Tips to regulate your nervous system

Many moms love the "Loop Engage" style. Unlike traditional earplugs that block out all sound, these simply filter out harsh background decibels. You can still easily hear your children and hold conversations, but the sharp edges of screaming, toy noises, and crashing pots are rounded off.

Constant high-decibel noise keeps your body in a perpetual state of low-grade stress. Research published in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity demonstrates how chronic exposure to environmental and traffic noise acts as a physical stressor, directly activating the sympathetic nervous system and elevating stress hormones like cortisol (Hahad et al., 2019). Try wearing these while making dinner, navigating a crowded Costco trip, or during your evening commute. Reducing traffic noise alone can prevent you from arriving home already in a state of fight-or-flight. 

2. Acoustic Design: Dampen the Sound in Your Home

Modern home trends favor open concepts, high ceilings, and hard surfaces like hardwood and tile. While beautiful, these design choices act as an amplifier for sound. Echoing noises bouncing off bare walls can instantly trigger sensory overload.



You don’t need an expensive home renovation to fix this. Look for functional ways to absorb sound waves in your high-traffic rooms:

• Add plush area rugs with thick rug pads.
• Hang fabric tapestries, canvas art, or heavy blackout curtains.
• Look into decorative acoustic felt wall tiles that blend seamlessly into home decor.

A calmer acoustic environment drastically reduces the subtle, unconscious toll that echo takes on your brain.

3. Practice a 15-Minute Sensory-Deprivation Yoga Reset

If you can sneak away for just 15 to 20 minutes to a quiet space, you can actively shift your body out of sympathetic drive using restorative yoga. The goal here is to remove as much physical and mental stimulation as possible so your body feels entirely supported.

Studies in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience demonstrate that slow, mindful breathing and supportive resting postures significantly increase vagal tone, stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system to reduce stress and anxiety.

How to do a sensory reset:

• Strip away physical triggers: Loosen tight clothing, take off your jewelry, remove hairbands, and kick off your shoes. Give your skin nothing to process.

• Get fully supported: Lay flat on the floor, or prop yourself up at a slight slant on the couch. Slide pillows, rolled-up towels, or blankets under every single gap—under your knees, lower back, neck, wrists, or elbows. Your muscles should not have to work to hold you up.

• Eliminate sound and light: Dim the lights, close the door, and skip the music. Total silence is the goal.

• Let your mind drift: Do not worry about "clearing your mind." Just let your thoughts drive past like cars on a highway. Sink into the support beneath you and notice the gentle rhythm of your breath.

4. Turn Down the Visual Volume (Adjust Your Lighting)

Visual stimuli can be just as draining as noise. Bright, overhead fluorescent or LED lighting signals to your brain that it needs to be alert, working, and processing information.

As the afternoon turns into evening, start intentionally dimming the lights in your home. Rely on lamps with warm-toned bulbs, salt lamps, or fairy lights rather than harsh overhead fixtures. According to a comprehensive review in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, artificial light exposure—especially blue light—profoundly impacts our circadian rhythms and autonomic nervous systems, keeping us wired when we need to be resting.

Turning down the lights gives your visual cortex a much-needed break and cues your nervous system that it is safe to transition into rest mode. (If you want to take your lighting and environmental regulation a step further, check out our recent blog post on the therapeutic benefits of candles!)

You Deserve a Regulated Life

Overstimulation isn't a parenting failure; it is a physiological response to a modern world that asks moms to carry too much at once. By making small, intentional tweaks to your sensory environment, you can protect your peace, lower your reactivity, and show up for your family with the presence and grace you desire.

If you are a mom struggling with burnout, chronic anxiety, or maternal overwhelm, you don’t have to figure it out alone. North Star Counseling & Wellness is here to support you. Reach out to us today to connect with a therapist who can help you build a personalized toolkit for nervous system regulation.