WORDS BY GEMMA WHITE

The nervous system reset is all over your feed – but what is it and how do you know if you’re in need of one?

N ervous system reset. Chances are high that this phrase has been lighting up your group chat, become a major topic of conversation at your Reformer Pilates class, and steadily been infiltrating your social media algorithm.

But is it just the latest wellness buzzword, joining ‘biohacking’, ‘cortisol management’, and ‘Whole 30’ as phrases to be hashtagged and then archived, or is a nervous system reset going to become a practice you incorporate into everyday life going forward?

“Think of the nervous system as the body’s master communicator, an intricate network that interprets and responds to the world within and around us,” says Devika Mankani, Psychologist at The Hundred Wellness Centre Dubai. “It is responsible for regulating all our functions – from our heartbeat and breath, to digestion, movement, and emotional responses. It also defines our perception, such as how safe, connected, happy, energised, or stressed we feel at any given moment.”

“Think of the nervous system as an intricate network that interprets and responds to the world within and around us.”

Recent developments across the Middle East have certainly contributed to pushing the notion of a nervous system reset to the forefront of the wellness consciousness. But it would be wrong to associate the need for a reset with just regional conflict or global geopolitics.

The effects of daily life, such as anxiety, over-stimulation, hormonal fluctuations, overwork, and day-to-day stresses can all contribute to system overload, resulting in feelings that range from slightly frazzled to struggling to cope.

“The nervous system is the foundation of how we experience life,” says Transformation Guide Nassima Aboufarid. “It constantly scans our environment to determine whether we are safe or under threat, and this directly influences our thoughts, emotions, and physical state. When the nervous system is regulated, we feel clear, present, and emotionally balanced. When the nervous system becomes dysregulated, the body can get stuck in survival mode.”

So, how do we know if we’re in need of a nervous system reset, and what does deregulation look like? The list is long, and in the Venn diagram of modern societal maladies and female-specific conditions, there are many crossovers.

“Sound healing offers a soothing sensory experience, using specific tones or frequencies to calm the body and mind.”

Symptoms to look out for include chronic stress, anxiety, fatigue, irritability, brain fog, or difficulty sleeping. Deregulation may also present via physical symptoms such as muscle tension, digestive issues, or lowered immunity.

“An underlying anxiety that doesn’t seem to have a reason,” says Constanze Witzel, Somatic Coach and Co-Founder of Achievher, noting that it can show up as “difficulty relaxing, even when you have time and space to do so; poor or restless sleep; inner restlessness – the feeling that you need to be doing something, always; being snappy with the people you love most – your family, your friends – and then feeling guilty about it afterwards…”

“And here’s a subtle one that often gets overlooked – feeling uncomfortable when things are actually good,” she adds. “If calm feels unsafe to you, if you can’t settle into ease without waiting for the other shoe to drop, that’s a very clear sign your nervous system has been shaped by stress and it could use some support.”

Seeking out calming, peaceful, bespoke solutions is the first step towards achieving a reset, including the ability to recognise your need for stillness before becoming overwhelmed. Practitioners point to the power of breathwork as a way to regulate the nervous system, including box breathing, belly breathing, and alternative nostril and ‘4-7-8’ techniques. Meditation, both solo and guided, is highly recommended, as is any physical activity that encourages movement, from walking to weightlifting.

“Sound healing offers a soothing sensory experience, using specific tones or frequencies to calm the body and mind,” adds Rita Baki, Emotional Intelligence Coach and Hypnotherapist at Keyani Wellness in Dubai. “Coherent breathing, which involves slow, even breaths at around five to six cycles per minute, has demonstrated benefits in reducing anxiety and balancing the autonomic nervous system. By choosing the approaches that resonate most, it’s possible to find effective, personalised solutions for restoring calm and resilience.”

Your environment plays a major role in maintaining nervous system regulation. This not only means seeking out new surroundings that feed into your sense of calm, but also adapting to existing factors you cannot change.

“The nervous system is influenced by the people we spend time with, the information we consume, and what we feed the body,” says Aboufarid. “Being around supportive people, eating nourishing food, limiting constant exposure to negative news, and choosing environments that feel calm and empowering can all help the system return to balance.”

“If you can’t settle into ease, that’s a very clear sign your nervous system has been shaped by stress and it could use some support.”

“In challenging times, we always have a choice in how we respond internally,” she adds. “When the world feels tense, we can choose to bring more calm. When there is doubt, we can choose to hold on to hope. This does not mean ignoring reality, but training ourselves not to collapse under the weight of it.”

Reiki, crystal healing, meditation, breathwork, yoga, a gym session, a simple stroll, a hobby, dinner with friends – any single reset may regulate your emotions in the moment, but longevity is key, requiring a long-term strategy to ensure balance. For Baki, this includes “creating a wind-down ritual” for the evening, while “meaningful conversations, physical contact such as hugs, and shared experiences to help the body feel safe” are important for Aboufarid.

“What we’re actually doing through nervous system work is widening the window of tolerance,” says Witzel. “It’s not a before-and-after transformation reel. It’s the slow, steady process of building more capacity in the body to digest stress, to metabolise emotions like fear, anger, and shame and, through that digestion process, to shift back into the ventral vaginal state. That’s the safe-and-connected state – the one where you feel like yourself again. So, when people say ‘reset’, what they usually mean is regulation, returning to a state where the nervous system has flexibility again, where it can move between activation and rest without getting stuck. And that’s beautiful, but it’s a practice, not a hack.”