This post contains/may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you decide to purchase through my links, at no cost to you. At the moment this post is published, all of the linked products and services (whether affiliate links or not) are things I would or do use myself and would recommend to you regardless of said commission.
Current affiliate links can be identified by * in this specific blog post.

One of the best things I did for my blog business growth didn’t have anything to do with blogging, business strategy, marketing, and other business-related topics.

It did have everything to do with my level of nervous system regulation.

Especially as a highly sensitive person in the recovery stages of burnout, I just couldn’t seem to find the confidence, the motivation, the consistency, or the attention I needed and wanted to create my dream blog business.

That is, until I applied some very important habits and tools to help actively support my nervous system, as well as integrate the sensory overwhelm often felt by us highly sensitive people.

In this post, I’ll go more into:

Why you should support your nervous system, especially as an aspiring entrepreneur
How your nervous system health is directly tied to your success
Ideas on how to support your sensitive nervous system
Signs that what you’re doing for your nervous system is actually helping

I understand how frustrating it can feel to have big dreams and visions for what your life could be, but be unable to work towards those dreams because it feels impossible to find the time, energy, and confidence to do so.

Nervous system support is one of the frequently missed pieces in the recipe to become a successful blog business owner.

Why you should support your nervous system as an entrepreneur

Promote Confidence

One of the biggest struggles I hear from our community (and one of the biggest struggles I had - and still am dealing with) is a lack of self-confidence.

I found that my level of confidence grew when I was actually able to effectively support my sensitive nervous system.

With this increase in authentic confidence, I was actually able to put in the effort and inspired energy to work towards my goals.

Manage Self-Sabotage

Self-sabotage seems to be a frequent scapegoat when it comes to unmet goals. Self-sabotage can be frustrating and feel impossible to overcome, even if we know we’re doing it!

Supporting your nervous system can absolutely provide positive changes in your life, including making you less likely to engage in any addictive behaviors (more on this later!)

But supporting your nervous system also can help increase your tolerance for things that are making you self-sabotage in the first place.

A lot of times, self-sabotage is actually a way to protect yourself. It’s not something you can, or really would even want, to just get rid of.

Self-sabotage is a way for your nervous system to keep you safe and prevent harm.

If your nervous system state anticipates that you don’t have the ability to safely experience that next level of effort, success, or whatever you’re sabotaging, of course you won’t be easily able to push past that place of safety.

This is at the heart of why it’s so important to support your nervous system as an HSP entrepreneur.

When we’re always trying to do and be more, achieve more, even for good and to make a positive impact in the world…our nervous system might not feel safe when our dreams are bigger than our current nervous system capacity for change (even positive change) and/or intense emotions or sensory input. So by increasing your nervous system capacity for change, you also increase your ability to reach your big goals.

“And sometimes that self-sabotage is really our system being like ‘you don’t quite have the capacity for this yet’.”

— Trauma Rewired Podcast, Season 4 Episode 13 "The Highly Sensitive Person and Sensory Processing Dis-order"

(this podcast episode was very educational and eye-opening for me if you’re interested in hearing a bit more about this topic!)

How to support your nervous system

So, how do you actually do this? How can you heal and/or support and/or regulate your nevous system??

First, check out my blog post on 9 simple things to integrate into your routine to support and heal your nervous system as well as increase your capacity for going after your goals effectively and with confidence.

Second, know that every nervous system is different - we all have different weaknesses/deficits in our nervous system, so I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to do what is best for YOU. Try these tools at your discretion under the guidance of your medical provider. I by no means want to indicate that you need to do these specific things to “heal” or even effectively support your nervous system (disclaimer).

What to do to support your nervous system

But if you’re curious, these are the four things that, in combination, exponentially helped me best support my nervous system:

Therapy (a practitioner with knowledge about highly sensitive people and an IFS approach has been very impactful for me)
plus Julie Bjelland free tools* for sensitive people in a chaotic world
plus NeuroFit app* (20% off with this link if you’re interested) for daily, effective, and personalized nervous system exercises
plus Neurosomatic Intelligence (NSI) tools* (free 2-week trial with this link) to rewire your nervous system and cultivate more inner safety. If I had to pick, these tools made the biggest and most obvious differences for me.

= Finally developing the feeling of safety and real self-confidence to be consistent with going after my dreams of being a successful blogger (and succeeding).

NOTE: If you’re currently searching for a therapist, I’ve had success connecting with therapists (even ones that took my insurance!) here and here

If you want to create your dream blog business this year, check out our **FREE Blog Business Roadmap & Templates** to start your successful blog without overwhelm
*Sign up below to get your guide.* By signing up, you’ll also receive monthly reflection emails from us :)

Signs of nervous system healing

Your nervous system plays a part in so much of your overall health, from your hormonal balance to your energy levels, because the signals that are at the root of these systems come from your nervous system.

This can feel especially true for sensitive people. Because our nervous systems take in information and spend more time/energy processing it, no matter what type of information it is, it can make a deeper and more lasting impact on our selves.

So when you’re stressed and/or overextended, and taking in more harmful information and environmental factors, your other systems, your mood, etc. may also suffer all the more.

But the opposite is also true. It has been concluded that positive inputs impact sensitive people to a higher degree as well!

Some of the signs that you’re receiving more positive inputs (and in turn, a more balanced nervous system) include:

Decreased addictive behaviors
Stronger senses (without more overwhelm)
Decreased pain and/or other chronic health difficulties
Improved sleep
Better mood/less mental health struggles
Improved focus and mental clarity, attention, and memory
Better breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, and HRV (heart rate variability, an important indicator of health and stress levels)
Improved confidence and self-belief

Aaand I’ve noticed a somewhat (I think) strange sign of a more regulated nervous system recently in myself…

*Click the pic to learn more about our sensitive nervous system workbook*

First, I’ve come to realize that one of personal signs of nervous system dysregulation is learning.

Ok, so learning is not in itself a sign of dysregulation. Learning is a value, a strength, and beloved past time of mine. I’m curious and I like to explore that curiousity.

But I’ve come to realize that I use learning, not just as excuse or a way to procrastinate on taking action, but as a salve for my lacking nervous system regulation and level of self-confidence.

For some people, nervous system dysregulation can show up as addictive behaviors such as shopping or excessive consumption.

I didn’t think that applied to me because I don’t feel the need to buy lots of clothes, makeup, etc. when I’m down. I never thought I was an impulsive spender, and prided myself on being discerning and thoughtful about my purchases and budget…

But I realized I DO buy things when I’m dysregulated and not confident in my own skills and strengths: I buy learning in any form (books, courses, templates, downloads, education, more credentials after my name…you name it.) There’s an oddly specific shopaholic inside of me hahaha

The intense feeling of NEEDING to buy things to learn about everything I think is missing in myself and how to fix everything I possibly need to fix about myself and my life….that’s not necessarily a sign of a healthy and secure nervous system.

How I knew my nervous system was on the right track

But the awesome news happened one day when I didn’t feel the need to learn more.

Prior to this point, I made the empowered choice to put off purchasing one of these courses (about some self-development topic) and decided instead to treat myself with the ~$30 purchase when I met one of my goals.

Even more awesome…when I MET that goal…I didn’t feel the need to purchase the course!
Maybe because the dopamine had worn off by that point.
And/or maybe because I’d been working a LOT on regulating my nervous system with the tools I mentioned above.

I just didn’t think I needed the information that the course was teaching anymore, I felt secure in myself as I was.

And now, instead of needing to consume information to feel better, I’ve been able to successfully create information to help others (heheh sneaky transition to mention my new course Sensitive Blogger)

Even more exciting, I’ve noted objective proof as well as my change in subjective feelings and habits.

A good way to objectively measurs stress and nervous system regulation is knowing your heart rate variability (HRV). This area does need more scientific research, according to Harvard Health Publishing, but can be an effective “…way you might tap into your body and mind” and how they are responding to your daily experiences.

These personal results were from an app that measured HRV (via Apple watch) about every hour. I felt great after a week of implementing my nervous system tools - and the HRV results seemed to directly reflect that positive change!

I was excited, motivated, and validated by these results.

Along with my increasing feelings of confidence, self-esteem, groundedness, and peace, I knew I, and my nervous system, were headed in the right direction.

Once again, please do your own research and consult with your own healthcare team. But if you don’t know where to start, explore these tools with the guidance of your healthcare provider:

My nervous system support faves

Therapy (a practitioner with knowledge about highly sensitive people and an IFS approach has been very impactful for me)
Julie Bjelland sensitive person tools* for a chaotic world
NeuroFit app* (20% off with this link if you’re interested) for daily, effective, and personalized nervous system exercises
Neurosomatic Intelligence (NSI) tools* free 2- week trial to rewire your nervous system and cultivate more inner safety

NOTE: If you’re currently searching for a therapist, I’ve had success connecting with therapists (even ones that took my insurance!) here and here