Looking After Your Nervous System Could Be One of the Best Things You Do This Year

The nervous system is intimately connected with immunity, gut function, sleep regulation, sensory perception and motor function. The importance of looking after it is imperative more than ever due to the busy nature of contemporary living and the hyper connectedness of our social media feeds. 

I would like to share with you some very easy tips to balance sensitive system in our bodies so that we can feel grounded at times of stress and not easily taken away with a prolonged sense of fight or flight.

Signs of imbalance can include a heightened and prolonged sense of anxiety or nervousness, poor quality sleep, waking unrefreshed, poor immune function, chronic digestive issues or low appetite just to make a few. 

In paediatric populations a common clinical presentation is of inattention, easily distracted or overly stimulated, in the state of hyperactivity. 

The great news is all these pictures and examples are functional in nature and therefore reversible using environmental adjustments like diet and lifestyle. 
Allow me to give you some examples. 

Time in nature has been well researched to help balance and strengthen the parasympathetic nervous system which is the opposite of fight or flight. Time in nature deep breathing and walking with your feet on the earth actually slows down your nervous system in a positive way. We can also emulate a similar response by having regular breaks from screen time stretching our eyes to the horizon and practising deep breathing. Exercise is an excellent way to discharge nervous energy and decompress a sense of feeling overwhelmed and anxious.

When it comes to diet whole foods are always the best way to support a healthy nervous system. Greenleaf vegetables seeds and nuts and whole grains are useful places to start.

Of course there are things like herbal medicine and nutritional supplementation as well as pharmaceuticals in certain cases. The effectiveness of these measures will also be enhanced when modulating diet and lifestyle.

Lastly, it is always highly recommended that if you are struggling with excessive nervousness or anxiety, you seek professional help . 

Be well.

Tim.

Tim is a Paediatric & Family Naturopath at DCNMC. If you are wanting to learn more about how Tim can help your nervous system with Naturopathy, he offers Complimentary Discovery Calls. Tim is available for tele-health & in-person appointments on Tuesday & Thursday.