The Best Way to Heal Your Nervous System

As recent as six months ago, I was at the height of my struggle with health anxiety, and my nervous system was a dysregulated mess. 

Throughout the course of my life, like many others, I’ve experienced general anxiety. Things like being nervous for an exam, or stressed about work or finances. “Normal” anxiety.

But after unexpectedly losing my mom in May of 2022, and then having covid for the first time in February 2023, it was like my body suddenly turned against me, and I was experiencing physical effects of trauma and anxiety that I had never ever experienced before, such as: 

• Internal buzzing and tremors (sometimes it felt like I was sitting on a subwoofer or like a swarm of bees was buzzing around inside of me)
• Heart palpitations and ectopic beats
• Tinnitus
• Insomnia
• Panic attacks
• Hyper awareness of my heartbeat and cardiophobia

These were all symptoms and sensations that I was experiencing for the first time ever, all at once, and while I was also grieving the loss of my mom. Throw in your normal, run of the mill work stress, financial stress, responsibilities, and then my dad having a near-fatal health emergency barely a year after my mom died, and my nervous system was just completely fried.

I’ve always been a big proponent of self-care, meditation, and the like, but none of my go to tools or methods were helping to alleviate my symptoms and heal my nervous system. 

Most days, I felt so unsafe in my body. The wild thing was that logically, I knew I was experiencing a trauma response, a sort of visceral hypervigilance after everything I had been through, but not even that awareness helped. It was like I was constantly in fight or flight mode, and I just felt like a prisoner in my own body. 

I spent so many hours either crying and wondering if I’d ever feel better or “normal” again, and more hours than that trying to research methods to help me re-establish safety in my body and regulate my nervous system.

I finally started therapy for my health anxiety in February 2024, and that definitely helped, but it wasn’t until I discovered somatics, and somatics by The Workout Witch aka Liz Tenuto specifically, in May 2024 that I really began to notice a difference in how I felt.

I started with Liz’s course, Release Stress & Stored Trauma In 30 Days, and the change I felt in my body within only a few days genuinely blew my mind, so I was excited to keep going, and honestly have never been more committed to a daily routine in my life. 

By the time I finished the 30-day course, I felt like a new person. I felt safe in my body again, and for the first time in years, the internal buzzing that I felt daily had actually stopped. My heartbeat hyper awareness and daily palpitations went away, which meant that I was also sleeping better, and it was crystal clear to me by then: the somatic exercises I was learning were actually soothing and healing my nervous system 🤯

I jumped at the chance to upgrade to The 5 Course Bundle – From Pain To Power so that I could stick with daily sessions to continue my healing journey, and when I recently finished that, I created my own daily routine of my favorite somatic exercises and maintenance routines so that I can continue to keep my healed nervous system soothed and regulated on the daily 😍

I’ve worked in the wellness industry for years now, and I’ve been exposed to so many different healing modalities, like meditation, energy healing, yoga, breathwork, and even somatics by other practitioners. But Liz’s brand of somatics turned out to be the best way to heal my nervous system because it encourages gentleness. One of her frequent cues is, “In the laziest, most unambitious way possible…” and I believe there really is something to practicing gentleness with yourself, especially when it comes to trauma release work.

If you struggle with anxiety, or you’ve experienced any kind of trauma that is having an impact on you physically, I encourage you to check out Liz on Instagram to get a feel for her work and how she teaches. She has a lot of amazing and FREE content that includes sample somatic exercises and tutorials to help you soothe your nervous system. I think her online courses are very affordable, and I love how accessible she is making somatics for everyone, because I believe it’s something that can truly help people experience real and lasting healing.

Part of me still can’t believe how good I feel, and in only a few months time. I look back on the past few years and think of how much pain and distress I was in, and I know that the me even a year ago had zero hope that I’d ever feel better, let alone good, again. 

I’m so happy that isn’t the case at all.