Five Signs Your Nervous System Is Healing
Your life isn't falling apart! It's shedding everything that isn't "yours", so the person you were meant to be can finally shine.
Janice Ann
7/3/20266 min read
If you think you are "healing" but things are not looking like how you thought they'd be, this should be helpful! Let's talk about some common signs of nervous system healing that don't actually feel or look like healing. In fact, a lot of changes we begin to notice lead us to fear we are doing something wrong or something wrong is happening in our bodies.
The thing is, when you start healing your nervous system, it is not going to look the way you expect it to look. The way most of us want to judge healing progress is by asking: Am I feeling better? Is my life getting better? Do I feel calmer?
But those are actually the wrong questions to ask.
Healing your nervous system often feels emotional, confusing, and messy. Feeling a lack of control and an inability to connect with our inner confidence is normal. And the great news is - that's actually proof that it's happening.
Sign #1: You're Feeling More - and It's Uncomfortable
We all know that avoiding feelings is a big part of nervous system dysregulation.
For years you've avoided, distracted yourself, pushed feelings down, run away from them, or medicated them. When you're healing, you're actually going to be feeling more emotionally and the emotions you used to bury will begin boiling up to the surface.
So if you find yourself:
Being more empathic or crying randomly,
Being easily offended or feeling more angry,
Feeling impatient or becoming irritable, or
having sudden emotional outbursts,
don't automatically assume something is going wrong.
Long buried emotions are finally getting a chance to express themselves which means they will move through your body. So it is important to recognize this and get out of the way. Soothe the body – and let it flow.
Imagine your body is defrosting. After years of building up suppressed emotions, you start to become capable of self-regulation of your nervous system. Before, the nervous system was in a fight, flight, freeze cycle for the sole purpose of survival. When there was no time to allow emotions to flow naturally, the effects of the stressor are quite literally stored in the body. As you begin regulating, the body senses it is “safe to feel” and those emotions naturally rise to the surface. So, sudden or unexpected emotional outbursts are excellent signs that healing is happening.
Sign #2: You Lose Interest in Hustling Energy - Your Give a Darn is Busted
You've probably become very accustomed to living on cortisol, adrenaline, and stress hormones, but then, suddenly you can no longer fake that productive, "go-go-go" energy anymore and the constant hustle becomes uncomfortable.
Even dopamine hits that used to work - overeating, endless scrolling, overdrinking, or whatever your coping strategies were - just don't land the same anymore. That's another excellent sign because it means you're moving from survival energy to engaging with your inner power, or real energy.
Now, in this transition it sometimes feels like depression, exhaustion, or despair. But really, you're not crashing. You're simply moving the body away from relying on the chemicals of stress to fuel its day.
Please know that:
rest,
boredom,
and stillness
come before healing is obvious.
If you're craving more peace, more quiet, and more rest instead of chasing stimulation through cortisol and dopamine, it is a wonderful sign!
Sign #3: You Crave More Alone Time
Solitude feels life-giving rather than avoidant. You are noticing how your nervous system reacts when you're in highly stimulating environments like places with bright lights, noisy crowds, and constant interactions.
Does your body reacts strongly?
Afterwards, do you need:
quiet,
peace,
alone time,
and stillness?
Your body is seeking restoration.
In this stage, healing has evolved through building self-trust. It's listening to your body and saying, "I've pushed you a little bit. Let’s take some time to restore."
This can require the use of your voice in a new way: you tell your family and friends that while you love them, you want quiet time alone, too.
Now, you realize you need both:
engagement
recovery
You may also notice yourself pulling away from the people in your circle who constantly live in frenetic fight-or-flight energy. What used to feel comforting, now drains you. And that's normal. Healing leads you to become much more intentional with your energy because the kinds of energy you are around absolutely affects you, too.
Sign #4: Your Body Patterns Are Changing
This one can look scary from the outside, but it's often a very positive sign.
You may:
need naps,
wake up at 3:00 a.m.,
struggle to fall asleep,
notice changes in digestion,
notice appetite changes, or
even experience changes in hormonal cycles.
You might initially think, "Something’s going wrong”, but in truth, it's actually going very right.
Your autonomic nervous system regulates countless functions beneath your awareness. As your nervous system repatterns, things may temporarily shift. Before, your body was navigating reactively: think of it like having one foot on the gas pedal and the other on the brake and alternating “go” and “stop” all the time – or worse, simultaneously!
But now, your sympathetic nervous system is being recalibrated and those sudden surges/stops are dramatically smoothed out because you are observing more and “responding” as opposed to “reacting” to life. This allows the parasympathetic system, which influences hormones, digestion, sleep, and many other body systems, to work harmoniously for optimal rest and recovery (ie a longer, healthier life).
But don't let these temporary changes in body symptoms send you down endless rabbit holes searching for something else to fix. Sometimes the greatest healing comes from stepping back and saying, "I know my body knows what to do. I'm going to get out of the way, trust, and allow it." Yes, please support the body; not interrupt the process.
Sign #5: You're Noticing Instead of Fixing
One of the biggest signs of healing is that you begin noticing instead of immediately trying to fix. You naturally create more space between stimulus and response. That pause becomes incredibly powerful.
Reacting is an old survival pattern. Responding is a choice = creating the life you desire.
You begin noticing sensations without immediately trying to eliminate them. You become comfortable bringing your sensations along for the ride. This is one of the clearest signs that your nervous system is learning that it is safe.
Having greater awareness and learning to observe and respond - rather than react to a trigger- is what unwires the cyclical conditions you've been wanting to eliminate. And this change alone will result in your life changing in every other way, as well.
Perhaps:
Your old coping strategies stop working.
Whatever used to numb, distract, or soothe you just doesn't work anymore. This creates the space for healthier ways of interacting with yourself creating the life you want.
You forget to analyze everything.
Your mind naturally becomes quieter. One day you realize you've spent far less time obsessing over symptoms or trying to figure everything out. I tell folks “not my monkey, not my circus” and it fits in most instances where gossip or drama is the flavor of the moment.
Notice you suddenly have more mental energy because you're no longer trapped in constant analysis or drained by the inefficient use of your attention.
Your identity starts feeling uncertain.
Yes, this happens and it can be unsettling. When we are no longer fully identified with our survival self, but we haven't completely stepped into our wholly regulated, creative-self either, we are in the in-between-space.
It can feel disorienting.
It feels a bit like being suspended in midair; once familiar places, people, or concepts are now feeling a little wobbly. But stay the course because clarity will come! This place of uncertainty is a beautiful sign that you're no longer who you used to be… and you're becoming someone new. Someone you can trust and love and your life becomes more enriching and joyful.
BUT, all of this is very natural and you can trust the process! The best thing you can do is find a friend who is going through a similar evolution and support one another. There is no "one right way" to traverse these waters of change; I myself have attempted this all alone and it was far too daunting - I do not recommend it!
Want a recommendation? The Remembering Path material provides a framework with which to disengage from the menagerie of chaos and rediscover to your true north. Take it solo, with a friend, your book club, or private sessions with me.
Know this: you are not alone. You are supported by those who love you dearly: both in the here and now, and in the spirit realm.
