How Are You Resetting Your Nervous System?

I am still in Japan as I write this, and the contrast over the past week has been striking. Tokyo dazzled me with its neon lights, movement, and sensory intensity. It is extraordinary and electric, and I loved every minute of it. But when we travelled into the quieter mountain regions a few days later, something shifted in me. The pace softened. The air felt different. My shoulders dropped before I even realised they had been braced. 

It reminded me how deeply our nervous systems respond to environment, stimulation, and pace — often long before our thinking brain catches up. 

Here is the neuroscience in simple terms. 

When we are in the thick of a school term, our sympathetic nervous system — the part responsible for mobilisation, alertness, and action — is frequently switched on. This system is brilliant. It helps us respond to student needs, make rapid decisions, manage behaviour, pivot when the Wi-Fi fails, and hold space for big emotions. It is the reason we can do what we do. 

But it was never designed to run all day, every day, for ten weeks straight. 

Chronic activation keeps cortisol and adrenaline circulating. Over time, this does not just feel like tiredness. It can show up as irritability, brain fog, disrupted sleep, lowered immunity, and that sense that even small things feel disproportionately hard. It is not a personal weakness. It is physiology. 

Real recovery happens when we intentionally activate the parasympathetic nervous system — the branch responsible for rest, digestion, repair, and restoration. This is where heart rate slows, breathing deepens, inflammation reduces, and the brain shifts from survival mode back into creativity, empathy, and perspective. 

And here is something many of us overlook: scrolling on our phones while half-watching television does not necessarily switch that system on. True recovery requires experiences of safety, slowness, and presence. Gentle movement. Nature. Meaningful connection. Laughter. Even boredom. 

Standing in the mountains this week, surrounded by trees instead of traffic, I could feel my system recalibrating.  

Not because I “deserved” it.  

Not because I had earned it.  

But because my body finally had the cues it needed to stand down. 

This is exactly why I have been quietly working behind the scenes on something new. 

Over the past few months, I have been developing a new online course called “The Teacher Energy Reset.” In it, I go much deeper into the neuroscience of stress and recovery — what chronic activation does to our cognition and wellbeing, how invisible labour compounds it, and most importantly, the practical, teacher-friendly strategies that genuinely support nervous system repair during term time, not just in holidays. 

Because sustainable wellbeing is not about spa days and scented candles. It is about understanding how our biology works and partnering with it, rather than pushing against it. 

I will be sharing more about the course very soon, and I am so excited for you to see what I have been building. 

For now, as these holidays continue, I invite you to experiment with one small shift. Instead of asking, “How much can I get done today?” perhaps gently ask, “What would help my nervous system feel safe and settled today?” 

You deserve actions that allow you to come back to yourself.