10 lazy-girl ways I regulate my nervous system

“regulating your nervous system” has become one of those wellness phrases we hear everywhere now. And somehow, like most things in wellness, it can start to feel like another full-time job.

Morning sunlight. Breathwork. Meditation. Journaling. Cold plunges. No phone for the first hour of the day. A 12-step nighttime routine. All amazing things!!! But sometimes the thought of doing all the things that are supposed to make me less stressed… stresses me out lol.

Over the years, I’ve realized that supporting my nervous system doesn’t have to mean completely restructuring my life. A lot of the things that make the biggest difference for me take literally a few minutes (or happen while I’m doing something else anyway).

So these are my lazy-girl nervous system tricks !

Not a perfect routine. Not a checklist I force myself to finish every day. Just little things I come back to when I notice I’m feeling overstimulated, anxious, wired, exhausted, or just off.

If you know me, you knew this was going to be on here. This might be the highest reward-to-effort ratio wellness habit ever because you quite literally just… lie there.

I’ll put my legs up the wall or over the back of my couch for 5–10 minutes, especially after a long day or when I feel like I’ve been running around nonstop.

Sometimes I scroll. Sometimes I put on a podcast. Sometimes I actually close my eyes and relax like the wellness queen I pretend to be.

But either way, it creates this little forced pause in my day where my body gets the message that we are no longer running from a tiger.

Lazy girl rating: 10/10.

This is my favorite breathing trick because I don’t have the patience to count my breathing for 15 minutes.

Take one inhale through your nose, take a second little inhale on top of it, and then do one long, slow exhale through your mouth. That’s it!

I usually do a few rounds when I notice myself getting worked up, before a stressful conversation, sitting in traffic, or when my brain has 37 tabs open at once.

It takes less than a minute, which means I will actually do it.

This one sounds so stupid until you try it. Sometimes in the car I’ll literally hum along to a song instead of singing it. Humming naturally makes you extend your exhale, and the vibration around your throat can feel incredibly calming. You don’t need to sit cross-legged in silence and hum “ommmm” (although you absolutely can)

I personally prefer doing it to Sabrina Carpenter haha

I used to think a productive morning meant immediately getting up, checking everything, answering everyone, working out, getting caffeine in my system and GOING. Now I really try not to make the first 10 minutes of my day feel like an emergency. Open the blinds, drink some water, stand outside for a minute, make my matcha. THEN enter society.

I’m not perfect about staying off my phone in the morning, and I’m not even going try to pretend I am. But even delaying the immediate influx of emails, texts, Instagram, TikTok and approximately 600 people’s thoughts by a few minutes makes a difference

One of the best things I’ve done for myself is stop believing every walk needs to be optimized. Sometimes I don’t track it, sometimes I walk slowly, sometimes it’s literally 10 minutes. Sometimes I call my mom or a friend and suddenly I’ve walked for 45 minutes without realizing it.

Movement doesn’t always need to be about burning calories or hitting 10,000 steps. Sometimes I just need to move my body and get out of my own head

I cannot emphasize this enough lol. There is a very specific point where “I’m a little hungry” turns into me feeling shaky, irritated, overwhelmed and like every minor inconvenience is suddenly a personal attack. I try to avoid getting there. For me, keeping meals balanced with protein, carbs, fats and fiber helps me feel much more steady throughout the day.

And I alwaysssss have snacks around.

Because sometimes nervous system support is deep breathing, and sometimes it is eating a turkey roll-up before you start crying over an email.

just posted this 15 mins dinner I can’t stop craving HERE

This is exactly what it sounds like. When I’m overstimulated and don’t know what I need, I lie on the floor. No yoga sequence, no meditation. Just floor!

Sometimes I put my feet on the couch, sometimes I stretch, sometimes I stare at the ceiling.

I don’t know why lying on the floor feels approximately 400% more therapeutic than lying in bed, but it does.

If you’re having one of those days where everything feels like too much, try floor.

This one makes you look insane, so I recommend doing it in your bedroom lol

But if I’ve been sitting at my computer forever or I feel that weird restless energy in my body, I’ll literally stand up and shake out my arms and legs for 30 seconds.

Think dog getting out of the ocean haha, that’s the technique!

I feel ridiculous every single time and noticeably better afterward. I imagine shaking out alllll that doesn’t serve it’s purpose in me anymore

This is probably the least “wellness” thing on this list and maybe one of the most important! Dim the lights, clean up the pile that’s been bothering me, turn on a lamp instead of the overhead light, put my phone on DND. Light a candle (non-toxic of course). Turn the TV off if I’m not actually watching it, put on music!

Our brains are taking in SO much information all day long, and sometimes I don’t realize how overstimulated I am until I remove some of it.

You don’t always need another supplement, sometimes you just need to turn the big light off

This has probably been the biggest one for me.

I’m someone who LOVES wellness. I love learning about my body, I love figuring out why I feel a certain way! But that can also turn into constantly scanning yourself. Why am I tired, why am I anxious, why do I feel weird?

Is it my hormones? My cortisol? My thyroid? My blood sugar? Did I sleep badly? Do I need magnesium? Am I deficient in something???

And suddenly a normal off day has become an investigation! Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am allowed to just have a weird day. I don’t have to immediately optimize it.

I can eat dinner, take a shower, go to bed early and see how I feel tomorrow. And weirdly, giving myself permission to not fix it often makes me feel better faster.

I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned about nervous system support in general: It shouldn’t become another thing you’re failing at.

Your nervous system is responding to tiny signals all day long. A slower breath, food when you’re hungry, sun on your face, a walk around the block, putting your phone down, calling someone who makes you feel safe, turning off the freaking overhead light… Those things count!

And personally, I think the best wellness habits are the ones that are easy enough to actually become part of your life !

hope this helped & HAPPY HUMP DAY (:

see ya on Sunday

xx Paige