Get to Know Your Nervous System (Back to the Basics Series – Part 1)
Episode 101: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
View transcript on Buzzsprout
The number one thing Amanda hears from podcast listeners is, “everything you’re saying makes so much sense, why has no one ever explained it to me like this before.”
In her approach she understands, teaches, and helps clients work with anxiety & depression through a nervous system lens. Helping show you that maybe your symptoms of activation or shut down make more sense than you think given your past lived experiences or current circumstances and habits. This non-pathologizing lens has made the difference for hundred of her clients (and thousands of her podcast listeners) in how they understand and approach their healing after years of “trying it all.”
In this episode, Amanda kicks off the Back to the Basics series by reintroducing listeners to one of the most important systems in the human body—the autonomic nervous system—and breaks down what it is, how it works, and why understanding it is essential to healing.
What We Cover in This Episode
- What the nervous system is and how it functions
- The difference between regulation and dysregulation
- How stress and past experiences shape your responses
- A simple framework (the nervous system ladder) to understand anxiety, depression, and survival states
What Is Your Nervous System (Really)?
Amanda simplifies a system that often gets overcomplicated. At its core, your nervous system is your body’s command center. It governs everything from your thoughts and emotions to your heart rate and digestion. But most importantly? It constantly scans your internal and external environment for safety or danger—and decides how you should respond.
This automatic “inner security system” helps us survive. When well-calibrated, it allows us to experience challenges and return to a place of safety and calm. When dysregulated, it keeps us stuck in survival mode—chronically activated (anxiety) or shut down (depression).
Regulated vs. Dysregulated: What That Actually Means
Amanda introduces two key branches of the autonomic nervous system:
- Sympathetic (Yellow Zone) — Think: gas pedal. This is your fight or flight, your “go, go, go” state where anxiety tends to show up.
- Parasympathetic (Green Zone or Red Zone) — Think: brake pedal. This is either your regulated, social, calm state—or your shutdown, disconnected state, depending on where you land on the ladder.
She walks us through the nervous system ladder, a powerful visual tool that helps explain how we move through different states based on stress load (aka your unique stress bucket).
Why It All Makes Sense
One of Amanda’s core beliefs—reinforced by years of client work—is that your symptoms make sense. If you’re feeling anxious or depressed, it’s not because you’re broken. It’s because your nervous system is doing exactly what it’s designed to do in response to your past experiences and current life circumstances.When you learn to interpret your symptoms as messages rather than malfunctions, healing becomes possible. That’s the power of this approach.
Three Tangible Takeaways
- Your symptoms are protective, not personal. Your nervous system isn’t trying to ruin your life. It’s trying to keep you safe. The more fluently you speak its language, the less you’ll feel at war with yourself.
- Self-compassion is non-negotiable. Understanding your nervous system can help dissolve self-blame and shift you into a posture of curiosity instead of criticism. That shift alone can change your healing trajectory.
- You’re likely carrying more than anyone ever taught you to hold. When Amanda describes the nervous system as holding a “bucket” of stressors, it clicks: Most of us are carrying too much with too little support. Of course we’re tired. Of course we’re stuck. The work isn’t to toughen up—it’s to learn how to carry differently.
This episode sets the stage for the rest of the series. Each week builds on the last, offering a deeper, more integrated understanding of how to work with your system, not against it.
Looking for more personalized support?
- Book a FREE discovery call for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
- Join me inside the Regulated Living Membership, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available)
- Join my Release Class – Monthly guided nervous system regulation class
- Order my book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!
- Download free resources here
*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or qualified mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
