? Living a miserable 33 years thinking that being in fight or flight was normal!

I would oscillate between fight or flight and shutdown (where I would completely disassociate from my body).

As per societal standards, I was doing pretty well for myself - a stable job, good relationships, etcetera, but in my heart I knew I was not happy. Something was amiss, and it was my nervous system.

When you have lived in survival mode your whole life, your body doesn't know how to relax. Everything feels rushed. Urgent.

Getting out of a dysregulated state of the nervous system requires commitment and consistency, because you are basically teaching your body a new way of being.

Your body needs to trust that it is okay to feel safe. To relax. To soften. And this requires patience.

The mistake that most people make is thinking that they can regulate their nervous systems from top to bottom. Meaning, from the brain to the body.

However, the opposite is true. Nervous system healing begins from the body to the brain. This is because 80% of our nerves are afferent nerves. This means that most nerve signals come from the body to the brain and only 20% of the signals are from the brain to the body.

In order for us to heal our nervous systems, we need to indicate to our bodies that it is safe to exhale. When our nervous systems are regulated, we become more productive and generally lead happier lives.

In the next post, I will be sharing exactly what I did to regulate my nervous system.

So, be on the look out for that.

In the meantime, check out this self-healing journal that I created to help me anchor into my body. To access it, click the link below:

https://www.thisisconsciousliving.com/category/all-products

With much love,

Cheryl.