What we are talking about, when we talk about the nervous system.

"Nature provides us with herbs that transform and enlighten as well as plants that  heal and nurture the nerve tissue itself.” – David Hoffmann, Medical Herbalist

Generally speaking, the nervous system consists of two major systems—the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). Our CNS, which includes the brain and the spinal cord, is our main command center. It’s what helps us process information and decide how to respond to inputs, whether your body is responding to a stressful week or something straight up frightening, triggering or catastrophizing.

The Peripheral Nervous System encompasses the nerves that branch out from the brain and spinal cord to help your body communicate, as well as all the sensory and motor neurons. Sensory neurons collect information on what we’re feeling and send it to the brain, while motor neurons signal information to the tissues through the transmission of nerve impulses. These neurons are some of the longest living cells in your body.

The PNS then further divides into the somatic and autonomic nervous systems. Our somatic nervous system—also called our voluntary nervous system—is controllable and is connected to our physical movements through our skeletal muscles. The autonomic nervous system relates to our smooth muscle tissues, which are more or less on auto-pilot, I mean, kind of, but that’s probably a longer conversation that I wouldn’t be able to articulate. This system then breaks down into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Put simply, the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the “fight-or-flight-or freeze” response, which increases heart rate, muscle contraction, and adrenaline. The parasympathetic nervous system is known for inducing “rest and digest,” which decreases the heart rate and relaxes the muscles.

Sympathy for the Sympathetic NS.

This state of “fight-or-flight-or freeze” is necessary for action mode, it’s our emergency response reaction and it’s good. We need that. However, we aren’t always being chased by a bear and too many of us spend too much time residing in this state of stress, so much so, that it might start to feel like your normal base line. An over dominance of this Sympathetic Nervous System response is detrimental to spiritual development, mental health, physical health, hormonal balance and overall wellbeing, longevity and state of well being.

I personally spent my late teens, twenties and early to mid-thirties in a state of nervousness, social anxiety and general anxiety – ‘high functioning’, until, you know, I wasn’t. I wanted to share some of my rituals to find more balance within my nervous system, specifically. It goes without saying, but I’m saying it, so maybe it doesn’t, that reducing or removing coffee from my diet, getting 8 hours sleep, drinking alkaline water, eating organic or spray free fruit and vegetables where possible, reducing EMF exposure as much as possible, avoiding over exercising tendencies as a coping mechanism and living as close as I can, to my current level of awareness and knowledge, to my alignment with my higher self/spirit and truth, would also be recommended. I hope it’s helpful, as it has been helpful for me *note it’s still a work in progress for me too.

Ritual # 2 Sympathy for the Sympathetic Response

1. Herbal Body Oiling

Herbal Body Oiling 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 Herbalist/Green Witch 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, usually in the evening after showering, before meditation and sleep. 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣l𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘖𝘪𝘭𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘖𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦. 𝘖𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘵-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘣 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘴. 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵. I like to use herbal body oils that I make myself, my herbal body oil Dreamy – Mugwort and Blue Lotus Herbal Oil (which is coming soon), is an infusion of herbs and essential oils with a base of organic olive oil. You can massage your herbal oil into your whole body or into your feet and ears. This can be used before slumber, meditation or when you feel that sympathetic response rising. Try it out and let me know if you notice the difference. You can even try using castor oil and olive oil for a noticeable difference.

2. Resonance Breathing

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 (𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺) 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 (𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 U𝘫𝘫𝘢𝘺𝘪 B𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩) 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 6 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵?

Eddie Stern 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴:

‘𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮, 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮. 𝘽𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙬𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘 (𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮) 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘 (𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩)’

Set your sacred space by lighting some incense (I like Rose) or burning some resin (I like Frankincense) or do both (I like to do both) find a comfortable place to sit or lie, away from clutter and close down your eyes. Invite yourself into the present moment and take the time to relax your physical body and check in with yourself. Find a gentle and soft Ujjayi breath (throat breathing) let your awareness stay with the breath as you come into:

 Resonance Medley

Set your timer (I like insight timer and partial to three rings of Shurong Bell)

5 minutes: inhale 4 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds

5 minutes: inhale for 5 seconds and exhale for 5 seconds

5 minutes: inhale for 5 seconds and exhale for 7 seconds

Resonant Breathing is like a stress RESET button, do you feel that?

3. Random

Herbal Infusions of Oatstraw, is something I really like to use also (other herbs can be used for infusions and for the nervous system, I like and use oatstraw). Long infusions are different from teas or decoctions. Long infusions are prepared the night before and left to infuse for 12 hours before consumption in the morning. Why a long infusion, as opposed to a tea? Because you can get certain nutrients out of a dried plant only after soaking it in hot water for a long time. Scientific studies have shown that it takes at least four hours for a significant amount of minerals to extract into the water, and longer (up to eight hours) for roots, which are tougher and take longer to release their medicinal constituents into the water. Oatstraw restores nervous system integrity, the taste of oatstraw is soft and mellow (kinda how it makes you feel too). Oatstraw is especially useful for those whose anxiety is combined with excessive nervous energy. I also like Life Cykel (https://lifecykel.com/) Lion Mane tincture before bed for improved REM sleep and moving my body everyday with kindness and awareness, not as a form of punishment. My best advice: slow down before the universe finds a way to slow you down cosmically. A potentially good question: what modifications can you make to your life to establish a peaceful baseline? Are there boundaries that can be created? Sending love xo