Nervous System Disruption: How to Find Safety and Balance in Your Body
By Aesthetically Suite — Trauma-Informed Holistic Healing
When life feels overwhelming, it’s not just “in your head.” It’s often your nervous system asking for support.
Stress, trauma, and constant overstimulation can leave your body stuck in a state of alert — making it hard to relax, sleep, or even feel at home in yourself.
What Happens When the Nervous System Is Disrupted
Your nervous system has two main modes:
Sympathetic (fight or flight) – When you’re stressed, anxious, or in danger
Parasympathetic (rest and digest) – When your body feels safe and can relax
In a healthy system, we flow naturally between these states. But chronic stress, trauma, or emotional overwhelm can trap us in fight, flight, or freeze, leading to symptoms like:
Tension, tight muscles, or headaches
Difficulty relaxing or sleeping
Feeling numb, disconnected, or “checked out”
Emotional sensitivity or burnout
Fatigue that rest doesn’t fix
This dysregulation isn’t a flaw — it’s your body trying to protect you. The goal isn’t to “turn off” your stress response but to help your body feel safe enough to rest again.
How to Support and Regulate Your Nervous System
Healing your nervous system is about creating safety, connection, and consistency.
Here are gentle ways to support your body and begin to restore balance:
Grounding techniques and practices:
Use your senses to help soothe your system and create a safe space for your healing.
Body scanning:
Focusing on what you feel within your body, whether it be pain or tension or even the energy around your body. What you smell, whether it be from your current state or ascent that brings you back to a safe place. What you can hear around you, if you have binaural beats playing/soothing soundscapes or local traffic/nature sounds that is calming to you. Don't forget touch. Even if you are by yourself in your meditation room or sitting in your car. Do you feel the floor or seat beneath you? Do you feel supported? If you are sitting with a friend or spouse, are they a comfort and allowing you to be soft with them?
Restorative Breathing practices:
Breathwork is a great place to start. Intentional breathing such as: “Box breathing” , Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts and hold for 4 counts. This method is best before bed to help promote sleep and relaxation.
Activate your vagus nerve: Allow your body to rest with a rhythmic flow to your breath. Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 2 counts, exhale for 6 counts.
Allow your being the gift of touch:
Follow me down this path for moment to connect the dots of touch.
When we think about babies, we soothe them by snuggling them with the softest hold, slow rhythmic rocking to calm them, gentle rubbing on their back or belly, letting them grasp your finger for comfort, soothing sounds like running water or white noise or even the dryer.
For my children, a short drive around the block put them right to sleep.
Why do we stop doing that for our adult bodies? Pause for a moment and think back to when we had this level of soothing.
Getting a massage is the best method of touch. It allows the body to rest while relieving tension. Certain techniques/modalitiescan be used to focus specifically on nervous system regulation, such as , Craniosacral Therapy, Reiki and Manual Lymphatic Drainage.
Journaling and/or Talk Therapy is an amazing tool that allows your thoughts to have freedom with judgment.
Allowing your spouse/partner to be an assistant in the healing journey is also a great way to deepen the bond and learning each others methods of regulation when either becomes overstimulated.
Connection through nature:
As much as we liked to stay indoors and stay wrapped in our cocoon for safety. Getting outdoors and letting our feet touch the grass/sand, the fresh air of the trees around you, watching the trees sway back and forth to mimic your breathing, watching the ripples and waves of the water.
Moral of the story:
Don't escape from everything, instead go on a journey. The journey keeps the goal in mind allows you to rewrite your future. Escaping keeps you in repetition of the past, preventing you from growth.