Nervous System Basics: What You Were Never Taught in School
Let’s start with this:
Your nervous system is not a problem. It’s a protector.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, shut down, anxious for no clear reason, or stuck in patterns you wish you could change but can’t seem to—your nervous system likely holds a big piece of the puzzle.
So what is the nervous system, really?
Your nervous system is your body’s communication highway. It takes in information from your environment (and your inner world), processes it, and helps you respond. It’s always working—below the surface—guiding how you feel, think, move, relate, and even how you heal.
At a very basic level, it’s what helps you survive.
The part of your nervous system I focus on most in my work is the autonomic nervous system. This is the part that controls things you don’t have to think about: your heartbeat, digestion, breath, stress response.
It has two main branches you might’ve heard of:
Sympathetic – responsible for activation. Think: fight or flight.
Parasympathetic – responsible for calming and restoring. Think: rest and digest.
But that’s only the beginning. Thanks to the work of Dr. Stephen Porges and others, we now understand that it’s more nuanced than just “on” or “off.” The Polyvagal Theory shows us that our nervous systems shift between various states depending on how safe or supported we feel. These states include:
Mobilization (Fight or Flight) – when you feel anxious, agitated, or ready to act.
Shutdown (Freeze or Collapse) – when things feel too much, and you go numb or disconnected.
Safety & Connection (Regulation) – when you feel grounded, present, open.
Why does this matter?
Because your body’s responses aren’t random—they’re adaptive. They’re shaped by your history, your environment, your culture, and your relationships. And most of us weren’t taught how to work with our nervous systems.
We were taught to “calm down,” “get over it,” “just breathe,” or “power through.”
But regulation doesn’t happen through force.
It happens through listening.
It happens when we begin to notice what’s going on inside us (this is called interoception) and respond with care instead of judgment.
The good news?
You can build a relationship with your nervous system.
You can learn the language of your body.
You can create new patterns—ones based not in survival, but in safety, capacity, and choice.
This is the heart of the work I do—guiding people back into connection with themselves. Through breath, gentle movement, nervous system education, and embodied tools, we practice returning to ourselves.
Not for perfection.
Not to become someone different.
But to come home.
Want to explore this more?
Join me for the upcoming Welcome Home workshop—a gentle evening of reconnection and nervous system support. Learn more →
And if you’re ready for deeper support, my 12-week course Coming Home to Your Body begins this fall. We’d love to have you.