Tips for Regulating Your Autonomic Nervous System

Our ultimate goal is to become more adaptable human beings so that we may move through big transitions, like motherhood, with greater ease.  We can do this through our daily choices and lifestyle habits.  Some of the choices look like choosing a cleaner meal over something processed, glass storage containers over plastic, beauty products and make up that are free of endocrine disrupting chemicals and toxins.  Others include a positive growth mindset, moving your body regularly, getting adequate sleep (8-10 hours) every night, and doing a detox at least once a year to mitigate and reduce accumulated toxins in your body.

Some modalities that assist your body in reducing stress and tension physically to promote a healthier internal environment include massage therapy, kundalini yoga, acupuncture, and chiropractic.  The goal is to reduce the stress on your nervous system so that it can flow between health and stress as it is designed to and maintain a state of health at least 80% of the time.  Because mom's nervous system lays the framework for baby's nervous system, it's important to incorporate practices in your daily routine to maintain a healthy state prior to conception, throughout prenatal period while baby is developing, and into the postpartum period.

There are self-practices that aid in regulating our nervous system, too.  Being able to come back to the feeling of safety within our bodies can help tremendously with our ability to adapt well to our ever-changing environment, which can sometimes leave us feeling out of control.  We can voluntarily and positively impact our vagal tone and nervous system function and adaptability through breath, movement, and sound.

Our breath is one of the most accessible, use anywhere, anytime tools that we have to promote a calmer more peaceful internal environment.  During inhalation, the heart is stimulated to increase the rate of the heart beat.  During the following exhalation, the heart is signaled to slow down a bit.  In general, these changes are very small and typically don't have a major effect on the heart rate from minute to minute.  If, however, you increase the length of the inhale for a period of time, your anxiety may increase due to an elevated heart rate.  The opposite is true for extended exhalation.  When you extend the exhale, you can create a more calming and peaceful internal environment.  The diaphragm, the muscle at the base of our lungs, dividing our thoracic and abdominal cavities, is innervated by the vagus nerve.  When we consciously move our breath with extended exhalations, we can push our Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) into a state of safety perception, where we can rest, digest, and rejuvenate.

Try this Unwind breath exercise from "How to Breathe" by Ashley Neese.

Sit in a comfortable position with a tall spine and relaxed hips.

Set your practice intention.

Release any tension in your jaw.

Rest your left hand on your left knee, palm facing upward.

Gently place your right ring finger on the left nostril and your right thumb on the right nostril.  Fold your second and middle fingers down to the palm of your hand and relax your little.

Take a deep breath through your nose exhale out of your mouth.  Close your right nostril with your thumb and slowly inhale through your left nostril.  Close the left nostril with your ring finger and hold your breath for a beat.

Release your right nostril and exhale slowly.  Pause. Repeat on the alternate side to complete one cycle of the Unwind Breath.

Practice for five to ten rounds, alternating the breath between nostrils.

Release the practice and return your hands to your lap.

Breathe and rest for a minute, noticing any changes.

Close your practice.

Tips:

Try doing box breathing with the breaths here - holding each inhale, pause, exhale, pause for 3 seconds each.

Another way to influence your vagal tone is through movement and posture.  Doing things such as bowing, bending, and kneeling can influence your carotid artery baroreceptors which regulate your blood pressure.  Shaking your body is also a great way to self-regulate your nervous system.  If you've ever observed an animal for any length of time, you may have noticed that they will often shake their bodies as they leave stressful situations.  This is a quick and easy way for them to self-regulate and come back to the state of vagal tone that is optimal for growth and restoration.  They're literally shaking off the stress.

Try this: 

Stand up and shake your arms and legs.  It may feel awkward at first, though, the more you can shake and move your body around, the more you will start to feel the stress exit your body.

Lastly, we have sound and vocalization to help us!  This can be in the form of singing, chanting, humming… yelling.  Have you ever noticed how good it feels to scream?  To release all of that pent up energy?  You're bringing your nervous system to a level where you can thrive through stimulating the vagus nerve through the use of your vocal cords. 

Try this:

Put your favorite song on and sing with your heart.  Let those vocal cords express themselves!  Bonus points if you dance around, too.

You can combine all three in a way that really helps to melt the stress and tension away.  First, get into extended child's pose with arms reaching forward.  Take a deep breath in through your nose.  As you slowly exhale through your mouth, make an "ahhh" sound (or another sound if it feels more appropriate).  Repeat this 3-5x more times until you feel complete, allowing your body to melt down toward the floor with each exhale.

These practices may take some more mindfulness and attention than what you're used to doing.  As you continue to work them into your routine, they'll become more like second nature to you as you reach for the tools to help you self-regulate in stressful situations.  If you have never done a detox before or want to do one with greater intention, I highly recommend working with Catherine of Integrated Wisdom - she has been incredibly helpful for myself and my personal journey with preparing for conception.  She will be able to guide you through a customized protocol to open your drainage pathways, get your mitochondria functioning optimally, and safely removing toxins that you've accumulated over the years.

I want to make a note and acknowledge that it can be intimidating to make a lot of big changes all at once.  I recommend focusing on one thing at a time so that way the lifestyle changes will become more permanent fixtures rather than something you only do for a hot second.  If you're totally new to reading ingredients, the apps "Think Dirty" and "EWG Healthy Living" are great resources for scanning products and finding out their safety rating.  Making the swaps as you run out of items is more manageable, too.

There's no single "quick fix" for finding regulation of our nervous system.  There are different tools for different situations.  However, as you incorporate more calming and healthier habits, you will create a life that is healthier and you'll be able to find your calm with more ease and grace throughout life's transitions - both big and small.

You got this.