How Your Nervous System Impacts Your Thoughts

Ever feel like your thoughts are spiralling, and you don’t know why?
It’s not always just your mindset… it’s your nervous system.

In these #nudenotes, I'm sharing my notes how mastery of your nervous system and change your story.
Shout out Deb Dana, whose work inspired this spread of notes.

Your body doesn’t just react to your thoughts - your thoughts are shaped by the state your body’s in.

Stress?
Anxiety?
Burnout?

That’s your nervous system sounding the alarm.

When you’re in a state of safety (aka Ventral Vagal), you feel calm, creative, and connected. But flip the switch to Sympathetic (fight/flight), Freeze, or Dorsal Vagal (shutdown), and your thoughts follow suit: racing, reactive, stuck or spiralling.

Want clearer thinking?
Start with your state.
Breathe.
Move.
Pause.
Connect.

Shifting your body’s state can literally shift your story.

Here's the short version:
Ventral Vagal: “I’ve got this. Let’s create.”
Sympathetic: “I’m overwhelmed. Everything feels urgent.”
Freeze: “I want to move—but I’m stuck.”
Dorsal: “What’s the point? I just want to disappear.”

Click through, because awareness = power.