When you live with chronic illness, it can feel like your system is in a constant battle — one moment filled with tension and anxiety, the next drained of all energy. Many people think this is simply the nature of the illness, not realising they can intervene to help bring some ease to these nervous system states.
Healing the nervous system is a profound part of recovery from chronic conditions. In fact, for many, it’s the foundational piece — the bridge between just surviving and truly beginning to live again.
In this post, we’ll explore why nervous system healing is so vital, and I’ll offer you a simple practice you can start today to begin supporting your body, mind, and heart in a new way.
Why Nervous System Regulation Matters
Your nervous system — specifically, your autonomic nervous system (ANS) — is the part of you that operates in the background, regulating heart rate, breathing, digestion, energy levels, and even the ability for innate healing.
It has two primary branches:
Sympathetic Nervous System: often called “fight or flight,” it prepares you to respond to danger or stress.
Parasympathetic Nervous System: known as “rest and digest,” it helps your body relax, repair, and restore.
For those with chronic illness, the nervous system can become stuck in patterns of survival — constantly scanning for danger, even when no threat is present. This keeps the body in an exhausting loop: high tension, poor sleep, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and eventually collapse.
Without realising it, many people are living in a state of chronic activation, which blocks the body’s ability to come out of fight-or-flight.
One of the first pieces of the recovery journey is to help the nervous system start to feel safe again. When we create moments of safety and soothing, we teach the body to shift out of survival mode and return to a more restorative state.
Reset Your Nervous System with a Simple Sound Practice
Your vagus nerve — the longest nerve in your body — plays a key role in helping your nervous system shift into states of rest, repair, and healing. One of the easiest ways to support it is through vibration.
Humming creates soft, resonant vibrations that stimulate the vagus nerve, signaling to your body that it is safe.
Here’s how you can begin:
🌿 If you feel able:
Find a comfortable position, sitting or lying down.
Take a slow, deep breath in.
As you exhale, hum very gently — any sound, tone, or vibration that feels natural.
Feel the slight vibration in your throat, chest, or even face.
Continue for 1 or 2 or 3 slow breaths.
🌿 If humming feels like too much right now:
Simply take one slow breath in.
As you exhale, let out one soft, audible sigh.
This one sigh can begin resetting the nervous system and signaling ease.
💗 This practice may seem small, but sound is powerful. The soft vibrations help your brain and body move toward the “rest and digest” state — supporting real shifts in your healing journey.
Amari's Perspective
When I was at my worst, I didn’t even know what the autonomic nervous system (ANS) was. I didn’t know what it controlled, or how important it was. All I knew was that my heart wouldn’t slow down, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t relax.
It was once described to me as feeling like you’ve had 40 cups of coffee — but honestly, it was so much worse than that. My body felt like it was running on pure emergency energy all the time. I didn’t know what “fight or flight” meant, but I was living it daily. Then, without warning, my system would collapse completely. I wouldn’t even be able to lift a hand off the bed — so depleted and drained from the endless, invisible battle inside my body.
I thought this was just “how my illness was.” I didn’t know there was another way.
It wasn’t until I slowly began learning about nervous system healing — through somatic work, safe connection, and small practices — that I realised: the Mindbody system can find its way home again. And from that foundation, everything becomes possible.
Gentle Next Steps
If you are living with chronic illness and feel trapped between exhaustion and anxiety, tired and wired and total collapse – your nervous system needs help learning a new rhythm.
Try the humming or sighing practice for a few moments and if this practice brings you even the smallest shift, here are a few gentle ways to keep exploring:
💗 Learn More About the Mind-Body Connection
Discover the deeper science behind healing with the articles and book summaries in the resources section of this website.
💗 Try a Healing Meditation
Explore guided meditations designed specifically to support nervous system balance and emotional regulation.
💗 Book a Mind-Body-Spirit Coaching Session
You don’t have to walk this path alone. If you’d like personalised support, you can explore booking a first session with me here.
Let this small moment be a beginning — not because everything changes overnight, but because you chose to offer your nervous system a new experience of safety.
Even the softest sigh or hum can become the first note in your song.
With love and care,
Amari 💗
