Overwhelmed? Here’s How to Reset Your Nervous System Naturally

In today’s hyperconnected world, it has become normal to feel overwhelmed — but normal doesn’t mean healthy. Whether it’s juggling work and family, caring for others while neglecting ourselves or simply trying to keep up with the pace of modern life, our bodies are paying the ultimate price.

At the centre of this storm is our nervous system — and understanding how it works might just be the first step in reclaiming your calm.

Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) is like your body’s internal autopilot — quietly managing the background functions that keep you alive, such as breathing, digestion, heart rate and even hormone balance.

It’s made up of two key branches:

Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) – your fight or flight response (Survival Mode)

Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) – your rest, digest, and heal mode (Healing Mode)

Let’s break this down.

When your brain perceives a threat — whether it’s a snake, a speeding car or an overflowing inbox — your body releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones flip the switch into the sympathetic nervous system, preparing your body for immediate action.

One of the first things that happens? Blood is redirected away from your central organs and into the periphery — especially your arms and legs.

Why?  Because in an emergency, your muscles need that blood to help you run, fight or flee.

That’s fine for a short burst — but if you’re living like this constantly, your vital internal organs are starved of blood flow, oxygen and nutrients. This impairs digestion, hormone balance, immune health and even mental clarity.

The parasympathetic nervous system is the antidote to overwhelm. When active, it allows your body to:

• Resume digestion
• Balance hormones
• Fight inflammation
• Repair tissue
• Calm the heart rate
• Sleep and detoxify properly

The vagus nerve is the main communication highway of this system. It connects your brain to your gut, heart, lungs and more. Stimulating the vagus nerve (through breath, humming, cold exposure or self-care rituals) activates healing and brings the body out of crisis mode.

Living in a heightened stress state affects your whole body. You may experience:

• Anxiety, panic, or irritability
• Insomnia or poor-quality sleep
• Muscle tension and chronic pain
• Digestive disturbances like bloating, reflux, or IBS
• Hormonal imbalances (especially around menopause or PMS)
• Fatigue, brain fog, or burnout
• Weakened immune function

This isn’t just “in your head” — it’s in your nervous system.

But here’s the good news: you can train your body to come back into balance — naturally.

Breath is your most accessible nervous system regulator. Deep, slow breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, shifting your body from fight or flight into rest and repair.

Try this:
Inhale slowly for 4 counts → Hold for 4 → Exhale for 6 → Pause for 2
Repeat for 2–5 minutes to start feeling a tangible shift in your state.

Meditation doesn’t have to mean sitting cross-legged for an hour. Even one minute of focused breathing or mindfulness can:

• Slow the heart rate
• Reduce cortisol (your stress hormone)
• Improve clarity and decision-making
• Rewire your brain for resilience

Think of it as giving your nervous system a drink of cool water after running a marathon.

When overwhelm peaks, your body is likely flooded with adrenaline, keeping you in a reactive, edgy state. The antidote? Endorphins — your body’s natural painkillers and mood boosters.

Laying on an acupressure mat stimulates pressure points across your back and neck, promoting:

• Endorphin release (the feel-good hormones)
• Circulation and lymphatic flow
• Relaxation of tight muscles
• Better sleep and reduced anxiety

Think of endorphins and adrenaline as sitting on a seesaw. When endorphins rise, adrenaline falls — and the body returns to balance.

Nature has gifted us with plants that can gently soothe and restore a frazzled nervous system.

Calming Herbs:

• Ashwagandha: Supports the adrenals and helps the body adapt to stress
• Lemon Balm: Supports emotional balance and soothing to the nervous system
• Holy Basil (Tulsi): Calms the heart and supports emotional resilience

Essential Oils:

• Lavender: Calms the mind, reduces anxiety and helps you sleep
• Bergamot: Uplifting and stabilising for mood swings
• Frankincense: Deepens the breath and anchors a racing mind
• Ylang Ylang & Rose Geranium: Emotionally balancing and grounding

These plant allies can be used in teas, diffusers or even absorbed directly through the skin. (Psst — we’ve been working on something extra special to effectively deliver herbal calm to your body… stay tuned!)

When sleep suffers, everything suffers. Sleep is when your brain detoxifies, your hormones balance and your body repairs.

Chronic stress can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep — creating a vicious cycle. Rebuilding your sleep hygiene is one of the most powerful tools you have:

• Switch off screens at least 60 minutes before bed
• Diffuse essential oils like lavender or clary sage
• Create a wind-down routine with gentle stretching or a warm bath
• Consider topical supports like calming lotions or magnesium-rich balms

One of our most-loved natural sleep tools is Lights Out™ Sleep Lotion — a powerful blend of magnesium, passionflower, lemon balm, lavender and more, designed to support your body’s natural sleep rhythm and calm the nervous system through the skin.

If you’d like more strategies, check out our full Sleep Support Blog for deeper insights here.

This part is critical, especially for women in peri-menopause or menopause or post-menopause.

After menopause, your ovaries retire from their role as the main producers of oestrogen. That job is passed on — believe it or not — to your adrenal glands.

But here’s the catch: If your adrenals are already exhausted from constantly pumping out cortisol in response to chronic stress, they don’t prioritise making oestrogen.

Why? Because biologically, survival always trumps reproduction.

This can worsen symptoms like:

• Hot flushes
• Brain fog
• Mood swings
• Weight gain (especially around the middle)
• Vaginal dryness
• Anxiety and low libido

That’s why stress management is essential for easing menopausal symptoms — not optional.

To support this hormonal transition, many in our community turn to Hormotion™ Lotion — our hormone-supportive topical cream featuring wild yam, chaste tree and adaptogenic herbs to help balance oestrogen naturally. You can also read more about how to thrive through menopause in our blog here.

It might sound a little woo-woo, but science is catching up: everything vibrates at a frequency — including your emotions.

Overwhelm sits at a low vibrational frequency, alongside fear, guilt and despair. On the flip side, emotions like gratitude, joy, love and peace resonate at higher frequencies — and support physical healing.

You can raise your vibration by:

• Spending time in nature
• Listening to calming music
• Practicing gratitude
• Convert negative thinking into positive thinking
• Using high-vibe products made with plant-based ingredients and pure essential oils

Curious about how this works? Our blog on vibrational frequency and emotional states has been one of our most popular reads — check it out here to explore this concept in more depth.

Your body is not broken — it’s just overwhelmed.

With the right tools, you can gently guide your nervous system from a state of chaos back to calm. From breathwork and meditation, to laying on an acupressure mat, supporting your adrenals, prioritising sleep and bathing in nature’s therapeutic plants — these are not luxuries. They’re essential.

And soon, we’ll be introducing a brand-new way to support this journey — something beautifully crafted to soothe frazzled nerves and raise your vibration. Watch this space…