Understanding Your Nervous System: How the Sympathetic & Parasympathetic Systems Guide Healing

By Payal Seth | www.healingwithpayal.com

Good Days, Bad Days, and the Deepest Ones

I’ve lived through it all - good days, bad days, and some days so tough I felt totally lost. If you’ve ever felt helpless, broken, or worthless, I understand. In those moments, knowing our nervous systems can work for us. And that self-kindness and balance matter; is a powerful step toward healing.

Illustration of the vagus nerve and its branches, highlighting connections to the heart, lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines, with labels for superior and inferior vagal ganglions and various plexuses.

The Two Pillars: Fight-or-Flight vs. Rest-and-Digest

Your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is fast-paced and alert—it’s your gas pedal when stress or danger arises. It raises your heart rate, releases cortisol, and prepares you to act. In contrast, your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is your brake—it calms your heart, aids digestion, and helps your body recover after stress.

But in today’s world, our SNS is often “on” too much, and our PNS rarely gets a turn. 

This post explores how your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems affect stress and healing, and offers gentle practices to balance them for emotional resilience and well-being.

Why Balance Matters for Mental Health

When the SNS is constantly activated, stress hormones flood your body—leading to anxiety, sleep problems, emotional overwhelm, and fatigue. Over time, chronic stress can harm overall wellness. Activating the PNS regularly helps you slow down, settle your mind, and find emotional regulation, resilience, and stability. 

Nourishing Your Parasympathetic Nervous System

🌬️ Deep Breathing (“4‑7‑8” or Diaphragmatic)

Practice inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 7, and exhaling for 8 slowly. This technique calms the heart and mind by activating the PNS via the vagus nerve.

🧘 Mindfulness Meditation & Yoga

Even 5–10 minutes of gentle meditation, body scan, or simple yoga poses signals your nervous system to shift into rest-and-digest mode. 

🌿 Nature Time & Art Therapy

Time outside—in parks, forests, or gardens—can reduce SNS activity and build calm naturally. Creative activities like drawing or music also stimulate the PNS and lower stress hormones.

🛀 Massage, Progressive Relaxation, Warm Baths

Techniques like massage, progressive muscle relaxation, or a warm bath can soothe your body and invite your PNS to settle you into a healing space. 

💧 Vagus Nerve Activation

Simple practices—like humming, gargling, or placing ice on the neck—stimulate your vagus nerve and shift your nervous system toward calm

Build PNS Habits for Everyday Balance

Habit	When & Why
Morning 4‑7‑8 breathing	Start your day with a calm nervous system tone
Midday mindful walk	In nature, with gentle awareness to reset stress levels
Evening yoga or body scan	Wind down before bedtime and support digestion
Nighttime journaling	Reflect on your emotional state and soothe your nervous system

Consistency matters: even short daily practices help your body rewire toward resilience and emotional equilibrium. 

A Gentle Reminder

Balancing your nervous system isn’t a quick fix—it’s a journey of tuning in, being patient, and treating yourself kindly. Some days you’ll soar, some days you’ll struggle, and on the hardest days, you may feel small. But each moment you choose compassion, breath, and rest - you move closer to healing and balance.

👉 Join Our Healing Journey

Found this helpful? I invite you to join the Healing With Payal community. Register on www.healingwithpayal.com for exclusive guides, soothing practices, and peer support. And please follow me on Facebook and Instagram—let’s create a nurturing space for people navigating mental-health and neurological challenges together.

Remember: you are not lost, you are not alone—and with kindness and balance, you can find your way home.