How I’m Healing My IBS Through Nervous System Regulation

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Nervous System Regulation: Where the Heck Do You Start?

You’ve probably heard it before: “Healing your nervous system is the key to healing chronic symptoms like IBS, anxiety, and pain.” Spoiler alert — they’re right.

But if you're anything like me, you’ve probably asked yourself: “Okay... but what is nervous system regulation?”...And then promptly fallen into a Google rabbit hole of vagus nerve exercises, breathwork hacks, somatic tools, and YouTube videos of people tapping their faces and shaking like jellyfish.

It’s a lot.And while many of those tools do help, the real question is:Where do you start?How do you actually use them in a way that makes sense — and works?

The Two-Pronged Approach That Changed Everything for Me

After years of dabbling, experimenting, and (let’s be honest) frantically trying to fix myself, I’ve come to see nervous system healing as a two-pronged process:

1. Shifting out of states of dysregulation as they happen

2. Healing the deeper emotional wounds that create those dysregulated states in the first place

   
   

Let me break that down.

Part 1: Interrupting the State of “Un-Ease”

For me, one of my default nervous system habits is rushing.Always trying to get ahead. Overplanning. Overdoing. Worrying about what’s next.

When I’m in that state, my whole body tightens up:

• My forehead feels clenched

• My jaw and even my gums (?) get tight

• My shoulders creep up

• My breath becomes shallow

• My thoughts race

• I feel anxious, serious, like the world is depending on me to hold it all together

  
  

And guess what?All of that sends physiological signals to my brain: “We’re in danger.”So my brain responds the only way it knows how — by turning on my stress response and sending pain, tension, and digestive shutdown signals to my body.

Sound familiar?

So What’s the Fix?

The moment I catch myself in that anxious, rushed, overactivated state, I don’t try to tell myself to “just calm down” — because let’s be real, that never works.

Instead, I use my body to shift my state.Here’s a go-to sequence I love:

• Shake it out: I literally shake my arms, legs, head — anything to discharge the built-up sympathetic energy

• Sway side to side: Slow, rhythmic movements to bring in a sense of flow

• Self-havening: I gently brush down my arms in a soothing motion, signaling safety to my nervous system

• Postural softening: I scan for tight areas (shoulders, arms, jaw), and consciously release them

• Breath check-in: Often, I find I’m barely breathing. So I pause and breathe deep into my belly — slow, even, expansive breaths

That’s it. That’s the practice.It’s about shifting your physiology over and over again, until that becomes the new normal.And the more time you spend in that regulated state, the more your body starts to rewire — and the fewer symptoms you’ll have.

Part 2: Healing the Wounds Beneath the Patterns

Now here’s the thing:If you don’t address the emotional roots that keep pulling you back into dysregulation, you’ll just keep looping.

Take my rushing, for example. It’s not random.It comes from deep internal beliefs like:

• “I’m not enough unless I do more.”

• “I have to be impressive to be loved.”

• “I’m all alone — if I drop the ball, no one will catch it.”

These beliefs come from old wounds — early experiences where I felt unsafe, unseen, or unsupported.And when those wounds get poked? My body goes right back into survival mode.So part of nervous system healing is doing the deeper emotional work — like parts work, inner child healing, or somatic therapy — to help those wounded parts feel safe and supported again.

Because when those beliefs soften, the coping strategies (like rushing or people-pleasing or over-controlling) aren’t needed anymore.

And when you’re no longer living in those survival patterns, your body can finally do what it’s designed to do:

Heal.

TL;DR: The Nervous System Healing Path

So here it is, in plain terms:

1. Break the habit of being in dysregulated states by using body-based tools to shift your physiology.

2. Heal the emotional wounds that create those patterns in the first place, so you’re not constantly pulled back into survival.

It’s not about doing it perfectly. It’s about doing it gently, consistently, and with a ton of compassion for yourself.

If you’re on this journey too — fumbling, flaring, figuring it out — I hope this helps you feel a little more grounded.You’re not alone in this.I’m right here, healing with you.

And if you're looking for some personalized help book a 1:1 session with me here. I'd love to be part of your healing journey!

With love,

Cam