Resetting Your Nervous System: 3 Simple Tips to Reclaim Your Balance

Let’s face it - we all go through stressful seasons from time to time. This can stem from work, personal life pressures, or even small but nagging worries that gnaw at the back of your mind. These are unavoidable realities that sometimes sneak up on us.

When we do fall under pressure, it can take a toll on both physical and mental health, especially the nervous system. Stress causes inflammation that expresses itself in fatigue, brain fog, and mood swings. All of these symptoms are your body telling you to decompress. Let’s take a closer look at what happens to your nervous system when it becomes worn out.

What Causes an Overstimulated Nervous System?

Experiencing stress brings elevated levels of inflammation into your body. While this alone can cause mental and physiological effects, there are other factors that impact the health of your nervous system to take into consideration, such as:

• Sleep quality
• Physical activity
• Quality of nutrition
• Information consumption/screen time

If we aren’t mindful of each of these, the result can not only increase the symptoms of chronic stress but also add to our stress levels. Giving your body and its nervous system the rest and nourishment it needs will benefit you in your long term pursuit of an overall healthy lifestyle.

How to Heal Your Overworked Nervous System

So what can you do to be proactive about protecting and restoring your nervous system? There are three areas on which you can focus that will bring you the most relief for that rundown, overworked feeling that won’t go away - what you consume, how you recover and supplementation. Let’s dive into how each of these factors affect your body.

Nourishing Your Body and Mind

What goes into your body has a massive impact on your stress levels and the extent to which stress affects your nervous system. The majority of your immune system is in your gut, and your immune system has a direct line to your nervous system through the vagus nerve. The quality of food you eat can either help or hurt your hormone balance and overall inflammation levels¹. If an imbalance exists within your gut, side effects that disrupt your nervous system are soon to follow. Getting the right kind of nutrition with a variety of vitamins and minerals is crucial to a well functioning nervous system.

The media that you allow into your life has just as much impact as the food you consume. Everything from what you read, to what you watch, to how much screen time you take in throughout the day can affect your stress levels and disrupt your hormone levels. One study showed that excessive screen time can make you more likely to experience moderate to severe depression². Mindfulness surrounding what you consume can lead to positive results in the restoration of your nervous system³.

Balance & Restoration

Every element of wellness is connected. It’s important to focus on all areas of health in order to elevate the well-being of your entire body. This includes finding regular movement and exercise⁴ that not only energizes you physically, but also ignites your soul. Consistent movement helps to stabilize the responses of your nervous system to outside stimuli, relieve muscular tension from a stagnant lifestyle, and calms involuntary symptoms from an overstimulated nervous system.

Physical activity also promotes high quality sleep which we know is an important facet of a healthy nervous system. Scientists have found that regular exercise not only improves your sleep patterns⁵, but can also enhance your quality of sleep. Without regular, restorative sleep, you become more susceptible to focus problems and brain fog⁶, hormone imbalance linked to depression⁷, and increased inflammation⁸.

Smart Supplementation

Some of our favorite OWL supplements are perfect for tending to a tired nervous system. We put careful thought into our specialized ingredients, chosen with your best health in mind.

Liver Boost

Your liver is a natural filter for toxins in your bloodstream and extracts nutrients from the foods you eat. When you’re feeling stressed, your body is susceptible to damage from oxidative stress. Liver Boost is an herbal blend designed to help protect your liver from the damaging effects of oxidative stress and reduce inflammation by utilizing specific ingredients:

• Burdock root - an antioxidant that also reduces inflammation⁹. There are certain plant compounds found within burdock that have the potential to actively remove toxins from your bloodstream. This helps alleviate inflammation, protecting your nervous system from fatigue.
• Oregon Grape root - the main function of this plant is for boosting immune function. It works against free radicals in your system which contribute to oxidative stress that can tax your nervous system.
• Dandelion root - supports the detoxification process in the liver¹⁰. It also possesses bioactive compounds that help protect your body against the effects of oxidative stress which can relieve inflammation throughout your entire body.

Adding Liver Boost to your daily ritual is the perfect way to help a worn nervous system rest and reset.

Digestive Bitters

Chronic stress can affect the quality of your digestion and gut health. Like Liver Boost, Digestive Bitters is intended to help support and protect your body from the effects of stress. This herbal spray helps stimulate the production of digestive secretions that leads to better absorption of nutrients and the natural detoxification within the liver. Both of these contribute to a reduction of stress and a boost of the immune system. We’ve combined powerful, natural ingredients in this supplement designed to improve the functions of your body that are often affected by oxidative stress:

• Gentian root - aids gut health¹¹. This herb also helps fight inflammation making it an excellent tool to counteract oxidative stress.
• Ginger root - an excellent anti inflammatory12. Thanks to the compound gingerol, this plant is also a potent antioxidant that can help soothe and protect your nervous system.
• Chamomile flower - can enhance hormone balance13. Nervous system imbalances can lead to an overproduction of stress hormones like cortisol which puts stress on the body. This flower can help reduce the symptoms of anxiety which are markers of an overworked nervous system.

Digestive Bitters is another OWL supplement that acts as a powerful tool for resetting and restoring your nervous system.

Prepare with a Plan

Your overall wellness is an ongoing process. Caring for your nervous system requires consistent and mindful attention to ensure that you can recover and restore whenever life gets overwhelming. Knowing what works best for your body will help you feel accomplished in taking the right steps toward a more balanced life. OWL will guide you to feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to thrive.

Julie Weller

Julie is a self-made writer on a forever journey of fitness and health. As a high school music teacher, she has seen and experienced the challenges of maintaining good health while simultaneously balancing a career and healthy relationships.

Julie has always lived a healthy and active lifestyle. She loves the outdoors, hiking, and camping. Over the years she has continued to learn smarter and better ways to take care of her body while continuing to do the things that make her smile. Naturally, all of her teacher friends wanted to know how she did it - what was her secret?

Julie found herself explaining over and over everything she'd learned in her research, and sharing her experiences through trial and error. Her friends would take her advice, try some new things, and then come back to ask how to take it to the next level.

"You should charge for this kind of information!" Became a constant phrase, and so began her career of writing to share her knowledge with the world through health and wellness companies looking to spread healing and healthy habits within their communities. Now Julie gets to combine two of the things she enjoys most - writing and wellness - and use them to affect change in a real way.

When not making music with her kiddos, or writing wellness tips for a higher quality of life, you can find her reading, hiking, drumming, and fitnessing

Sources:

1. Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies - PMC (nih.gov)
2. Association between screen time and depression among US adults - PMC (nih.gov)
3. Stress and Problematic Smartphone Use Severity: Smartphone Use Frequency and Fear of Missing Out as Mediators - PMC (nih.gov)
4. Changes in sedentary time are associated with changes in mental wellbeing over 1 year in young adults - PMC (nih.gov)
5. Physical Activity and Sleep: An Updated Umbrella Review of the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report - PMC (nih.gov)
6. Sleep deprivation, vigilant attention, and brain function: a review - PubMed (nih.gov)
7. Insomnia and the risk of depression: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies - PubMed (nih.gov)
8. Sleep and inflammation: partners in sickness and in health - PubMed (nih.gov)
9. Effects of Arctium lappa L. (Burdock) root tea on inflammatory status and oxidative stress in patients with knee osteoarthritis - Maghsoumi‐Norouzabad - 2016 - International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases - Wiley Online Library
10. Protective Effects of Taraxacum officinale L. (Dandelion) Root Extract in Experimental Acute on Chronic Liver Failure - PMC (nih.gov)
11. Bitters: Time for a New Paradigm - PMC (nih.gov)
12. Ginger from Farmyard to Town: Nutritional and Pharmacological Applications - PMC (nih.gov)
13. An Exploratory Study of Salivary Cortisol Changes During Chamomile Extract Therapy of Moderate to Severe Generalized Anxiety Disorder - PMC (nih.gov)