The Work That Changes Everything

Restoring your nervous system and your sense of calm

Over time—and at first, without even realizing it—I have repaired and retrained my nervous system. And it has completely changed my life.

The peace and calm I now feel in my mind, body, and all aspects of my life, really, has impacted me in ways I could never have imagined. I still experience stress, of course. But I’m now able to manage it, rather than it managing me.

Your Body Remembers

Our nervous systems are designed to remember threatening events to help the body respond to future danger. This survival mechanism allows us to react quickly to threats by activating the sympathetic nervous system, the system responsible for the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response.

However, when we live in a constant state of stress, that system can become overactivated, misinterpreting common or everyday challenges as threats. This chronic activation triggers the repeated release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which can disrupt mental and physical health, and contribute to anxiety, inflammation, and even cardiovascular issues.

It can be incredibly difficult to self-regulate because the causes of stress responses are often deeply rooted. Past traumas can become trapped in the nervous system and body, not just as memories, but as unresolved physiological and emotional imprints that show up as tension, pain, or dysregulation.

You might not even remember the details of a traumatic experience, but your body does.

Sights, sounds, smells, or behaviors associated with the event can become imprinted on your nervous system, triggering a cycle of reliving feelings like fear, anger, or shame again and again. The body holds onto these experiences until they’re acknowledged, processed, and released.

(And note that an event doesn’t have to be ongoing or severe to be considered “traumatic.” It can be something as simple as being made fun of at school for something you said, and that moment, consciously or not, shapes how you feel about yourself for years to come.)

The Healing Process

For me, the key to repairing and regulating my nervous system was engaging in healing modalities that integrated both the mind and the body. These practices helped me uncover what was at the root of my emotional and physical stress.

Through them, I was able to reconnect with my body, process unresolved emotions, and release stored tension, which in turn restored balance to my nervous system and improved my overall well-being.

The first and most impactful practices I engaged in were a few somatic (body-based) therapies, including Myofascial Release (MFR) massage therapy and a form of gentle chiropractic care called Network Spinal Analysis (NSA), combined with talk therapy. I also began practicing yoga and meditation daily. (I’ll expand on each of these practices in future posts.)

In weekly talk therapy, I began to recognize, unpack, and reprogram unhealthy thought patterns, mental blockages, and limiting beliefs to address the psychological roots of my stress. At the same time, NSA and MFR helped me release the physical tension that years of chronic stress had imprinted on my body.

It was through this work that I truly began to understand the deep connection between my mind and my body—how the tightness in my neck, the discomfort in my hip, and even subtle, long-standing postural patterns were all linked to stored emotional tension. They were reflections of the same stress and tension I had been carrying for years.

Together, these practices have helped me create deep, lasting mind-body alignment. They’ve grounded me. Centered me.

While I’m not a doctor, psychologist, or trauma expert, I’ve experienced profound changes in my mental and physical well-being through this work. It has been—quite literally—transformational.

Finding Your “Thing(s)”

The key to nervous system repair is finding practices that truly resonate with you—the ones you enjoy and will be motivated to do consistently.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

Start small. Start with what you love, what you’re curious about, or what you feel inexplicably drawn to—follow that thread.

Over time, you’ll find yourself naturally integrating aspects of these practices into your daily life or phasing others out entirely and you heal and grow.

Healing isn’t a destination. It’s a lifelong process. Along the way, you discover the practices that support you best, adapt them as you grow, and strengthen your foundation of inner peace.