Stress and Disease: Healing Through the Nervous System
- Cheryl M
- Apr 27
- 2 min read
Updated: May 7
In today’s world, stress has become so common it’s almost invisible. We wear it like a badge of honor—constantly busy, always on, endlessly managing. But under the surface, stress is doing something profound to the body:
It’s keeping us in survival mode. And over time, that chronic state of stress contributes to imbalance, inflammation, and eventually, disease.
If we want to heal, we must start with the nervous system.
Your Two Nervous System States: Fight or Heal
Your autonomic nervous system has two main branches:
The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): Often called the “fight or flight” system, this is your body’s emergency response. It increases heart rate, tightens muscles, shuts down digestion, and floods you with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS): Known as “rest and digest,” this system allows your body to recover, repair, digest food, process emotions, and regulate hormones. This is where healing happens.
Both systems are vital. But problems arise when we get stuck in sympathetic dominance—constantly bracing, reacting, and surviving.
Stress and Disease: The Hidden Link
When your body spends too much time in the sympathetic state, it starts to break down:
Digestion slows, leading to bloating, food sensitivities, and nutrient deficiencies
Immunity weakens, making you more susceptible to illness
Inflammation increases, a root cause of many chronic diseases
Sleep and hormone cycles are disrupted, causing fatigue, anxiety, and burnout
Mental clarity and emotional regulation decline, leaving you foggy and reactive
Many symptoms that appear physical or emotional are actually nervous system symptoms. They’re messages. Signals. A call to shift back into the parasympathetic state.
Healing Happens in Safety, Not Stress
Your body can’t heal in a state of threat.
Whether that threat is real or perceived—an emotional trigger, a toxic relationship, or an overloaded to-do list—the nervous system reacts the same way.
So healing isn’t just about supplements or self-care routines. It’s about creating safety on a deep, embodied level.
This is the heart of holistic healing.
How to Shift into Healing Mode
Small, consistent practices can help rewire your nervous system and bring you back into balance.
Some of my favorites:
Deep, slow belly breathing (activates the vagus nerve)
Grounding in nature (walking barefoot, sunlight, stillness)
Restorative movement (yoga, stretching, gentle dance)
Loving presence and connection (safe relationships calm the body)
Bodywork or somatic therapies (helps release stored tension and trauma)
Meditation or breath awareness (trains the mind to slow down)
These practices don’t just “feel good.” They retrain your body to remember safety—and that’s where true healing begins.
You’re Not Meant to Live in Survival
You are not meant to feel tense all the time. You are not meant to live in a loop of exhaustion, inflammation, or anxiety.
You were made for balance, for breath, for joy.
When we support the nervous system, the body begins to repair itself.
The mind softens. The heart opens. And the symptoms begin to shift—because we’re no longer just treating the surface.
We’re finally listening to the root.
If you're ready to move from stress to safety, from survival to healing, I'm here to walk that journey with you. Let’s bring your body back to the state it was designed to thrive in.