Essential Tips to Calm Your Nerves

Do you sometimes feel frazzled? Ever feel like your whole body is vibrating in a not so good way? I know I have and it’s not a pleasant feeling at all! In today’s fast-paced world and ever quickening global awakening, our nervous system takes on more than it can really handle. That’s why it’s important to notice what is going on with your body and how to regulate how your system is operating. Here are some tips so calm your nerves and restore balance.

Nerves on Overload

Overloaded vagal nerves, which are found in the parasympathetic nervous system, have an impact on digestion, heart rate and immunity. In an article on Mindbodygreen.com,Integrative Neurologist Ilene Ruhoy, M.D., Ph.D.explains that, “Disruption of vagus nerve function can be caused by excessive stress, disease, certain medications, inflammation, and infections, among other things—and when disrupted, the body has an overall more difficult time relaxing and attending to its primary functions including sleeping, breathing, digestion, and movement of wastes via the GI tract, lungs, and skin.”

Because this group of nerves function involuntarily, we can’t control them. We can however, make sure they don’t get overstimulated in the first place by managing our stress levels through relaxation techniques and gentle resets. Watch this short video on how to do a reset in just 20 seconds.

Restoring Peace and Balance

A nice breathing technique to try is to the 4-7-8 breath. To do this, start with inhaling to a count of 4, then rest your tongue on behind your upper teeth at the roof of your mouth holding for a count of 7, then exhaling through pursed lips for a count of 8. Repeat this at least 3 times, or continue until you feel yourself become more centered and relaxed.

Walking, stretching, refocusing your mind, yoga, meditation and structured breathing are also beneficial for calming your nervous system.

Calm Your Nerves and Boost Mental Well-being

There are also ways to gently stimulate the vagus nerve to boost mental well-being.

Frazzled nerves are quite common, especially among those that are more sensitive or considered an Empath. In Navigating the Gifts of a Highly Sensitive Person, a panel of empathic entrepreneurs share tips for self-care that you will also find helpful. Some of the suggestions include, regulating your energy and emotions, being in nature, downtime in solitude. It is also imperative to eliminate energy drains.

Essential oils such as lavender and clary sage can create a more pleasant sensory experience and help calm your nerves. Calming music can also support you, as well as using a weighted blanked or eye pillow.

Now that you have some great tips to calm your nerves, which one will you try first? Let me know how it goes with a comment below. Perhaps you have other tips that work for you and you are welcome to share them here so others can benefit as well!