Now, of course, you’re not going to be able to completely reset your nervous system in 24 hours.
But you can make a few small changes for a day and see whether they make a noticeable difference to how you feel.
And because it’s only 24 hours, it’s not a huge commitment — or a big strain on your nervous system.
Let’s keep it simple. Just choose three things:
- One breathing exercise.
- One mini shift to come back to throughout the day.
- One thing to dial down.
That’s it.
START WITH YOUR BREATH
Choose one breathing exercise
Everybody responds differently to breathing exercises.
Try the two below and choose the one that leaves you feeling the calmest. Then come back to that one two or three times during the day.
Remember to breathe gently and quietly, and listen to your body for feedback. If your body is sensitive, you don’t have to listen to the whole track — you can just do 10 or even 5 minutes.
SMALL MOMENTS, THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY
Choose one mini shift
Pick one tiny thing you can come back to whenever you remember.
Gently smile
Not a huge forced grin — just a very slight smile.
It can help signal safety to the nervous system, make us feel more positive and help open the nasal airway, making nasal breathing easier.
Relax your belly
Let the belly soften rather than holding or bracing it.
This can help your nervous system settle, give your diaphragm more freedom to move, and allow your breathing to become softer and easier.
Commit to nasal breathing
If you tend to breathe through your mouth, see if you can breathe through your nose as much as comfortably possible for the day.
The nose does far more than simply move air in and out — it filters, warms and humidifies the air and supports a whole range of functions that make nasal breathing different from mouth breathing.
Don’t monitor every breath. Just come back to it when you notice.
MAKE A LITTLE ROOM FOR CALM
Choose one thing to dial down
You don’t have to completely remove everything that stimulates your nervous system.
Just choose one thing and turn the dial down for a day.
Adjust your caffeine
Don’t necessarily stop caffeine suddenly — particularly if you drink a lot of it.
Try half-caf, swap one drink for decaf, make it weaker or simply have a little less than usual.
Reduce digital stimulation
Put your phone in another room for a while, remove the app you keep checking, or create a couple of phone-free periods during the day.
Skip alcohol
Ideally, skip it the day before as well as during your 24-hour reset, as you may notice the biggest difference the following day.
YOUR EXPERIMENT STARTS HERE
Try it for 24 hours
So that’s the whole experiment:
One breathing exercise.
One mini shift.
One thing to dial down.
Then notice how you feel that evening and the following morning.
If you notice a difference, keep the same combination going for a week and fine-tune it from there.
The aim is to find the small changes that your own nervous system responds to.
A LITTLE MORE SUPPORT
Find what works for you.
If you’d like help working out what might suit you, I also work one-to-one with people to tailor an approach around their breathing, nervous system and day-to-day life.
Find out about one-to-one coaching with Neil