Regulating Your Nervous System: Grounding, Breathwork, and Vagal Toning

The nervous system is the body’s command center, constantly scanning for signs of safety or threat and controlling how we respond — whether we feel calm, anxious, shut down, or on edge. When we experience chronic stress, trauma, or hormonal shifts, the nervous system can get “stuck” in survival modes like fight, flight, or freeze, even when we’re no longer in danger.

Grounding, breathwork, and vagal toning work by sending bottom-up signals to the brain, letting the nervous system know it’s safe to relax.

Instead of trying to think your way to calm (which rarely works under stress), these body-based practices help reset and regulate the system directly, building resilience and improving emotional and physical health over time.

Use these tools to interrupt fight, flight or freeze states, anchor you in your body and environment and give your nervous system a chance to reset after stress.

Grounding

Grounding is any practice that helps anchor you in the here and now by connecting you to your body, senses, or environment.

It’s especially helpful when:

• You feel anxious or overwhelmed,

• Your thoughts are racing,

• You feel disconnected or dissociated.

Examples of Grounding Practices:

• Press your feet firmly into the floor and feel the surface beneath you.

• Hold an ice cube or splash cold water on your face.

• Describe 5 things you see, 4 things you feel, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell, 1 thing you taste.

• Place a hand over your heart or stomach and notice the warmth or movement.

• Walk barefoot on grass, dirt, or sand.

Grounding brings you back into your body and present moment, helping interrupt anxious or spiraling thoughts.

Breathwork

Breathwork is the intentional use of your breath to influence your physical, mental, and emotional state.

When you’re anxious or under stress, your breathing often becomes:

• Shallow

• Fast

• Held (without realizing it)

Breathwork flips this pattern by engaging your body’s natural calming systems.

Simple Breathwork Exercises:

• 4-7-8 breathing: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, exhale slowly for 8.

• Box breathing: Inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4 — like tracing the four sides of a box.

• Extended exhale breathing: Inhale for 4, exhale for 6–8. (Longer exhales stimulate the vagus nerve.)

Tip: Breathwork should feel gentle, not forced. If you get dizzy or anxious, slow down and shorten the count.

Vagal Toning

The vagus nerve is the main pathway of your parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) system. Vagal toning means stimulating this nerve to improve your body’s ability to calm down after stress. Think of it as strengthening your internal brake system.

Ways to Practice Vagal Toning:

• Humming: The vibration stimulates the vagus nerve through the vocal cords.

• Gargling with water: Same principle — engages throat muscles connected to the vagus.

• Splashing cold water on your face: Activates the “diving reflex,” shifting the body into calm mode.

• Slow, extended exhales: Connects breathwork to vagal activation.

• Gentle neck stretches or turning the head side to side (if safe for you).

Over time, vagal toning may help improve resilience, reduce anxiety, and support better digestion, mood, and sleep.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need fancy equipment or long training to start using these techniques.

Even 30 seconds to 2 minutes a day can make a difference.

Next time you’re overwhelmed, try:

• Pressing your feet into the floor,

• Taking a slow, extended exhale,

• Humming quietly to yourself.

Small, consistent practices can retrain your nervous system toward more calm, safety, and resilience.

Reach out if you would like more help regulating your nervous system and if you live in the Mississippi area! liza@lizayoungcounseling.com