🎧 48. 6 Ways to Soothe Your Nervous System
It's the last episode of the season! From aromatherapy to touching trees, get inspired to tend to your needs through the holidays and beyond.
When new episodes of the Wild Words podcast arrive, I’ll post notes or a portion of the transcript here so we can discuss it. Please share your thoughts below!
Notes on Episode 48: Learning what makes your brain and body feel supported and safe is an act of self-love. With a spirit of experimentation, this episode offers a variety of ways to soothe your nervous system, tune in to what feels good, and prioritize rest on a daily basis. (P.S. This is our last episode of the season!)
A few highlights:
Why experimentation is essential to understanding your nervous system
An easy type of breath work to try
Which books are the most relaxing to read
Why rewatching old sitcoms can help your body integrate
A pitch for touching trees (when no one’s watching)
The essential oils I can’t live without
Life is demanding, confusing, and complex. In order to show up as the best versions of ourselves, and also tap into the creative capacity we have to bring out work forward, tending to the nervous system is an essential and ever-evolving practice.
When we feel stress or anxiety, or tension in our bodies, our brain loses access to the rational prefrontal cortex. That’s why it’s easy to feel destabilized or making decisions becomes difficult, or we might feel overwhelmed with basic daily tasks.
It’s normal to feel this way from time to time, but having a toolkit of techniques that soothe the nervous system can help your brain reset and know that it’s safe.
How do you tend to your nervous system?
Are any of the suggestions ones that you might want to try?
What practices help you on a regular basis, or when you’re feeling more activated?
This podcast helped me through a very intense season this time last year professionally and personally, thank you for this! I am going to re-listen :)
Another incredibly helpful episode! I can sense the care + thoughtfulness you put into each episode, Nicole 🤍
I loved what you said about breath work (and I’m guilty of forgetting this practice because it’s so simple!) and it reminded me how useful it was this summer as breath work got me through each contraction while I brought my second baby into this world. Learning three breathing patterns/exercises helped me immensely this time around. So thank you for the reminder of to keep this in practice.
And I also love that rewatching shows is tending to my nervous system. Persuasion (the latest Netflix version) and Guernsey Literary + Potato Peel Pie Society are my fave films to rewatch.