Whether it’s tapping the side of your hand or standing on a vibrating plate, suggestions for how to “reset” your nervous system saturate the Internet. Cold water dips, buzzing, gargling, yawning, and spiky acupressure mats are all touted as ways to help us “regulate” and regain our calm. If you are still talking about “stress”, you are late; now, says the Internet, you are “deregulated.”
The nervous system is an integral part of the human being. “It’s basically the body’s communication and control network,” explains Dr Serena Lai, consultant psychiatrist and associate medical director at the London Psychiatry Clinic. “Made up of the brain and spinal cord, it communicates with the entire body through nerves, helping us sense what is happening around and inside us. When we have this information, we can process it and coordinate a response.”
The autonomic nervous system is part of this network, automatically regulating the body’s activities, including heart rate, blood pressure, and digestion. It has two main branches. “The sympathetic system creates our fight-or-flight response, helping us mobilize resources when we need to respond to a challenge,” Lai explains. “The parasympathetic nervous system – or rest and digest mode – conserves energy, slows the heart and promotes recovery. »
Sympathetic activity increases in times of stress, whether it’s an urgent email or a family bereavement. The heart beats faster, muscles tense, digestion may change and we become more alert. These evolving responses help us respond to threats – but while once it might have been predatory, it’s now as everyday as seeing the death of a celebrity on Instagram. So perhaps it’s no surprise that the idea of a nervous system reset is so appealing to so many of us – we’re overstimulated and desperately need ways to feel more up to speed.
Except, as every expert I spoke to agreed, there is no such thing as a “reset” of the nervous system—nor should we want one. We need sympathetic activation to exercise, concentrate, meet deadlines, and respond to demanding situations. The problem is when we struggle to recover once this demand has passed, leaving us jittery and tired, and potentially contributing to increased inflammation and cardiovascular and metabolic problems. A healthy autonomic nervous system is not calm all the time; he is able to adapt to changing circumstances.
Much of the conversation about nervous system regulation revolves around the vagus nerve — which is actually a pair of nerves made up of about 80,000 fibers each — which begins in the brain and travels down through the neck to the chest and abdomen. Because it helps slow the heart rate and plays a role in the body’s rest and recovery processes, it is associated with stress relief and relaxation – you might see people referring to increased “vagal tone” as a sign of increased vagus nerve activity.
One of the most common ways to assess vagal and parasympathetic activity is heart rate variability (HRV), says neurosurgeon Dr. Kevin Tracey, author of The Great Nerve.. “This is the time elapsed between individual heartbeats. Generally, greater variability is associated with greater vagal influence,” he explains. The higher the vagal influence, the more dominant our parasympathetic system is likely to be – a sign of feeling calm. “Sympathetic activity tends to shorten the time between heartbeats.”
Learning to work with your nervous system could make it more flexible, meaning you could take on challenges when you need to and then recover once they have passed. These simple, science-backed habits can help.
Slow breathing
Breathing slowly has been shown to increase HRV and promote parasympathetic dominance. “One study showed that slow breathing of about six diaphragmatic breaths (breathing deeply into the belly rather than just the chest) per minute is one of the most effective ways to produce an acute change in heart rate variability,” says Lai. She recommends inhaling for about five seconds, exhaling for five seconds, and repeating for five to 10 minutes.
Cyclic sighs are another option. This involves taking a deep inhale, followed by a second, shorter “gulp” of air to fully inflate the lungs, before a long, slow exhale that empties the lungs through the mouth. In one study, practicing five minutes a day improved mood and reduced respiratory rate – an effect that became more pronounced over the course of the month-long trial.
Mindfulness, meditation and contemplation
“Meditation – where you practice bringing your attention to the present moment – is a great way to slow the heart rate,” says Tracey. “It’s especially effective when done in tandem with paced breathing, because you can really measure the decrease in your heart rate.” Apps like Headspace, Insight Timer and Calm, he adds, can make it easier to integrate the practice into daily life.
Other contemplative practices, from body scanning (where you relax, close your eyes, and contemplate physical sensations) to yoga, can also support parasympathetic activity. A 2018 article proposed that many of these practices naturally slow breathing, which influences vagal activity.
“Sensory calm” in general can be important for autonomic recovery, says Dr. Vishnuraj Prakash, head of Ayurveda and functional medicine at Tulåh Clinical Wellness in Kerala, India, so practice doing nothing—no podcasts, phones, or other stimuli.
Move
“Movement is incredibly helpful because it changes the state,” says somatic practitioner Nahid de Belgeonne. “For example, if you sit at a desk for a long time, your muscles are tight and fixed and your breathing is shallow. As soon as you get up and move, you interrupt this fixed state.” She advises being “fidgety” throughout the day and taking regular walks.
There is ample evidence that regular aerobic exercise – whether walking, cycling or swimming – can improve autonomic regulation and HRV over time. Tai Chi is particularly interesting because it combines movement, breathing and meditation and produces more parasympathetic activation than conventional exercise of the same intensity.
Importantly, more exercise is not necessarily better. Research has found a reduction in HRV in athletes who overtrain, so recovery is also important. “Simple exercises are enough,” says Dr Karen Chung, consultant neurologist at Welbeck. “I often tell patients who are overwhelmed to get off the bus earlier and walk a little further. »
Book a massagee
Moderate pressure massage has been linked to a reduction in heart rate, anxiety and cortisol, as well as an increase in parasympathetic activity – and as little as 20 to 30 minutes seems to be enough. Pressure is important: very light, feathery touch might actually be more stressful than soothing. Even 10 minutes of head massage can increase HRV – by up to 66%, according to a small study.
Stimulating acupressure points, whether through touch or acupuncture needles, can also help, although, as Lai points out, the evidence is less consistent. Auricular acupuncture is an obvious route: a branch of the vagus nerve supplies parts of the outer ear. Other acupuncture points commonly used to promote parasympathetic activity are around the wrists, outer shins, top of the head and sternum – although which ones are used and why are best left to a qualified practitioner.
Some research suggests that acupuncture may influence autonomic activity, including increasing parasympathetic action. The evidence is thinner when it comes to acupressure mats. Anecdotally, they can help some people relax, but there are less expensive and better-supported ways to achieve the same goal.
To slow down
Our nervous system responds well to regularity: consistent sleep and wake times, eating at similar times each day, and rest. “For many of my patients, life is incredibly fast-paced, so most of the time we just need to go to bed a little earlier or step away from our phones for an hour,” says Chung. “Repeating the same behaviors daily helps the body move from activation to recovery,” adds Lai.
Building breaks into the workday can also help. For those who spend hours on screens, de Belgeonne recommends working in focused 90-minute blocks, followed by a 20-minute break. Evenings should signal a change of pace when possible. “Reduce evening stimulation during times of stress,” advises Prakash.
Do a face dunk
Does cold exposure work as well as social media influencers would have us believe? As Tracey explains, the body’s initial response to cold water immersion is actually a sympathetic response, triggering the release of stress hormones and increasing heart rate. Only afterwards, research suggests, is there a parasympathetic rebound, which could explain why some people report feeling calmer after a cold plunge.
You don’t necessarily need to immerse yourself. Dipping your face in cold water can trigger the diving reflex, which slows the heart rate due to increased parasympathetic activity — even a few splashes can be enough to provoke a response. However, Tracey points out that there is still not enough credible evidence to conclude that cold water immersion has significant benefits for regulating the nervous system. But if you enjoy it and feel calmer afterward, great – that’s really all the proof you need.
And the devices?
Surgically implanted vagus nerve stimulation is an established medical treatment for conditions such as epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression. But that doesn’t mean the consumer device featured on your Instagram feed is based on the same evidence.
Non-invasive devices typically use electrical stimulation through the skin – often at the ear or neck – to attempt to stimulate the branches of…
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