What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “nervous system regulation”?

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🧘🏻‍♀️ Maybe you think about breathing techniques or mindfulness skills.

🍵 Or all the teas we’re told to drink, and supplements we’re encouraged to take.

🛁 Or bubble baths, self-care products, and spa appointments.

All of the above are valid, and potentially extremely helpful, options for nervous system regulation. Different things work for different people. (I, for one, love my weighted pillow that smells like lavender. It makes my nervous system happy.)

👉🏽 Aaand, it’s important that we expand the conversation beyond individual solutions.

Because nervous system regulation is not meant to be a do-it-yourself project. (Although capitalism would certainly convince us otherwise.)

Community is an essential part of nervous system health.

Just as you cannot pull yourself up by your bootstraps (it’s physically impossible — even though we’re taught to believe that we’re supposed to), you cannot self-regulate your way through a collective, systemic crisis.

In other words: my weighted pillow is great, and an important tool for sensory self-care. But it is no substitute for the nervous system connection that happens in human relationships. 💕

What if we considered community an essential part of our health — as essential as clean water, healthy foods, or enough sleep?

What if we remembered that we have each other, and that our nervous systems are wired to live in connection? (Just ask our ancestors.)

👉🏽 In this week’s podcast episode, I talk about why building community is a lifeline in these times, and how we can take care of each other when the systems around us fail to do so.

If this topic speaks to you, I’d love for you to check out episode 4. It’s half an hour, and you might bring it along on your next walk or road trip, or listen as you knit or fold laundry or stretch your body after a long day.

(Moving while processing information helps my nervous system, so I mention this in case it helps you too.)

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

(Learn more about Nervous System Care & Healing Podcast here.)

If you give it a listen, I would love to know what it sparks in you.

In the episode, I mention that making art that sparks courage, hope, or joy is one way to build community & share your gifts. Here’s an example of one such gift, made by an artist at my local ceramics studio.

To courage, hope, and our collective creativity,

P.S. Know someone who needs to hear this? Forward it along. New readers can subscribe ​here​.

P.P.S. If you’re interested in working together, I’d love to support you.

🌻 For folks who are overwhelmed & burnt out, but too busy for weekly therapy, I offer Nervous System Healing Intensives​ — three 90-minute sessions, using brain-body modalities (Brainspotting, IFS, EMDR) that go deeper than talk therapy & help you feel better, sooner.

Intensives are a type of short-term, accelerated therapy — for folks who prefer a hyper-focused approach to healing; who need longer than 50-min sessions to warm up & process deeply.

👉🏽 If you want to get an Intensive on the books, click here to book an intro call.

I help highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults heal their nervous systems & connect with their authentic selves.

💗 Need a nervous system reset? —> Join me for a Calm Place meditation.
📚 Curious to learn about neurodiversity + holistic healing? —> Peek at my blog.
🗞️ Want to catch up on old newsletters? —> Check out the archive.

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