Why Your Nervous System Needs Regular Support (Especially Now)

Let me ask you a few questions:

• Has your stress level increased throughout the year?
• Do you hold your breath sometimes?
• Are your shoulders up by your ears? Is your jaw tense?
• What about your tongue, is it pressed up against the roof of your mouth?
• Do you feel tightness in your chest or stomach?
• Is it hard to take a deep breath?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're not alone. So many people are stressed out with everything going on politically on top of our daily lives and stressors.

Your Body Is Keeping Score

We're living through extraordinary times. Political uncertainty. Social upheaval. Personal challenges layered on top of collective stress. And while we're all trying to "stay informed" and "keep going," our bodies are quietly tallying the cost.

That tightness in your chest when you open social media. The exhaustion that no amount of sleep seems to touch. The short temper that surprises you. The racing thoughts at 3am. The sense that you're white-knuckling your way through each week.

These aren't character flaws. They're nervous system signals.

Your body has been trying to tell you that it needs support. It's time we listen.

What Most People Don't Know About the Nervous System

Here's what I wish everyone understood: Your nervous system isn't just about stress response. It's the foundation of your entire human experience.

Your nervous system influences:

• Physical health: Immunity, inflammation, digestion, sleep, chronic pain
• Mental clarity: Decision-making, focus, cognitive function
• Emotional regulation: Mood, reactivity, resilience
• Relationships: Your capacity for connection, empathy, and presence
• Goal achievement: Your ability to take action and follow through
• Wellbeing: Your overall sense of safety, groundedness, and vitality

When your nervous system is chronically dysregulated—stuck in fight, flight, or freeze—everything else suffers. Your health deteriorates. Your relationships strain. Your goals feel impossible. Your capacity to show up for what matters shrinks.

And right now? Most of our nervous systems are maxed out.

Political Stress Is Body Stress

Political stress isn't abstract. It's not "just mental." It's visceral, physical, embodied.

Research shows that political stress increases cortisol levels, disrupts sleep, raises blood pressure, and contributes to inflammation. It affects our cardiovascular health, our immune function, and our mental health.

But here's what the research doesn't always capture: Political stress compounds with everything else we're carrying. Personal challenges. Work pressure. Family responsibilities. The daily weight of existing in bodies that may be marginalized or under threat.

It all goes somewhere. Usually, our bodies.

The tension lodges in your shoulders. The anxiety churns in your gut. The hypervigilance keeps you scanning for threats even when you're "safe." Your nervous system gets stuck in overdrive, and suddenly you're exhausted but can't rest, wired but can't focus, caring deeply but can't access your capacity.

The Solution Isn't "Just Relax"

If one more person tells you to "just take a deep breath" or "try meditation," you might scream. I get it.

This isn't about forcing calm or bypassing what's real. This isn't toxic positivity or spiritual bypassing.

This is about giving your nervous system what it actually needs:

• Recognition: Acknowledging what you're carrying
• Space: Permission to feel what's present
• Movement: Letting your body process what it's holding
• Release: Completing the stress cycle instead of storing it
• Regulation: Returning to a state where you can function and choose
• Community: Experiencing co-regulation with others who get it

This is what we do in my monthly event, "Emergency Regulation: Processing Political Stress Before It Processes You."

What Happens in the NS SUPPORT CIRCLE (And Why It Works)

This 60-minute online gathering is designed to move you from dysregulation to regulation—from overwhelm to feeling centered and 'in your body'—using body-based practices that actually work.

Here's What We Do Together:

1. Check In With Reality (15 minutes)

We start by acknowledging what's true. I'll guide you to assess your current stress level—not just mentally, but in your body. What's been happening in your personal life? What's weighing on you from the state of the world?

You can share in the chat or simply witness. There's no pressure to perform or participate beyond what feels right for you. But naming what's present—even just to yourself—begins the process of regulation.

2. Listen to Your Body's Feedback (15 minutes)

This is where we get specific. Through a guided body scan, you'll learn to identify where stress is actually living in YOUR body right now.

Is there tension in your jaw? Tightness in your chest? A knot in your stomach? Heaviness in your limbs? Sensation anywhere?

Beyond physical sensations, we'll notice: What thoughts are present? What emotions are lingering just under the surface?

Most people move through life completely disconnected from their body's signals. This practice teaches you to listen—and listening is the first step to healing.

3. Move and Breathe to Process (30 minutes)

Here's where the magic happens. Using gentle movement combined with self- massage, eye movement, and comfortably deep breathing, we'll give your body permission to process and release what it's been holding.

This isn't exercise. This is intuitive, responsive movement that follows your body's wisdom. You'll move within your ability level from wherever you are most comfortable—sitting or lying down. 

The combination of movement and breath signals to your nervous system that it's safe. We're completing the stress cycle your body started but couldn't finish—the fight or flight response that got stuck.

You might feel some gentle emotions, but this isn't a deep dive - it's a safe place to process that won't be too overwhelming. You might yawn or sigh. You might feel tension release. You might feel tired. All of this is your nervous system doing its job.

4. Tap for Final Release (15 minutes)

We'll use simple tapping techniques on areas where sensation remains, particularly over the abdomen to support digestive system release - the body's final stage of physical, emotional, and energetic release.

Why tapping? It stimulates the vagus nerve—your body's natural regulation pathway—and signals safety to your nervous system. It's also incredibly effective for releasing what's ready to move but needs a little extra support.

5. Anchor Your Regulation (10 minutes)

Once you're calm and centered, we'll create a personalized anchor you can use anytime you need to access this state again.

You'll choose a place on your body (your heart, breath, diaphragm, or navel) and a word (peace, calm, presence, justice, resilience, truth—whatever resonates). You'll learn to place your hand on that spot, breathe comfortably deep, and think or speak your word to restore regulation.

This practice creates a conditioned response—a somatic anchor—that your nervous system can access when you need it most. In the parking lot before a difficult conversation. Before opening the news app on your phone. When anxiety starts rising. Before engaging in holiday gatherings. Even before going to bed to 'set the stage' for better sleep. Anytime.

6. Remember Why This Matters (5 minutes)

We'll close by remembering the bigger picture: Tending to your nervous system isn't selfish. It's fundamental self-care because your nervous system in literally the foundation of your whole human experience.

Supporting our Nervous System is how we stay in the fight, politically. It's how we show up for each other. It's how we get through the bad days. It's how we maintain capacity for the long haul.

Because we need you here—regulated, resilient, and resourced. Not burned out, shut down, or running on empty.

Why This Is a Monthly Event

Here's the truth: Your nervous system needs regular support, especially during times of sustained stress and uncertainty.

One session can give you relief and teach you tools. But lasting regulation comes from practice, repetition, and consistent support.

That's why this event happens every month.

Think of it as a reset button. A recalibration. A chance to process what you've accumulated since the last gathering and restore your capacity for the month ahead.

It's also why I've made it accessible for all: FREE for Self-Healing Support Community members and Non-members alike. Everyone is welcome. 

Who This Event Is For

This gathering is for you if:

• You're carrying political stress in your body and don't know how to let it go
• You feel "on edge" more often than you'd like
• You want to show up for justice work without burning out
• You're seeking community in uncertain times
• You're ready to listen to what your body has been trying to tell you
• You want practical tools, not platitudes
• You're tired of "self-care" advice that doesn't actually help
• You believe in community care and co-regulation
• You want to do something different because what you've been doing isn't working
• You recognize that you need support to help sustain you and your efforts toward self-care, activism, getting you through the holidays, or even just getting through the day

You don't need any experience with body work, movement, or breathwork. You just need to show up as you are.

What You'll Leave With

After 60 minutes together, you'll have:

✓ Awareness of where stress lives in your body and what it feels like
✓ Experience of what regulation actually feels like (not just the concept)
✓ Connection with others processing similar challenges
✓ Proof that you can shift your state in real-time
✓ Permission to tend to your needs without guilt
✓ Hope that you don't have to white-knuckle your way through these times

The Research Behind This Work

If you're skeptical—good. You should be. Let me give you the science.

Somatic practices (body-focused approaches) are proven to:

• Reduce cortisol and stress hormones
• Activate the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest)
• Improve heart rate variability (a key marker of resilience)
• Decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression
• Enhance emotional regulation

Breathwork specifically:

• Stimulates the vagus nerve
• Shifts autonomic nervous system balance
• Improves oxygen delivery and carbon dioxide release
• Calms the amygdala (fear center)

Tapping (also called EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique):

• Reduces activity in the amygdala
• Lowers cortisol significantly
• Decreases physical pain
• Improves emotional regulation

Co-regulation (regulating in community):

• Amplifies individual regulation through nervous system resonance
• Reduces feelings of isolation and overwhelm
• Creates safety through connection
• Builds collective resilience

This work isn't new age—it's neuroscience. It's what your body was designed to do when given the right support.

Why Community Matters

You could do body work alone. But there's something powerful about doing it together.

When we regulate in community, our nervous systems resonate with each other. Your calm supports someone else's regulation. Their groundedness supports yours. We remind each other that we're not alone in what we're carrying.

This is co-regulation, and it's one of the most powerful tools we have for collective resilience.

In a world that often feels isolating and overwhelming, gathering with intention to tend to our nervous systems together is a radical act.

Join the Self-Healing Support Community

If you find this monthly event valuable, consider becoming a member of the Self-Healing Support Community.

Membership includes:

• Free access to all monthly live events like this one
• A growing library of healing sessions for on-demand support
• Self-care training and guides to build your own practice
• Done-with-you and done-for-you support for your healing journey
• A community of people committed to nervous system care and collective healing

This isn't another membership that will overwhelm you with content. This is consistent, accessible support for your actual nervous system needs—when you need it, how you need it.

[Learn more about membership]

Next Event Details

Event: NERVOUS SYSTEM SUPPORT CIRCLE
Date: November 5, 2025
Time: 7pm EST
Duration: 60 minutes
Location: Online (Zoom link provided upon registration)
Investment: Free, with optional tip jar

[these events are not recorded]

Ready to Feel Different?

Your nervous system has been keeping score. It's been holding tension, storing stress, and running on empty for too long.

It's asking for support. It's asking for release. It's asking for you to listen.

This monthly event is your opportunity to answer that call—in community, with guidance, and with practices that actually work.

[Register for the next event here]

See you there.

Questions? Email [email protected] or join our community at SHS Membership Sales Page.