Stress isn’t something we need to eliminate. Our nervous system is designed to move between activation and recovery throughout the day.

When we need to wake up, focus, exercise or respond to a challenge, our sympathetic nervous system — our fight-or-flight response — becomes more active. Cortisol naturally rises around waking to help mobilize energy, while adrenaline helps us feel alert and ready to respond.

We need this response. The goal isn’t to stay calm all the time.

What matters is being able to come back down — towards our parasympathetic state, where the body has the opportunity to rest, digest, recover and repair.

Nervous system regulation is simply about finding everyday ways to help your body move between these states more easily.

Below are some of the everyday practices we use — not because you need to do all of them, but because finding even one or two that work for you can help create those moments of return throughout your day.