Whether it’s tapping the side of your hand or standing on a vibrating plate, suggestions on how to “reset” your nervous system are saturating the internet. Cold water plunges, humming, gargling, yawning and spiky acupressure mats are all being touted as ways to help us “regulate” and return to calm. If you’re still talking about feeling “stressed”, you’re behind the times; now, says the internet, you are “dysregulated”.
The nervous system is an integral part of being human. “It’s essentially the body’s communication and control network,” says Dr Serena Lai, consultant psychiatrist and associate medical director at London Psychiatry Clinic. “Made up of the brain and spinal cord, it communicates with the entire body through nerves, helping us to sense what is happening around and inside us. When we have that information, we can process it and coordinate a response.”
The autonomic nervous system is one part of this network, regulating things the body does automatically, including heart rate, blood pressure and digestion. It has two main branches. “The sympathetic system creates our fight or flight response, helping us mobilise resources when we need to respond to a challenge,” says Lai. “The parasympathetic nervous system – or rest and digest mode – conserves energy, slows the heart and supports recovery.”
Sympathetic activity increases during stress, whether that’s an urgent email or a family bereavement. The heart beats faster, muscles tense, digestion can change and we become more alert. These evolutionary responses help us respond to threats – but while once that might have been a predator, now it’s as everyday as seeing a celebrity death on Instagram. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the idea of a nervous system reset is so appealing to so many of us – we’re overstimulated and in desperate need of ways to feel more level.
Except, as every expert I spoke to agreed, there is no such thing as “resetting” the nervous system – nor should we want to. We need sympathetic activation to exercise, concentrate, meet deadlines and respond to demanding situations. The problem is when we struggle to recover once that demand has passed, leaving us feeling wired and tired, and potentially contributing to increased inflammation and cardiovascular and metabolic problems. A healthy autonomic nervous system is not permanently calm; it’s able to adapt to changing circumstances.
Much of the conversation about nervous system regulation revolves around the vagus nerve – which is actually a pair of nerves, made up of about 80,000 fibres apiece – that starts in the brain and travels down through the neck into the chest and abdomen. Because it helps slow heart rate and plays a role in the body’s rest-and-recovery processes, it is associated with stress relief and relaxation – you might see people referring to increased “vagal tone” as a sign of enhanced vagus nerve activity.
One of the most common ways vagal and parasympathetic activity is assessed is through heart rate variability (HRV), says neurosurgeon Dr Kevin Tracey, author of The Great Nerve. “This is the time in between individual heartbeats – generally, greater variability is associated with greater vagal influence,” he explains. The higher the vagal influence, the more likely our parasympathetic system is to be dominant – cue feeling of calm. “Sympathetic activity tends to shorten the time between heartbeats.”
Learning how to work with your nervous system could make it more flexible, meaning you rise to challenges when you need to, then recover when they have passed. These simple, science-backed habits can help.
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Slow breathing
Breathing slowly has been shown to increase HRV and promote parasympathetic dominance. “One study showed that slow-paced breathing of around six diaphragmatic breaths [breathing deeply into the belly rather than just into the chest] a minute is one of the most effective ways of producing an acute change in heart rate variability,” says Lai. She recommends inhaling for about five seconds, exhaling for five, and repeating for five to 10 minutes.
Cyclic sighing is another option. It involves taking one deep inhale, followed by a second, shorter “sip” of air to fully inflate the lungs, before a long, slow, lung-emptying exhale through the mouth. In one study, practising for five minutes a day improved mood and reduced respiratory rate – an effect that became more pronounced over the course of the month-long trial.
Mindfulness, meditation and contemplation
“Meditation – where you practise bringing your attention to the present moment – is a great way to help slow down the heart rate,” says Tracey. “It’s especially good when done in tandem with paced breathing, as you can really measure your heart rate decreasing.” Apps including Headspace, Insight Timer and Calm, he adds, can make it easier to build the practice into everyday life.
Other contemplative practices, from body scanning (where you relax, close your eyes and contemplate physical sensations) to yoga, may also support parasympathetic activity. One 2018 paper proposed that many of these practices naturally slow the breath, which in turn influences vagal activity.
“Sensory quiet” in general may be important for autonomic recovery, explains Dr Vishnuraj Prakash, head of Ayurveda and functional medicine at Tulåh Clinical Wellness in Kerala, India, so practise doing nothing – no podcasts, phones or other stimuli.
Move
“Movement is incredibly useful because it changes your state,” says somatic practitioner Nahid de Belgeonne. “For example, if you sit at a desk for a long time, your muscles are contracted and fixed and your breathing shallow. As soon as you get up and move, you interrupt that fixed state.” She advises embracing being “fidgety” throughout the day and taking regular walks.
There is plenty of evidence that regular aerobic exercise – whether walking, cycling or swimming – can improve autonomic regulation and HRV over time. Tai chi is particularly interesting because it combines movement, breathwork and meditation and it produces more parasympathetic activation than conventional exercise of the same intensity.
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Crucially, more exercise isn’t necessarily better. Research has found reduced HRV in athletes who overtrain, so recovery matters too. “Simple exercises are really all that’s needed,” says Dr Karen Chung, consultant neurologist at Welbeck. “I often tell patients who are overwhelmed to get off the bus a stop early and walk a little further. ”
Book in for a massage
Moderate-pressure massage has been associated with reduced heart rate, anxiety and cortisol, as well as increased parasympathetic activity – and as little as 20 to 30 minutes seems to be enough. Pressure does matter: a very light, feathery touch could actually be more stressful than calming. Even 10 minutes of head massage can increase HRV – by as much as 66%, according to one small study.
Stimulating acupressure points, whether through touch or acupuncture needles, may also help, although, as Lai points out, the evidence is less consistent. Auricular acupuncture is one obvious route in – a branch of the vagus nerve supplies parts of the outer ear. Other commonly used acupuncture points to promote parasympathetic activity are found around the wrists, outer shins, top of the head and sternum – although which are used, and why, is best left to a qualified practitioner.
Some research suggests acupuncture can influence autonomic activity, including increasing parasympathetic action. The evidence is thinner when it comes to acupressure mats. Anecdotally, they may help some people relax, but there are cheaper and better evidenced ways to achieve the same end.
Slow down
Our nervous systems respond well to regularity – consistent sleep and wake times, eating at similar times each day and resting. “For many of my patients, life is incredibly fast-paced, so mostly it’s as simple as going to bed a little earlier or taking an hour away from our phones,” says Chung. “Repeating the same behaviours daily helps the body’s ability to move from activation back into recovery,” adds Lai.
Building breaks into the working day can help too. For those spending hours on screens, de Belgeonne recommends working in focused 90-minute blocks, followed by a 20-minute break. Evenings should signal a change of pace where possible. “Reduce evening stimulation during stressful periods,” advises Prakash.
Do a face dunk
Does cold exposure work as well as social media influencers would have us believe? As Tracey explains, the body’s initial response to cold water immersion is actually a sympathetic one, triggering the release of stress hormones and increasing the heart rate. It is only afterwards, research suggests, that there is a parasympathetic rebound, which could help explain why some people report feeling calmer after a cold plunge.
You don’t necessarily need to submerge yourself. Dunking your face in cold water can trigger the diving reflex, which slows the heart rate through increased parasympathetic activity – even a couple of splashes may be enough to elicit a response. However, Tracey points out that there still isn’t enough credible evidence to conclude that cold water immersion has meaningful benefits for nervous system regulation. But if you enjoy it and find you feel calmer afterwards, great – that’s really all the evidence you need.
What about devices?
Surgically implanted vagus nerve stimulation is an established medical treatment for conditions including epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression. But that doesn’t mean the consumer device showcased on your Instagram feed is backed by the same evidence.
Noninvasive devices typically use electrical stimulation through the skin – often at the ear or neck – in an attempt to stimulate branches of the vagus nerve. While the US Food and Drug Administration has cleared some for specific medical conditions, such as migraines, that is very different from being approved to reduce stress, says Tracey. For the majority of wellness devices, independent clinical evidence is limited. That’s not to say they definitely don’t work, but the less exciting basics – sleep, movement, slow breathing and rest – might be a better first port of call.
Immerse yourself in nature
One study found that just 15 minutes of walking in a forest reduced sympathetic and increased parasympathetic activity, while others have linked time in nature with lower cortisol levels. So get outside – ideally without your phone.
“Eat a balanced diet, get regular exercise, spend time in nature and with people you love, and get some hobbies,” says Tracey. “And have a plan for dealing with stress. Beyond all the elaborate reset practices, these are the things that are actually worth doing.”
