Nervous System Basics Every Spiritual Woman Should Know

Reclaim your body. Rewrite your story. Realign your energy. 

 

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Why This Matters Now More Than Ever 

 

If you’ve ever wondered, “I know better — so why can’t I feel better?”

If you’ve done the inner work but still feel stuck…

If your spiritual practice is beautiful but you’re still burnt out, overextended, and secretly overwhelmed…

 

This is for you.

 

Welcome to the missing link in most healing, growth, and manifestation work: your nervous system.

 

In this guide, we’ll explore how your body’s survival wiring might still be controlling things, even when your heart and spirit crave something different. You’ll learn the basics of nervous system function — without shame or jargon — so you can finally feel safe in your own body and empowered in your life.

 

Let’s dive in.

 

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What Is the Nervous System and Why Should You Care? 

 

The Basics (Without the Biology Class)

 

The nervous system acts as your body’s command center. It manages everything from your heartbeat and digestion to your emotional reactions and stress responses.

 

It’s divided into:

 • Central Nervous System (CNS) – your brain and spinal cord

 • Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) – the nerves that extend through the rest of your body

 

Within the PNS, the star of the show is:

 • The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) – handles automatic processes like breathing, heart rate, and responding to danger

 

The Two Main Branches:

1. Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): responsible for fight or flight.

2. Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS): promotes rest, digestion, and repair.

 

And thanks to Polyvagal Theory (more on that soon), we now understand that the nervous system has a hierarchy — it doesn’t just switch between “on” and “off.” It transitions through different states.

 

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Polyvagal Theory, Simply Explained 

 

The 3 States 

1. Ventral Vagal (Safety + Connection)

You feel calm, creative, curious, and regulated.

2. Sympathetic (Mobilized)

You feel anxious, angry, overthinking, and controlling — often mistaken as “high functioning.”

3. Dorsal Vagal (Shut Down)

You feel numb, checked out, hopeless, and exhausted.

 

Why It Matters for Spiritual Women 

 

If you’ve ever wondered “why can’t I manifest what I want?” or “why do I keep falling back into the same patterns?” — chances are, your nervous system doesn’t feel safe enough to open up to new outcomes.

 

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Trauma Patterns in High-Functioning Women 

 

Let’s acknowledge something right now: You can be successful, insightful, and spiritual — and still be stuck in trauma patterns.

 

This often shows up as:

 • People-pleasing 

 • Over-functioning 

 • Numbing or dissociating 

 • Spiritual bypassing (“high vibes only”) 

 • Addiction to productivity or control 

 

These are not flaws; they are strategies. Your body has created them to keep you safe.

 

And when we bring nervous system awareness into our healing — we stop fighting ourselves and start working with our body’s wisdom.

 

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What Regulation Really Is (And Isn’t) 

 

Regulation isn’t about being calm 100% of the time.

 

It’s the ability to move between states and return to center — with more ease and less reactivity.

 

It’s feeling safe enough to:

 • Set boundaries

 • Speak your truth

 • Rest without guilt

 • Be in your body without the need to escape

 

We regulate not to be “perfect” — but to be present.

 

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How Spirituality Meets Science Here 

 

You already know that your energy matters.

You already trust your intuition.

You already crave alignment.

 

The nervous system acts as a bridge between your energetic awareness and your physical experience.

 

When your body is regulated:

 • Your intuition becomes clearer

 • Manifestation flows more easily

 • You stop sacrificing yourself to please others

 • You become a safe space for your own emotions

 

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Recognizing Your Default Pattern 

 

Ask yourself:

 • When stressed, do I react by fighting or fleeing?

 • Do I collapse or shut down (freeze/dorsal)?

 • Do I appease, over-accommodate, or lose myself in others (fawn)?

 

No judgment—just awareness.

 

From here, you can start to understand your patterns with love—and gently introduce new ways of responding.

 

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Your Nervous System and Desire 

 

Desire isn't just a mental wish list. It’s language from the nervous system.

 

But if your body doesn’t feel safe to want…

 • You’ll block or sabotage your desires

 • You’ll guilt yourself for having needs

 • You’ll downplay your dreams to seem “realistic”

 

Reclaiming desire is a reclaiming of power. And it begins with feeling safe in your own skin.

 

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Somatic and Energetic Tools for Real-Life Regulation 

 

You don’t need fancy gadgets. You need connection. 

 

Simple Tools: 

 • Vagus nerve toning (humming, cold water, breathwork) 

 • Movement (walks, shaking, gentle stretching) 

 • Soothing touch (placing your hand on your chest or belly) 

 • Journaling with a body check-in 

 • Grounding rituals (barefoot on earth, candlelight, scent) 

 

These aren’t about fixing. They’re about feeling. 

 

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Common Myths That Keep You Stuck 

 • “I should be over this by now.”

 • “I’m too sensitive.”

 • “If I just stay positive, I’ll be okay.”

 • “Rest is lazy.”

 • “It’s selfish to want more.”

 

Your nervous system hears these as threats.

That’s why your healing must include rewriting the stories you tell your body — not just your mind.

 

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How to Know You’re Shifting 

 

Signs of healing in the nervous system:

 • You pause before reacting

 • You allow yourself to rest

 • You feel more genuine in relationships

 • You choose authenticity over approval

 • You hold your own emotions without losing control

 

This is what regulation feels like. It’s subtle but powerful.

 

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Integration: How to Live the Work 

 

It’s not about doing it “right.” 

It’s about noticing, practicing, and returning.

 

This week, try:

 • Daily 5-minute body check-ins 

 • Naming your state out loud (with love) 

 • Doing one thing slowly — on purpose 

 • Celebrating one moment you stayed with yourself 

 

These small shifts rewire your whole experience over time.

 

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Final Thoughts: You Are Not Broken 

 

You are not too much. You are not behind. You are a sensitive, powerful, whole being whose body is doing its best to protect you.

 

Your job isn’t to fix your nervous system — it’s to understand it and gradually create the conditions where it no longer has to fight so hard.

 

That is the work we do within the course — where science meets soul and where safety becomes your superpower.

 

You’re not here to perform healing. You’re here to live in alignment — body, mind, and spirit.

 

And that journey begins now.