Have you ever been so turned up or wired at the wrong time? When you’re in bed and your mind is racing or you’ve been in back to back calls all day and you desperately need to decompress, what do you do? Here are 4 simple ways you can down-regulate your nervous system to calm the chaos inside and feel a sense of peace. 

If you’ve ever been in a place where you are stressed to the MAX, this is going to help you wind down in no time. I had a moment like this over the summer when we were going to visit the Canadian side of my family. The travel day was a hot mess. We were up at 5:30 am and got to the airport only to discover that we had missed the flight.

We got re-booked on the next one but it was hours later, so we had to keep our young kids entertained in the airport for 3+ hours. Thank goodness for the AmEx lounge! Once we landed in Toronto, I had to do secondary questioning in customs because I lost the exit form. By the time we got to the rental car, we had been traveling all day and we still had to wait over an hour because the rental car company did not have the car cleaned on time. From there, we had to pick up groceries and make a 2+ hour drive to our destination. We got to the rental house close by 10 pm, finally ending our 17 hour travel day!

Why Stress Pushes You Into Overdrive (and 4 simple solutions to Break Free)

During that crazy day, our nervous systems were in sympathetic mode–commonly known as fight or flight. Stress hormones flood the system, blood pressure rises, breathing gets shallow, muscles get tense and the mind can get caught in a loop of racing thoughts making you feel like you’re stuck in overdrive. When this physical and internal chaos is happening, here’s 4 things I do to calm my nervous system.

1. Chill music

One of the best ways for my family and I to relax is to turn on soothing music. We love LoFi music, and lots of people love to play spa music which works great too.

My all-time favorite for stress-relief is binaural beats. A binaural beat is an illusion created by your brain when you listen to two tones with slightly different frequencies at the same time with one in each ear. I find the science behind this so fascinating. I listen to Binaural Boy on the Calm App almost every night.

2. Remove the stimulus

If, your phone, computer or work environment is the source of anxiety, overwhelm or that feeling like you can’t turn off – ironically, a lot of people will do more of those things. It’s a result of that overdrive loop I mentioned.

Sometimes when we’re stressed we can gravitate to the things that are stressing us – the phone, the social media, checking emails or Slack one more time. Getting out of the environment and shutting off the stimulation is a huge way you can calm down your nervous system and get out of fight or flight mode. 

3. Get outside

Sunlight has a way of resetting and re-energizing the body and mind. I also feel like it helps re-center perspective. Our world can feel overwhelming when it’s too close up. Sometimes, just going outside for a walk and taking some deep breaths can help take the edge off.

4. Breathe

When we are stuck in the fight or flight mode, your breathing can get restricted or shallow. A few minutes of deep, belly breathing can help slow the heart rate, calm the mind and reset your body. I love to use a calming essential oil like lavender when I’m doing this to deepen the relaxation. 

Final thoughts

Having some quick solutions on deck can be a gamechanger when you’re having a stressful day. If you want more strategies to regulate your nervous system and perform at your best, my free 5-Minute Daily Detox for Busy, Burned Out Entrepreneurs has tips like how to be more consistent with your wellness routine and build healthy habits into your life without adding to your schedule.

Until next time, make space for what matters.