Maybe Your Nervous System Isn’t the Problem
Have ever tried nervous system practices and wondered:
Why isn’t this working for me?
Why does my body still feel on edge?
You’re not doing it wrong. Neither was I in all the years I tried to regulate.
A lot of pop psychology conversations about nervous system regulation focus on calming: breathe slower, take a bath, put your face in cold water. These practices can help reduce stress, but the conversation around regulation is often overly tool-focused and individualistic.
When we treat regulation as purely an individual task, we miss something fundamental: our nervous systems are shaped by the conditions we live inside - racism, gender violence, climate crisis, wealth inequality, and constant pressure to perform productivity.
As a gender-expansive queer kid growing up in rural South Carolina, I internalized early - from the ways people treated me and the homophobic, sexist, and white supremacist norms - that I didn’t belong and wasn’t safe. My nervous system adapted by fawning/appeasing, shrinking myself, and dissociating from my body, not as a failure, but as a wise survival response.
Your nervous system is not broken—it is responding exactly as a wise body does under chronic threat.
Nervous System Regulation Needs to be Politicized
Instead of asking “How do I fix my nervous system?” we might ask:
What conditions has my body had to adapt to in order to survive?
What has my nervous system been trying to protect me from?
What messages taught me to override or mistrust my own signals?
What would regulation look like if it included dignity, agency, and real safety?
What becomes possible if my nervous system doesn’t have to face those conditions alone?
Instead of treating our bodies as problems to solve, we can focus on:
Restoring body autonomy and the ability to feel and respond to our limits
Rebuilding trust with bodies that have been medicalized, dismissed, or controlled
Moving from self-blame toward context, compassion, and collective care
Developing collective regulation and support, not just individual coping
When we work this way, regulation becomes something deeper than stress reduction or calming tools.
This is the work we practice together inside my Nervous System Regulation Practice Group: reclaiming body autonomy, listening to the wisdom of our adaptive survival responses, and healing in community.
All of my programs run live in small groups so participants can experience co-regulation and collective support, not just individual coping tools.
Nervous System Regulation for Healing: A Somatic Practice Group
Wednesdays, April 22 - June 17, 4:30-6pm PT on Zoom
In this 8 week course, you will:
Recognize stress signals before you burn out
Track the unique but predictable triggers that take you to dysregulation
Feel more joy, peace, and ease
Be more equipped to navigate relationship intimacy and conflicts
Move from triggered reactions to skillful response, safety, and connection
Increase your resilience for managing chronic stress
The sliding scale fee is $300-$600 for the full series. I offer a pay-what-you-can scholarship prioritized for BIPOC and Trans folks.
To learn more about my groups or coaching, book a free consult with me today.
