YES! Regulating Your Nervous System is Really THIS Simple

[00:02] those of you that are really affected by fatigue, depression, anxiety, insomnia, or challenges handling stress because this is not that uncommon, especially in

[00:14] this day and age. But what is important to know is that you actually have more control than you've been taught on how to overcome these symptoms. And it all

[00:26] falls under the category of nervous system dysregulation. And I know that [music] uh but I want to break this down for you because really the technical term that for this level of dysfunction [music]

[00:41] that's contributing to these symptoms is called HPA axis [music] dysfunction. And called HPA axis [music] dysfunction. And there's a 25 2025 review in the American Journal of Medicine that really published this amazing review on an

[00:58] published this amazing review on an integrative approach to HPA access dysfunction. How do you go from recognizing it to recovery? [music] this video so that you can start to feel better. Deal? Here we go. So first I

[01:15] only at this study but we have to really look at what nervous system dysregulation is and I think it's a really important convers conversation if you understand when you're disregulated and you understand when

[01:30] you're regulated you also understand how to boost your energy boost your moods uh sleep better that's how important this concept is. So let's start off with what is nervous system dysregulation. Um and I it all comes to this part of

[01:47] Um and I it all comes to this part of your endocrine system called your HPA axis. H stands for the hypothalamus, P stands for pituitary and A stands for stands for pituitary and A stands for adrenals. And this HPA axis, its job is

[02:03] to identify if there is a threat. So let's go back to our primal days. I've been teaching you all about the primal days for years now, but the HPA access back in the hunter gather days was meant to kick in when we had a threat. So if a

[02:19] tiger was coming after us, a lion was going to eat us, we had the signal from within to get up and move. And that signal is actually called cortisol. And a lot of you are working to bring your cortisol levels down. So what happens

[02:34] when this HBA access gets triggered is you see a threat and your brain you see a threat and your brain registers it as a threat and then it sends chemical messengers down to your adrenal glands and says make cortisol.

[02:51] We've got to move. Now remember that cortisol is the hormone that is meant to damaging. my belly fat people out there that I've been teaching you over and

[03:04] over again like how do I help you see that belly fat can often be cortisol that is left unused because cortisol is when it comes on the scene we're supposed to move we're supposed to move away from the threat but what happens

[03:19] with HPA [clears throat] access dysfunction is that this this system dysfunction is that this this system this alarm bell within our body is on all the time. It's a very much I used to teach my patients this all the time that

[03:33] it was it would be like you're driving in your car and somebody has duct taped your gas pedal to the floor and you are just going as fast as you can and you

[03:45] keep trying to slam the brake but the gas pedal is is duct taped to the floor and you can't undo the gas pedal. That's what's happening with the HPA access.

[03:58] It's somewhere and we're going to talk about six things that cause your nervous system to become disregulated. But somewhere this HPA access thinks it is still in fight or flight. It is still the stressor is still there. And the

[04:15] damaging thing about nervous system dysregulation is that it can actually you can feel it. you can feel the the the inner rumblings of it just sitting on the couch if you are stuck in this disregulated place. So

[04:32] let's talk about what the six most common causes of nervous system regulation and you hopefully you'll see yourself in this. So first what the 2025 review said is that these six things when they are repeated over and over and

[04:49] over again put you in HPA access dysregulation. So first one is chronic chronic stress is like one of those things that everybody's like yeah I've

[05:01] got chronic stress. But what happens with HPA dysregulation is that your with HPA dysregulation is that your nervous system forgets to turn off the fight orflight reaction. So let's use this day and age right now. It's a tough

[05:16] moment in human history. We we've got a lot of intense news being thrown at us every single day. I think most people right now are stuck in some form of

[05:28] nervous system dysregulation. And what's happening is that you get a wave of stress and then you wake up the next morning, you get another wave of stress. So all day long your nervous system says, "We're going to stay in

[05:42] fight or flight because safety is not around." And all you're doing is going to your phone and picking up your phone and looking at the news and reagitating

[05:54] this nervous system. So the first thing is that to understand is that you can be stuck like the gas pedal on the floor in a state of fight or flight

[06:06] even though you're sitting comfy cozy on your couch in your living room because your couch in your living room because it's what your brain is taking in. And if you are continually stressed for a really long time, whether it's work or

[06:20] relationships or some other co problem that you know right now it's world that you know right now it's world problems, that part of your HPA access will start to weaken and it never shuts off and all your body is doing is making

[06:35] cortisol 2477. So, chronic stress, chronic bad news, chronic obsession over the next thing you've got to next mountain you've got to climb or the next work problem you've got to fix that keeps you in a

[06:50] disregulated place. Second thing, and this one's really big, childhood trauma. And and the the crazy thing about childhood trauma is something could have happened to you at five and six years old. Um and it's still got that gas

[07:06] pedal of the nervous system slammed to the floor. Because once your body has a signal has been initiated that there is a trauma to run away from,

[07:19] that there is a trauma to run away from, you actually have to train it how to move out of that state. Um, in the back half of this this video, I you know, I'll be talking about how you untrain it to start to see regulation and safety.

[07:33] This is an important part of this conversation. Now, with the with trauma, I just want to use myself as an example because I think we've all had lots of trauma in our life, but I really experienced this recently when I was in

[07:47] the in Pacific Palisades where the LA fires were. Um, I rushed out. A lot of journey. A lot of you have read Age Like a Girl, where I explained that journey in the intro, but I rushed out the morning of January 7th so quickly from

[08:04] this neighborhood I was living in, this neighborhood that I grew up in, and I never went back. And I for months, my brain was caught in

[08:16] some kind of feedback loop where it felt like it needed to keep running. It thought I was for months. It thought I was still running from fire. And I

[08:29] literally had to go back to the Palisades two months after that event and so that my brain could see that the fire was over and that the town had been completely decimated so that my brain could start to move on. Same thing

[08:44] happens with childhood trauma. And I know we've all had a lot of different childhood traumas. A lot of it's a lot of especially the women listening. I just want to honor that a lot of you have had sexual abuse trauma. Um very

[08:56] common for women. Um not everybody had the greatest adults growing up. And we the greatest adults growing up. And we can still be stuck in fight or flight because your body thinks it's still running from that event that maybe hit

[09:11] running from that event that maybe hit you 20, 30 years ago. That's how strong this the memory of the body is. And we're going to keep talking about this. we're going to keep talking about this. So just as I walk through this. So

[09:24] number three reason common cause of nervous system dysregulation is poor nervous system dysregulation is poor diet. So this one is a really important one. Remember how we used to always say that, you know, people certain people

[09:38] couldn't go and get Chinese food because it had monosodium glutamate in it and you would have an anaphylactic shock some people if they ate Chinese food and that uh what we now know is certain synthetic versions of monosodium

[09:54] glutamate is actually a neurotoxin and these toxins actually rev up your nervous system and move you out of a regulated ated nervous system and into a disregulated nervous system. Which is why it's really important that when we

[10:11] are under times of extreme stress, the time we want to eat the worst food is actually the time we should eat the best food. Because if I'm under work stress, if the world is falling apart, if my relationships are falling apart, and

[10:25] relationships are falling apart, and then I go to ultrarocessed foods, there are so many chemicals in those foods that are neurotoxins, and it'll just rev that are neurotoxins, and it'll just rev up this HPA access and put you deeper

[10:39] into a state of disregulation. What the study, the 2025 review said is that a diet high in sugar and fat, this is bad fat, this is canola oil, cotton seed

[10:51] oils, can exasper exacerbate a stress response and contribute to HPA access dysregulation. Chronic consumption of these diets has been shown to alter key stress hormones leading to a sustained activation of the

[11:08] HPA axis. Now, the study did go on and and I will fill in back fill in with some of my own expertise is there are some deficiencies that these foods cause that actually keep you stuck in fight or flight even more. And you can supplement

[11:24] in with these deficiencies. So you could three of the most important deficiencies that happen when food starts to to uh neurotoxins, let's just say enter our nervous system is it depletes you in omega-3s, magnesium, and B vitamins. So

[11:41] making sure you backfill in with those supplements can be really helpful. I'll put in the notes my favorite. Sometimes we have discount codes and if that feels it's like something you want to access, you can go there. Okay, number four,

[11:55] your gut microbiome. And now, I've been saying this for a really long time, but saying this for a really long time, but this study showed that disbiosis, an imbalanced gut bacteria, can activate the HPA access, leading it to be in an

[12:09] the HPA access, leading it to be in an altered stress response. So, and it it it continues and says, "Conversely, chronic activation of the HPA access can chronic activation of the HPA access can negatively impact your gut microbiome."

[12:23] Okay, so basically what the review is saying is that if I don't have a good saying is that if I don't have a good healthy gut microbiome, I can have a poor stress response. And when I have a poor stress response, I get too much

[12:38] cortisol into the system. And then too much cortisol gives me a worse gut microbiome. So, it's a feedback loop. This is why, and again, we're going to go through the solutions here, but this is one of the reasons that I'm such a

[12:53] fan of you all eating more plants, more fiber, more uh fermented products, things that I wrote about in both Fast Like a Girl and in Eat Like a Girl. I have lists and recipes there if you want to dive into those. But who I put it in

[13:08] the comments like, do we ever think, "God, I'm just exaggerating. I have these exaggerated stress responses or I'm walking around with depression, anxiety. It must be my microbiome." I just think this is one we don't talk

[13:22] enough about. And so, if you want to learn more about it, put in the comments and I'll make sure to do more videos on it because it's really critical. Okay. The fifth reason you can get stuck in this disregulated place is hormones. And

[13:35] I talked about this in Age Like a Girl. Um, when estrogen and progesterone goes go down, you start to see a massive swing in neurotransmitters. In Age Like a Girl, I call it estrogen's girl gang. Um, and so we have to understand that

[13:51] those hormones and neurotransmitters were like a buffer for stress responses. But if you if you put this all together, if you're a 48-year-old woman right now that's looking at the news, trying to navigate the news, you've already had

[14:07] some kind of childhood trauma, you've had chronic stress. Um, your microbiome's off from years of birth control use and and antibiotic use and stress. It may be and now your hormones are going down because you're going into

[14:22] menopause. this moment may feel in like like you can't even take it. Put and if if you're one of those women, put it in the in the comments. Um because we are here to help you and to support you supporting yourself through this

[14:35] process. But but that's what menopause does is it pulls those hormones down and then you feel a little raw and then stress hits you more acutely. Okay.

[14:47] Number six, and this is one I did in my clinic all the time, is we detoxed clinic all the time, is we detoxed people because toxins can also keep you locked in a state of dysregulation. And some of the worst toxins for nervous

[15:01] system dysregulation is alcohol, smoking, recreational drugs. Those are biggies. But we detox so many heavy metals in my practice. I will tell you that heavy metals can also like mercury is an agitator. And so mercury fillings,

[15:18] is an agitator. And so mercury fillings, mercury in in um fish, if you're eating a lot of fish, uh mercury used to be in flu shots. So if you're getting a flu shot, make sure it's tharosol free, which is the fancy name for mercury. Um

[15:32] so we need when mercury's in the system, our nervous system's just a little more agitated. So, if you add that to the list of things, now you can see why handling stress is a little difficult and why it might not be your fault. It

[15:47] might be these six things are out of balance. Let's help to put them back in balance. So, now a lot of you might be listening to this and you might be thinking, okay, well, how do I know? Because, and I and I've gone through

[16:00] this myself a lot of times. I've been like, is my stress response overly exaggerated right now or is this situation actually that bad? So, here are five signs you would know you have a disreg disregulated nervous system. So,

[16:16] disreg disregulated nervous system. So, the first is impaired stress resilience. And this is when even the littlest thing hits you and you have a major flare up. And I really believe that this is a lot of the permenopausal journey that we are

[16:31] going through this massive neurochemical shift. And so the little things are going to make us really have a strong reaction and that is okay. Um again I want to help you figure out how to balance that and I and um but I want you

[16:45] to be aware of it first. Okay. Second thing uh mood disturbances. So depression, anxiety, sudden irritability. You know, how many times have you had an irritable moment and you think it's your husband's fault or you

[16:59] think it's your work's fault or you're blaming it on the news, but actually there's a HPA access, a nervous system that got stuck and it's like a record

[17:11] that got stuck and it's like a record that just keeps repeating itself. So sometimes we need to look at those behaviors, those mood disturbances, not as things in my life aren't going well or the world is falling apart, but we

[17:26] need to look at them more as like what is how did my nervous system get stuck and how can I get it regulated again? I just did a um beautiful podcast with my

[17:39] dear friend Dr. Sarah Sazal, who is a Harvard um educated OB, and we talked how to spot a disregulated person. And one of the things Sarah said is she could tell he was disregulated because he was easy to agitate. He would get

[17:53] he was easy to agitate. He would get irritable on on interviews. And um and he would try to control and he would try to talk over people. Um he would try to give you absolutes like you have to do this or don't do that. That is a

[18:06] this or don't do that. That is a disregulated mind. And so it was a really interesting conversation if you want to dive into that. Um, but mood disturbances aren't always a problem of the moment. They could be an internal

[18:19] system that's locked in this disregulated place. Okay. The third thing you would know if you are stuck in a disregulated nervous system is that you would have chronic fatigue. So your brain uses a lot of energy and it's

[18:33] exhausting to be on high alert all the time. And so the result is you can be exhausted from just trying to manage everything that's coming at you. Fourth thing is your immune system. You start catching colds a lot because chronic

[18:47] stress can bring really suppress your your uh immune system and then poor sleep especially if you're waking up at 2 to 3 in the morning. Those are five pretty tailtale signs that you're locked in this disregulated place. Okay. What

[19:04] do we do about it? Here we go. I'm going to give you seven ways you can balance your nervous system and get yourself back into a regulated place. And I just want to put this out right now. I think this is the best thing we can all do in

[19:16] this incredibly um uh horrific moment in history. Um I I these seven things so we can regulate oursel because what the world needs

[19:28] right now is regulated humans. It's it's massively important. So first is sleep. because I just said if you're disregulated, you can't sleep. And then I said to regulate yourself, you've got to sleep. So, what does this look like?

[19:44] I think the first thing is prioritizing it. And this is one that I'm recently coming off of because of the trauma that I went through last over the last year. I've really that's the last thing to get back on track has been my sleep. So

[19:58] prioritizing sleep to me means going to bed at the same time, waking up at the same time. So I I've really shut down my socials uh my social scene, my traveling. So that that's what

[20:13] prioritized sleep looks like to me is I'm going to bed at at the same time and I'm waking up at the same time. Those of you that are menopausal, just know there's a whole chapter in sleep on here that's really, really good. So, you have

[20:26] resources there if you're having trouble sleeping. Um, couple of things I want to say because if you are stuck in a disregulated nervous system and the cortisol is just pouring into your system all the time, sleep can be really

[20:40] hard. So, you want to make sure that the hours leading up to sleep, you're not watching any agitating news or shows so that that nervous system doesn't get reminded that it can't relax. So what you do going into sleep really matters.

[20:56] Try to create some sleep habits and a sleep environment that tells your body, think of it from your body's angle, tells your body that you can start to relax now. Okay. Second thing you can do and this has been really helpful for me

[21:12] is you can do adaptogens. Um, I did a whole video here on ashwagandha and you all loved it and it there's some incredible science behind how incredible science behind how ashwagandha can bring cortisol down. I'm

[21:25] finding it very helpful for sleep as well. So what the science says is that well. So what the science says is that you want to do 125 to 500 milligrams you want to do 125 to 500 milligrams twice daily of ashwagandha and rodeiola

[21:40] rosia is the other adaptogen that science is saying can really bring down cortisol levels and you want to do 200 to 600 milligrams a day. Um again we will put some of our favorite um triedand-true uh products in the notes

[21:56] so you can go find it there. Um, the third thing that could be helpful to pull you out of this disregulated nervous system is magnesium and omega-3s. Um, again, poor diet, chronic stress, it

[22:09] starts to deplete you of these nutrients. When you're depleted of these nutrients, you start to be stuck in a fight or flight. This is not good. So, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. So what the research says is that a good

[22:24] the research says is that a good starting amount of magnesium is 400 mg a day. And the type of magnesium that will support a healthy nervous system is magnesium glycinate. Um so 400 milligrams a day. I like to take my

[22:39] milligrams a day. I like to take my magnesium at night. Um, this review that I keep coming back to, um, also recommends omega-3s for, uh, being able to to get you your nervous system regulated again. Um, and the reason they

[22:54] say this is that the integrity of the membrane that surrounds your brain cells um, is needs needs omega-3s. And if we've been eating a diet high in omega

[23:06] we've been eating a diet high in omega sixs, which is the ultrarocessed diet, then we need even more omega-3s. So, these are like your fish oils or if you know, I've done some videos on sardines that was really popular. Um, so even

[23:19] some of your healthy sardines um and fatty fish. I try, for example, when I fatty fish. I try, for example, when I go out to eat, I always look for cod, um, wild caught cod on the menu because it it has a ton of omega-3s, or I'll

[23:35] look for wild caught salmon, um, so that I can try to get it in in through my in through my diet. Um, but the study said that that um, people taking omega-3s daily for eight to 10 weeks helped regulate the stress response better than

[23:50] people who didn't take that level. So consistency matters and it can be a really health helpful way and you can get it through fish or you can get it in a supplement. Okay. Fourth thing is exercise. And I think this one's really

[24:03] another self-fulfilling pro prophecy because we're like I'm exhausted. I'm depressed. I have no motivation and now you're telling me to exercise. Well, it doesn't have to be [clears throat] uh you don't have to like hire a fitness

[24:18] trainer and start a whole new exercise program. What the research shows is that program. What the research shows is that you you aim for 150 minutes of exercise a week and that's about 20 minutes a day. And it seems to be a sweet spot for

[24:35] the nervous system. And what's interesting for those of us who have been dedicated to to fitness our whole life is some of us are actually putting ourselves into a disregulated nervous system because we're working out too

[24:49] system because we're working out too much and too hard. So if you're going to use exercise to calm your nervous system 150 minutes a week, 20 minutes a day, that could be a walk. A walk in nature. Now you're stacking habits. You're

[25:03] bringing cortisol down even lower. And some of you who have been fasting a lot, you've been you've been doing everything right. Like I know I know I was that like tell me I want to do everything right. We have to remember that like

[25:18] need to be perfect or the need to not mess up also locks the nervous system into this disregulated state. So let's be playful about it. And 150 maybe you do 20 one day, maybe you do 15 the next, maybe you do 40 the next. Let's just get

[25:35] into a pattern of I'm going to out to walk. I'm going out. You all know I love surfing. I'm gonna go out and surf. I'm gonna go to the gym. Whatever it is to regulate my nervous system. I'm going to go yoga to yoga to regulate my nervous

[25:51] system. That is a very different approach to exercise than just saying weight or I'm going to go to the gym to stay in in shape. So remember the intention behind your movement activities um really matters because

[26:06] some of you need to do less and you need to focus on regulation and how to regulate the nervous system through a less aggressive workout. Okay, fifth thing we can do. We talked about how diet took you it put you in a

[26:21] disregulated place. Well, you can use diet to regulate yourself. And this study uh notes that there is this vicious cycle like everything else where vicious cycle like everything else where poor diet leads to to more agitation of

[26:34] the nervous system. Um but over time poor diet can also start to change your microbiome. You can it can balance your nervous system quite a bit. So here are the big things you want to do with diet. You want to avoid the ultrarocessed

[26:48] foods especially right now in this moment. Avoid sugar, refined carbs. Um the bad oils like canola oil and vegetable oil, I I mapped them all out in Eat Like a Girl. Um and you want to and think of think of food as having

[27:03] and think of think of food as having energy. So you want to add in some of the live food, which is really plants. So try to get as many different greens as possible. Try to reach for an apple instead of a potato chip when you're

[27:18] under chronic stress so that you're putting an energy into your system. An energy that's going to heal and help and balance you. Nature heals and it heals when we look at it. It heals when we listen to it. And it heals when we eat

[27:33] it. That we are so blessed to have nature around us all the time. And it's nature around us all the time. And it's there for us not to conquer or even just sit and enjoy. It's there to help us regulate our nervous system. That is the

[27:45] purpose of nature. So, make sure that you're looking at it from not only a lens of going out into nature to calm the nervous system, but eating nature. So, you calm the nervous system. Okay. Sixth thing is meditation. Of course, we

[28:00] know this as somebody who's struggles to meditate, but I'm committed to it. Every morning, 15 to 20 minutes. I meditate every morning. Sometimes it is excruciating. Sometimes it is easy. But what the study said is that um

[28:14] what the study said is that um meditation has a really positive effect on reducing cortisol levels. So just like I showed you, it can be a series of things that lock you into a state or fight or flight. You might have to use a

[28:28] series of things to unlock you. Like you might need to start eating better. You might need to start moving a little bit differently. You might need to start prioritizing sleep. you might need to take some time in the morning to do to

[28:40] meditate. I do think um I can tell you for myself as somebody who's committed for myself as somebody who's committed to regulation that I often when I feel like I I can't handle stress, I go back to these basics I'm giving you right

[28:54] now. And sometimes it's like I just need to go back to slow, be more intentional with my eating, my moving, and how I how much I engage in thoughts that get me all wound up. And meditation isn't

[29:07] always about the moment. It's also about learning how to calm your mind so that when you get to a stressful moment, you have access to that tool set. Okay. And support. I think this is a really important one right now as we all

[29:22] navigate this really difficult moment in history. Um we need to lean into each other. Community is incredibly important. And you know there is so much evidence that the happiest people are the ones that have the most positive

[29:38] relationships. This doesn't mean you have to have a romantic relationship. It can be a friend relationship. Um but studies are showing that really healthy social support um offers a a call it social buffering can really help

[29:55] mitigate how stress comes into your body. Let's stay close. Let's stay connected as we all try to navigate the stress of of the world right now. But when we look at disregulation of a nervous system to regulation of a

[30:10] nervous system to regulation of a nervous system, it's really important that we understand the nervous system was never meant for the gas pedal to be down all the time. And this is where the disease, this is where the mental health

[30:23] challenges, this is where the relationships fall apart, is when we haven't learned how to regulate ourselves. And my hope is in this particular episode, you are learning

[30:36] what the difference between disregulated and regulated is, and you're getting some a glimmer of how you can regulate yourself. Now, if you want a further discussion on this, come find me on Substack. I'm over there really diving

[30:48] deep into this. um leave questions, comments, stories here on um and and and understand that I strongly feel like we are a community. Um we can do this together, but it's really important to understand yourself so that you can

[31:03] understand other people. As always, I hope that helps. If this helped, don't stop here. Click on the next video and let's see what you find