Your nervous system determines how you feel, react and recover. Learn the art of nervous system regulation for more resilience and peace.
Your nervous system is the command center of your wellbeing. It determines whether you feel safe and relaxed, or alert and tense. In our modern world, with constant stimuli and demands, this system often becomes imbalanced. At Zenn in the City in Rotterdam, we help you regulate your nervous system – the key to lasting wellbeing.
Understanding the Autonomic Nervous System
Your autonomic nervous system works largely unconsciously and regulates vital functions like heart rate, breathing, and digestion. It consists of two main branches:
The sympathetic nervous system prepares you for action. It's your "fight or flight" system that activates during danger or challenge. Your heart rate speeds up, your muscles tense, you're alert.
The parasympathetic nervous system is your "rest and digest" system. It helps you relax, recover, and connect. Your heart rate slows, your muscles relax, you can rest.
In a healthy situation, these systems alternate fluidly. After a stressful situation, your body returns to rest. The problem arises when your nervous system gets stuck in a state of chronic activation or – with severe overload – in shutdown.
The Polyvagal Theory
Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory has revolutionarily changed our understanding of the nervous system. He discovered that the parasympathetic system actually has two branches, both associated with the vagus nerve:
The ventral vagus (newer evolutionarily) activates during social safety. It regulates facial expressions, voice tone, and the capacity for connection. When this branch is dominant, you feel calm, connected, and engaged.
The dorsal vagus (older) activates in life-threatening situations as a last defense. It causes "freeze" or shutdown – dissociation, numbness, depressive feelings.
Most people switch between these states without realizing it. Nervous system regulation teaches you to recognize these states and consciously influence them.
Signs of a Dysregulated Nervous System
How do you know if your nervous system is out of balance? Watch for these signals:
Sympathetic overactivation (too much "on")
- Constant tension or restlessness
- Difficulty sleeping or relaxing
- Irritable or easily overwhelmed
- Racing thoughts or worry
- Physical tension in neck, shoulders, jaw
Dorsal vagus activation (shutdown)
- Feelings of disconnection or numbness
- Low energy or motivation
- Depressive feelings
- Difficulty with social contact
- Feeling "not quite there"
Many people experience a combination, or fluctuate between states.
Techniques for Nervous System Regulation
At Zenn in the City, we work with proven techniques to regulate the nervous system:
Breathwork
Your breathing is direct access to your nervous system. Through specific breathing patterns, you can directly exert influence. Slow exhales activate the parasympathetic response, while activating breathing can mobilize energy during shutdown.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
The vagus nerve can be stimulated through specific exercises: humming, singing, cold water on the face, gentle massage of the neck. This strengthens vagal tone and your capacity for regulation.
Bodywork
Tension is stored in the body. Through gentle movement, shaking, or targeted touch, this tension can be released. The body learns again that it's safe to relax.
Co-regulation
Our nervous system is designed to regulate in contact with others. The calm, attuned presence of a guide helps your nervous system calm down – a form of co-regulation that you then learn to internalize.
Grounding
Literally feeling contact with the ground, your environment, your own body. This brings you back to the here and now and signals safety to your nervous system.
A Session at Zenn in the City
Our sessions begin with mapping your nervous system patterns. Where are you stuck? What triggers activation or shutdown? What resources do you already have?
Then we introduce techniques, always at your own pace. We observe together how your nervous system responds and teach you to recognize the signals. Gradually you build a toolkit of interventions you can also apply independently.
This work is fundamentally different from symptom management. We address the root cause – a nervous system that has become imbalanced – and teach it to regulate again.
Who Benefits from Nervous System Regulation?
Almost everyone in our stressful society can benefit, but particularly relevant for:
- Chronic stress or burnout
- Anxiety or panic
- PTSD or trauma
- Depression
- Chronic fatigue
- Sleep problems
- Sensory processing issues
Lasting Change
The beauty of nervous system work is that it leads to lasting change. You don't just learn techniques, but literally reprogram your system. Over time, regulation becomes easier and more automatic. Your window of tolerance – the range in which you function well – becomes larger.
Zenn in the City | Nervous System Regulation Rotterdam
Waterloostraat 176A & 190A, 3062 TX Rotterdam-Kralingen
Tel: 010 413 1038