Nervous System Regulation Basics for Busy Women
- Sandra Cohen
- Dec 20, 2025
- 5 min read
How your nervous system affects your energy, emotions, digestion, and daily life — without overwhelm
If you often feel tired but wired, emotionally sensitive, or like your body is “on” even when your mind wants to rest — this is for you!
For a long time, I thought my low energy, tension, and difficulty slowing down were just part of modern life. Work, responsibilities, screens, constant thinking. I tried to fix it with better routines, more discipline, even more self-care. But the real shift came when I started learning about the nervous system — not as something to control, but as something to understand.
This article is a gentle introduction. No diagnosing, no pressure to change everything. Just awareness that can bring relief.
What the Nervous System Is (In Simple Words)
Your nervous system is your body’s communication and safety system.
It constantly scans your environment — internal and external — asking one question:
> Am I safe right now?
Based on the answer, it adjusts:
Your energy levels
Your breathing
Your digestion
Your emotional responses
Your ability to rest or focus
The important thing to know is this:
Your nervous system is not designed to optimize productivity or happiness.
It’s designed to keep you alive.
It’s designed to keep you alive.
And sometimes, it reacts to emails, deadlines, noise, or emotional pressure the same way it would to real danger.
The Two Main States (and the Role of the Vagus Nerve)
You don’t need to memorise anatomy to understand this — just the basics.
Sympathetic Nervous System (Fight or Flight)
This is your activation mode:
Alert
Fast-thinking
Ready to respond
Helpful in short bursts
It’s what gets you through a busy workday or a stressful moment.
The problem isn’t activation — it’s staying in active more for too long.
Parasympathetic Nervous System - The Vagus Nerve (Rest & Digest)
This is your restorative mode:
Calm
Clearer thinking
Better digestion
Emotional regulation
Deeper rest
The vagus nerve plays a key role here. It connects the brain to the heart, lungs, and digestive system, helping the body shift into this state of safety and restoration.
A healthy nervous system moves fluidly between these two states.
Burnout happens when the body forgets how to come back.
Signs Your Nervous System May Be Overstimulated
Remember these are not problems to fix — they are signals to listen to.
You might recognize:
Feeling exhausted but unable to relax
Difficulty winding down in the evening
Shallow breathing or chest tension
Digestive discomfort or bloating
Brain fog or forgetfulness
Emotional sensitivity or irritability
Painful, heavy, or irregular periods
Trouble sleeping even when tired
Especially for women, these symptoms often get normalized. But they’re not random — they’re information.
Why Women Are Especially Affected (And Why This Matters)
Unlike men, women’s brains and nervous systems are deeply intertwined with hormonal cycles, which shift throughout the month. This means the same level of pressure — lack of rest, emotional tension, irregular meals, constant stimulation — can feel very different in the body depending on the phase of the cycle.
When the nervous system stays in alert mode for too long, it doesn’t just affect mood or energy. It sends signals that can influence:
Hormonal balance
Menstrual regularity and pain
Digestion and nutrient absorption
Sleep quality
Emotional resilience
Over time, the body begins to prioritize survival over long-term balance.
This is why many women don’t just feel “stressed” — they experience it physically:
As painful or irregular periods
As constant fatigue that rest doesn’t fix
As anxiety without a clear reason
As disconnection from the body’s natural rhythms
The nervous system sits at the center of all of this.
When it doesn’t feel safe, the body quietly shifts resources away from repair, fertility, and deep rest.For women, regulation is not a luxury — it’s foundational care.
Many women live in a state of chronic activation and pushing through without realizing it
This isn’t about weakness.
It’s about biology meeting modern life.
Regulation Is Not Relaxation
This distinction matters.
Relaxation is an outcome.
Regulation is the pathway.
Trying to force calm — through meditation, breathwork, or “positive thinking” — doesn’t always work when the nervous system feels unsafe. In those moments, sitting still can even feel uncomfortable or agitating.
Regulation is about helping the body feel safe enough to soften.
Trying to force calm — through meditation, breathwork, or “positive thinking” — doesn’t always work when the nervous system feels unsafe.
Gentle Ways to Regulate your Nervous System (No Overhaul Required)
This is not a checklist. Choose what feels accessible for you.
Slow transitions
Pause between tasks instead of rushing from one thing to the next. Go for a walk around the office, stretch your body and take few breaths mindfully.
Warm, grounding meals
Especially for women, warmth supports both digestion and regulation of your body processes and nervous system. You can find some inpiration for easy and nourishing recipes
Gentle awareness of breath
No special technique required — just notice your breath. Focuse on deep breathing in, how it feels when air is entering your nose, what is the temperature, smell and how the air fills up your lungs, then exhale slowly (better through your mouth).
Touch and grounding
A hand on the chest, warm shower, walking barefoot, touching nature or working with hands.
Consistent rhythms
Eating, sleeping, and resting at similar times supports safety. Regular schedule make your body feel safe, it knows what to expect, inner processes can be scheduled and done without stress. I recommend reading more about our inner clock and circadian rhythm
Reducing stimulation (not eliminating it)
Fewer tabs open, fewer inputs at once. Stop multitasking! Rather be present and focuse fully on one thing at a time.
One thing done mindfully is more regulating (and at the end also more productive) than ten things done with pressure.
Disconnecting Is a Form of Regulation
Being constantly reachable keeps the nervous system in a subtle state of alert. Social media, messages, notifications, and endless information streams signal the body that it needs to stay responsive — even when there’s no real urgency - this urgency is fueling your scrolling addition.
Try Digital hygiene: turning off non-essential notifications, stepping away from social media in the evening, or allowing only a few trusted people to reach you after a certain hour. These boundaries aren’t about restriction — they’re about giving your nervous system clear signals that now it is safe to rest.
Even small moments of disconnection help the body shift out of stimulation and back into presence.
Presence as Regulation
One of the most regulating practices for me hasn’t been a technique at all, but presence.
I really recommend reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, this book/and podcasts helped me understand that much of our nervous system activation (but also depression, anxiety and some chronical deseas) comes from constantly living ahead of ourselves or opsesively —thinking about past or future events and conversations anticipating, worrying, replaying - and not living in the present moment.
You don’t need to be present all the time.
Just often enough to remind your system: "I am here and I am safe"
Start Where You Are
Regulation is not a goal to reach.
It’s a relationship you build with your body over time.
Dont woverthink it - awareness alone is already supportive.
Small shifts matter.
Nothing needs to be perfect.
If this resonated, please save it or share it with someone who needs permission to slow down.
Recommended articles:
How to Align with Your Circadian Rhythm: A Step-By-Step Guide
7 Morning Routine Checklist to Regulate Your Circadian Rhythm
Timing is Everything: Why You Should Align with Your Circadian Rhythm
3 Meditation Techniques for Beginners
Comments