Science Time : Our Nervous System

Here are a few key takeaways from this post :

1. The Brain and Body Are in Constant Two-Way Communication

Your nervous system continuously sends messages between your brain and body — and more messages go from the body to the brain than the other way around.

2. Your Nervous System Reacts to Both External and Internal Signals

It doesn’t only respond to outside threats (like noise or conflict) — it also reacts to internal signals. That’s why physical states like a clenched jaw or fast heartbeat can increase emotional stress.

3. Interoception Helps You Recognize Early Signs of Stress

Interoception is your ability to feel internal signals — like hunger, tension, or unease — and name them. Strengthening this sense helps you catch dysregulation early.

4. You Can Rewire Your Nervous System Through Repetition

Thanks to neuroplasticity, your brain is constantly adapting. Even small daily practices can create new neural pathways.

5. Your Gut and Brain Constantly Influence Each Other

The gut has its own "second brain". That’s why diet, digestion, and emotional health are tightly linked.

6. Sleep Is Non-Negotiable for Nervous System Health

Sleep is when your brain processes emotions, clears toxins, and restores energy. Poor sleep weakens your ability to regulate emotions, focus, and handle stress

Let’s begin this journey of inner transformation by understanding the foundation of it all: your nervous system.

We often think of the brain as the command center that runs the show — but in truth, your brain is not just giving orders. It’s also listening, constantly, to your body’s signals. In fact, more signals travel from your body to your brain than the other way around. Your nervous system is a two-way communication highway, not a one-way command tower.

Your brain receives messages from the outside world through your sensory organs — sight, sound, smell, touch, taste — but it also gathers constant feedback from within your body through the nervous system. This inner stream of data is just as powerful: it informs your thoughts, feelings, decisions, and even your sense of self.

The Structure Of Our Nervous System

The Central Command: Your Brain and Spinal Cord

At the heart of this network lies your central nervous system (CNS). Think of it as your headquarters. The brain processes sensory input, makes meaning, plans, decides, and initiates movement. The spinal cord acts as the relay superhighway, sending information back and forth between brain and body.

The Peripheral Network: Reaching Every Corner

Branching out from the CNS is the peripheral nervous system (PNS) — a vast web of nerves that reaches into every part of your body. It’s what allows your fingers to feel a surface, your stomach to digest food, your muscles to contract, and your heart rate to adjust to emotions or activity.

Neural Networking: The Power of Neurons

Your nervous system is powered by billions of neurons, or nerve cells, that transmit information using electrical and chemical signals. These impulses are lightning-fast — which is why you can pull your hand away from a hot stove before you even realize what happened.

The Autonomic Nervous System: Our Body's Autopilot

Much of what your body does automatically— breathing, heartbeat, digestion, pupil dilation — is managed by the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which functions automatically, without conscious control.

It has two branches:

• Sympathetic nervous system: the “fight or flight” mode that prepares you to respond to threat or challenge

• Parasympathetic nervous system: the “rest and digest” mode that allows you to recover and restore

We'll explore this system more deeply in another post, as it’s a key player in stress, safety, and emotional regulation.

The Body Is Not Just a Receiver — It Leads

What’s often overlooked is this: the brain is constantly adjusting its responses based on the state of the body.

Your nervous system is like a sensor-filled feedback loop, interpreting everything from posture and breath to gut sensations and muscle tension. If your jaw is clenched or your fists are tight, your brain reads it as danger. If your breath is slow and your hands are relaxed, it gets the message: “We’re safe now.”

This is why thoughts can create tension, but also why body tension can fuel anxious thoughts. It’s a loop — and when you change one, you influence the other.

The Brain-Gut Connection: Your Second Nervous System

Did you know your gut has its own nervous system?

The enteric nervous system, often called your "second brain," lives in your digestive tract and contains more than 100 million neurons — more than your spinal cord. It communicates directly with your brain via the vagus nerve, a critical nerve that helps regulate emotions, digestion, heart rate, and more.

This two-way channel explains why:

• Stress can cause digestive issues or butterflies in your stomach

• Poor gut health can worsen anxiety or depression

• Around 90% of serotonin, a key mood-regulating chemical, is produced in your gut

What you eat, how you breathe, how you rest — all of it influences your emotional world.

Our Nervous System Superpowers

Neuroplasticity: Your Brain's Remarkable Adaptability

Your brain isn’t fixed — it’s plastic, meaning it can change its structure based on experience. Every time you practice a calming breath, challenge a negative thought, or return to your body in the midst of stress, you are literally rewiring your nervous system.

This is why tiny, repeated practices matter. They’re not symbolic. They’re structural.

Sensory Integration: Making Sense of Your World

Your nervous system constantly filters, interprets, and organizes sensory information: light, sound, texture, temperature, and more. When the input is overwhelming — too much noise, brightness, or clutter — your system can go into overload, creating irritability, fatigue, or dysregulation.

Understanding your sensory preferences allows you to create environments that support your regulation instead of draining it..

Interoception: Listening to the Signals Within

Just as your five senses help you understand the world outside, interoception helps you understand your inner world. It’s the sense that tracks hunger, fullness, breath, muscle tension, temperature, and emotion.

Strengthening interoception helps you catch signs of stress, burnout, or overwhelm before they erupt — and builds your ability to respond with care rather than reactivity.

Sleep and Recovery: Essential Maintenance Time

Rest is not optional for your nervous system. During sleep, your brain:

• Processes emotions

• Repairs cells

• Flushes out toxins

• Consolidates learning

• Restores your capacity for focus, creativity, and regulation

Chronic sleep deprivation weakens every part of your nervous system. Protecting sleep is not indulgent — it’s strategic self-support.

Bottom Line: You Are a System, Not a Collection of Parts

Your body and brain are not separate entities. They are parts of one intelligent system, exchanging information at every moment. The more you learn to listen to your body, the more your brain can operate with clarity, balance, and strength.

🌀 Your brain is not the boss — it’s a translator. It interprets the world based on what your body tells it.

By learning how your nervous system works, and how to support it, you're not just gaining insight — you're reclaiming your power to feel, think, and act in ways that serve your growth.