BEST PRACTICE(S) FROM SPARK PRACTICE
How to Calm Your Nervous System
- Sarah SPARK
- February 14, 2025
2 Easy Steps to Nervous System Neutral (and why #goodvibesonly isn’t helpful)
Originally published Mar 04, 2023 (video added later)
What does it mean to
Calm your Nervous System?
When we self-regulate, and practice developing the skills to self-regulate even under stress, we develop the skills and groundwork for neurological safety.
Nervous System Neutral, or coming to neutral, is the practice of bringing ourselves out of a disregulated state (up or down), and back into calm safety.
There are a few basic steps
1. Awareness
2. Breathing / Heartbeat Regulation
3. Nervous System Dumping
4. Creating space for Calm
5. Engaging a Calming Strategy
X. Coming back to Nervous System Neutral
What most people don't know
These are tools you can learn and take with you forever.
These are to help you get into different feeling states and channel your energy in an aligned way that will work with you, not against you.
Moving from a disregulated state to neutral takes practice. This is especially true if we’re used to being stressed out, hyper vigilant, or have a hard time calming down.
Any time we decide to change the pathway that our system is used to, it takes practice. But because of neuroplasticity, we can influence changes within ourselves and develop new skills that with practice become the preferred pathway (reEex). It’s like changing the song of a jukebox stuck on repeat. It takes practice, but it’s nice to be able to choose the music.
Try the Inner Plant and 4/6 Breathing today - and don’t worry if you don’t feel totally calm right away.
Put it into Practice
Self Regulation is a critical element of Nervous System Neutral. Here are the first tools to learn to build nervous system resilience and reliably calm your nervous system.
2 easy strategies to try today:
The Little Plant
This is a daily practice to start to develop a positive relationship and cultivate kind self talk. This develops resilience and a tolerance / ability to manage stressful situations.
- Close your eyes and imagine a little plant at the absolute center of you (bottom of your tummy). It could be a flower / tree / sprout / shrub - whatever comes to mind.
- Ask your little plant "Hey friend, how are you?"
- Ask the little plant how it’s doing and if it needs anything. I like “Hey buddy, how’s it going? What do you need?”
- Send love to your little plant, come back to the present, and open your eyes
It's ok if you don't get a clear answer - ask the questions anyway. Notice if your plant looks healthy / scraggly / dehydrated / etc. Here's a video to take you through the exercise.
4/6 Breathing
An easy way to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system to help take the edge off. This is a great strategy to practice when we’re calm, but is also really effective in crisis.
1. Breathe in for four counts
2. Breathe out for six counts
3. Repeat at least 3 times, keep everything moving and fluid
SPARK Key Idea / Takeaway
Science says just 90 seconds can shift your state.
Calm isn’t passive - it’s active regulation. SPARK Practice’s Nervous System Neutral isn’t "no stress." It’s your agile state where challenges don’t become crises.
As the SPARK framework emphasizes, this isn't about a one-time fix. It's about leveling-up your relationship with yourself.
Every time you notice your stress response, pause, and choose one of these tools, you are doing more than just calming down.
This is neuroplasticity in action. You are physically strengthening the neural pathways for self-regulation. You're training your brain to be able to shift states. These are tools my clients learn to use to help get their brain to be reliably on their team.
You are the action hero of your own story, and you have all the tools you need to find your spark.
See you in the Practice Room!
Sarah, the Practice Professor
Performance Anxiety, Mindsets for Musicians