Your nervous system could be the missing piece.
I had an interesting conversation at a co-working session yesterday and it really made me think about how I reach the people who need what I offer the most.
I’m a nervous system and mindset coach but how many people actually know what that involves or how it will help them?
I’m pretty sure you don’t go around thinking to yourself, “I must find a nervous system coach to help me with my overwhelm or anxiety.”
What you do know is that you want to feel better.
You want to feel good again. You want to feel like the best version of you. You want to wake up feeling energised and refreshed and genuinely look forward to your day. You want to feel excited about the future. You want to understand what your purpose is, or at least have some clarity about what you want this next part of your life to look like.
And I bet you feel way more emotional when it comes to what you don’t want. I know I do!
You don’t want to feel anxious, stressed or overwhelmed anymore. You don’t want to feel flat, exhausted or stuck. You don’t want to feel guilty, disconnected from yourself or unsure of who you are anymore. The list could go on.
And do you know what all these things have in common? The nervous system.
Our nervous system is linked to almost everything – from our physical health, to the emotions that arise within us, to the way we feel and react at any given moment.
Around 80% of the communication travels from the body up to the brain, while only around 20% travels from the brain down to the body.
So you can see just how big a role it plays in our daily lives.
The nervous system’s job is to protect us. Think of it as our internal threat detection system.
When it believes we’re under threat, it shifts into survival mode. This is incredibly helpful when we face genuine danger, but the nervous system doesn’t always distinguish between a charging lion and years of chronic stress, pressure, responsibility and overwhelm.
When we’re stuck in survival mode, our thinking brain becomes less accessible as the body prioritises getting us through the situation.
This can make it much harder to think clearly, make decisions, be creative, solve problems, feel motivated or see possibilities for the future.
We’re simply trying to get through the day.
Nervous system regulation work helps to bring us back into our window of tolerance (the zone where you feel like everything’s just right).
Not perfect. Not happy all the time. Just more able to cope with life as it happens.
It’s the place where you can think clearly again. Where challenges feel manageable rather than overwhelming. Where you’re less likely to snap at the people you love, lie awake at 3am worrying about everything, or feel completely exhausted before the day has even begun.
It’s where your body no longer feels like it’s constantly on alert.
When you’re in that zone, you’re more likely to feel calm, focused and present. You can make decisions more easily, deal with setbacks more effectively and enjoy the good moments when they come along.
You might notice you have more energy. That you’re sleeping better. That you don’t feel quite so overwhelmed by your to-do list. That you’re more patient with your children, partner or colleagues.
You may find that your confidence starts to return because you’re no longer spending all your energy simply trying to get through the day.
And for creatives, it’s often where your spark starts to come back too.
Ideas begin to flow again. You feel more connected to yourself and what you want. You start thinking about the future with excitement rather than dread.
And this is where mindset work becomes incredibly powerful.
Because once your nervous system feels safe enough, your thinking brain can come back online properly. That’s when we can challenge limiting beliefs, build confidence, create new habits and start moving towards the life we actually want.
It’s one of the reasons I don’t focus on mindset alone.
You can know exactly what you should do. You can read all the books, listen to all the podcasts and repeat all the affirmations. But if your body still believes you’re under threat, it will keep pulling you back into survival mode.
Lasting change happens when we work with both. The nervous system creates the foundation. The mindset work helps you build on it.
Together they help you move from simply surviving your life to genuinely enjoying it again.
Which brings me back to that conversation yesterday. Most people aren’t searching for a nervous system coach.
They’re searching for relief from anxiety.
They’re searching for more energy.
For confidence.
For clarity.
For purpose.
For the feeling that there must be more to life than simply getting through each day.
The nervous system just happens to be one of the most powerful ways I’ve found to help people get there. And perhaps that’s what I need to talk about more. Because at the end of the day, most people don’t care what it’s called.
They care about feeling calmer.
They care about having more energy.
They care about feeling confident in themselves again.
They care about reconnecting with what lights them up and waking up excited about their life rather than just getting through it.
And if nervous system and mindset work can help them get there, then that’s the part that really matters.
I’d love to hear if any of this resonated with you 🩷
Much love,
Jo x