My Nervous System and Self-Love
Throughout my adult life, peace never came to mind. Maybe because I never felt it, I thought my life experiences were normal. I damn sure didn’t think it was something I needed to create inside myself. But I slowly realized that peace begins with one thing and that was the state of my nervous system.
It took me years to understand that love, authentic love, is medicine for the nervous system. Mine was completely off balance and I didn’t even know it. My chest stayed tight, my breath shallow, my stomach knotted up for no reason. I’d walk into certain spaces or be around certain people and feel my whole body tense, even when my mind told me everything was fine.
Those were signs my nervous system was dysregulated and stuck in survival mode without realizing it. It took a long time to connect the dots between my emotions and my body. I had spent years doing the “inner work,” journaling, meditating, manifesting, but my nervous system was still in fight or flight. I didn’t realize peace wasn’t something I could think my way into. I had to teach my body what safety felt like through self-love and presence. This process activated my parasympathetic nervous system through my vagus nerve eventually signaling to my body that it’s safe to relax through love.
Healing started with me slowing down. Like really slowing down. I began choosing sleep over late nights, silence over constant stimulation and saying no to environments that left me feeling on edge. I pulled away from chaos, gossip, and anything that felt like emotional bullshit. I started noticing what my body did in different settings like who I felt relaxed around, what kind of energy triggered my anxiety, and what situations left me feeling grounded. My body was giving me signals the whole time; I just hadn’t been paying attention.
Over the last two years, with rest, stillness, and extreme self-love, my body began to trust me. I started to feel different much calmer, lighter, and more connected to my higher self. I could actually feel when my system was at ease, like my whole body had taken a deep sigh of relief.
Learning how to regulate my nervous system changed my life. That’s what self-love did for me. It brought my system back into balance, under my control. I’m existing in harmony now, and I nurture myself daily in that same way.