Strategies to Regulate Your Nervous System After Trauma
Strategies to Regulate Your Nervous System After Trauma
Author: Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
Updated on Sept 6th, 2025
Experiencing trauma can significantly dysregulate the nervous system, leading to states of hyperarousal (feeling overly anxious and on edge) or hypoarousal (feeling numb and disconnected) that severely impact quality of life. If you're a trauma survivor, you're likely wondering how to calm your nervous system after trauma. Understanding and implementing strategies to regulate your nervous system can be crucial in managing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This article provides practical techniques for both hyperarousal and hypoarousal that you can practice on your own to regain a sense of balance and calm.
What Branches of the Central Nervous System are Involved in Trauma?
The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord, which process information and coordinate the body’s responses. From there, the nervous system branches into the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which regulates automatic functions like heart rate, breathing, and stress responses.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS), a key part of how the brain and body respond to stress, is made up of two main branches: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
The sympathetic branch is often called the “fight-or-flight” system because it prepares the body to respond to danger by speeding up the heart, increasing alertness, and releasing stress hormones. In people who have experienced trauma, this system can become overactive, leaving them stuck in states of hypervigilance, anxiety, or panic even when there is no immediate threat.
The parasympathetic branch, often referred to as the “rest-and-digest” system, helps the body return to balance by slowing the heart rate, supporting digestion, and encouraging relaxation. When trauma is overwhelming, however, this branch may swing into overdrive and lead to feelings of numbness, exhaustion, or dissociation. Healing trauma often involves restoring flexibility between these two systems, so that the body can shift out of survival mode and return to a more regulated, calm state. This balance is a core goal in many trauma therapies, including EMDR.
What is the Vagus Nerve?
The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body and a major part of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. It runs from the brainstem through the neck, chest, and abdomen, helping regulate vital functions such as heart rate, digestion, and breathing. The vagus nerve is especially important in trauma recovery because it influences the body’s ability to shift out of fight-or-flight responses and return to a calmer, regulated state.
What is Hyperarousal and Hypoarousal?
Hyperarousal is an over-activation of the sympathetic nervous system. It's characterized by heightened anxiety, increased heart rate, muscle tension, and a constant state of alertness, often accompanied by irritability and insomnia. After experiencing traumatic events, the brain's threat detection systems can become highly sensitized and stuck in high alert, which triggers a cascade of stress responses out of proportion to the actual threat. This often leads to long-term chronic stress, affecting physical health and the immune system in addition to being psychologically and emotionally distressing.
Hyperarousal Responses (Mobilization)
Fight – confronting the threat directly with aggression, resistance, or assertive energy.
Flight – escaping or avoiding the threat by fleeing physically or mentally.
These responses are driven by the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the body with adrenaline, increased heart rate, and heightened alertness.
Hypoarousal, on the other hand, involves feeling detached, numb, and emotionally flat, with a lack of energy and motivation. It typically occurs in situations where escape is impossible or when the hyperarousal response has been running for too long, the body simply can't sustain that level of activation anymore and drops into a hypo-state.
Hypoarousal Responses (Immobilization & Appeasement)
Freeze – becoming still and tense, waiting for danger to pass.
Fawn – appeasing, people-pleasing, or submitting to maintain safety.
Flop – collapsing or going limp, sometimes fainting or losing muscle tone.
Feign – “playing dead” or dissociating to avoid notice or pain.
Submit – yielding compliance to survive when resistance seems impossible.
These responses are linked to parasympathetic dominance (often dorsal vagal shutdown), aiming to minimize harm when escape or defense is not an option.
Fight or flight are the hyperarousal states most people associate with trauma. But the freeze and fawn responses are less discussed. The freeze response, according to Polyvagal Theory, can be either hyper-freeze in an alert state or hypo-freeze in a dissociated shut down state. Freezing is often the body trying to orient and decide what to do, if it is unclear what action should be taken it may keep you stuck there. If it is clear that there is no escape or productive action to be taken, you may go into hypo-freeze consisting of tonic immobility and the body shutting down, this is a dissociative response.
The window of tolerance model was developed by psychiatrist Dan Seigel in 1999. The idea is that trauma survivors, due to nervous system dysregulation, generally have a very narrow window but can gradually expand it over time. Modern trauma theory recommends gradual exposure to discomfort to expand the window as opposed to the “flooding” techniques of the past that sent people way out of their window.
As we discuss the following regulation techniques keep in mind that they are to be used when you are not actually in danger. If you are in danger, take the necessary actions to find safety prior to focusing on self-regulation. Our bodies become activated for a reason and sometimes we do need to take action rather than trying to cope or resist. Another disclaimer is that the following strategies are sometimes not the right approach for a specific state a person may find themselves in, it really is best to work with a trained trauma therapist to develop a personal strategy. This list is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as clinical advice for your specific symptoms.
Strategies for Managing Hyperarousal
Grounding Techniques
5-4-3-2-1 Method: Identify five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. This exercise helps anchor you to the present moment. This one can double for hypoarousal as well.
Physical Grounding: Press your feet firmly into the ground or hold onto a textured object. Focus on the physical sensations to bring your attention back to the present. Sometime body awareness isn't pleasant for trauma survivors, in this case it can be helpful to ground using visual or other sensory anchors.
Breathwork
Deep Breathing: Take deep breaths through your nose, allowing your abdomen to expand, then exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat several times to activate the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation.
Box Breathing: Inhale for a count of four, hold your breath for four, exhale for four, and hold again for four. This rhythmic breathing helps regulate your heart rate and calm your mind.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Systematically tense and then relax different muscle groups in your body, starting from your toes and working your way up to your head. This technique helps release physical tension and promotes relaxation.
Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindful Awareness: Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings without judgment. This is a “noticing” or “observing” state rather than being immersed or intellectually analyzing what’s happening. Just notice the sensations in your body and your breathing, give these things space to exist and pass.
Guided Meditation: Use apps or online resources to follow guided meditation sessions designed to reduce anxiety and promote calmness. It’s often more beneficial to begin a consistent daily practice when you are not triggered rather than try to use meditation as a rescue method when you have been become triggered.
Physical Activity
Engage in regular exercise, such as walking, jogging, yoga, or resistance training. Physical activity helps release pent-up energy and reduces stress hormones, improving overall mood and resilience. If relaxation strategies are having the opposite effect and making you more anxious, sometimes movement is the right move to give the body a sense of control and an outlet for it's impulses.
Strategies for Managing Hypoarousal
Sensory Stimulation
Cold Exposure: Splash cold water on your face or hold an ice cube. The cold sensation can help activate your nervous system and bring you back to the present.
Aromatherapy: Use stimulating scents like citrus or peppermint essential oils to awaken your senses and lift your mood.
Movement and Physical Exercise
Gentle Stretching: Perform simple stretching exercises to increase blood flow and re-engage with your body. Trauma informed yoga has become popular and is a good option for building social support systems while learning ways to self-regulate.
Dance or Shake: Put on some music and move your body. Dancing or shaking helps increase energy levels and release stagnant energy.
Creative Expression
Art and Crafts: Engage in drawing, painting, or other creative activities. Creative expression can help process emotions that are difficult to articulate and helps reconnect with a sense of purpose and pleasure.
Journaling: Write about your thoughts and feelings. Journaling can help externalize emotions and gain clarity.
Spending Time in Nature
Spend time outdoors in natural settings. Walk in a park, sit by a river, or simply observe the trees and sky. Nature has a grounding effect and can help rejuvenate your senses.
Social Interaction
Reach out to friends or family members for a chat. Social connections can provide emotional support and help you feel more connected and engaged with the world. Meeting with trusted people in person has the most benefit as the nervous system often attunes to the calmness of others.
Conclusion
The strategies listed above are common techniques often recommended and used by therapists, but they are by no means an exhaustive list of all the possible ways to regulate your nervous system. The general principle behind all of them is that when triggered, people recovering from traumatic experiences can feel as though the danger they faced is happening again. A dysregulated nervous system will respond as if you are back in that time and place.
The good news is that strategies for nervous system and emotional regulation can help mitigate the impacts of stressful events, PTSD, and even complex trauma. Regulation strategies all have an element of bringing you back to the present so that your brain and body can reorient to a sense of safety and call off the alarm. Many people develop their own strategies either on their own or with their therapist to achieve the same results. It’s not about following a rigid formula, it’s about finding what you best respond to. By incorporating these strategies for nervous system regulation, and perhaps a few of your own, you can create a toolkit of self-care practices to help you navigate your journey to recovery.
It's important to understand that while regulation strategies can offer practical short-term relief and stability, they are not a true treatment for PTSD. Unprocessed traumatic memories are the driver that maintains dysregulation and treatments like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy have some of the strongest evidence for resolving memories, leading to recovery from PTSD.
At Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC, I specialize in the use of EMDR for the treatment of trauma. If you're in the state of Texas and curious to learn more, schedule a free 15-minute consultation with me.
EMDR Therapist | Founder, Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC | Austin, TX
August 5th, 2024
Looking for more holistic practices and lifestyle changes that help regulate the nervous system and cope with trauma? Check out my free resource: How to Heal from Trauma: the Six Pillars of Holistic Trauma Recovery
