Earlier this year in LA, we witnessed similar traumatic stress patterns in communities affected by wildfires. 

Beyond Fight-or-Flight

While anxiety and fight-or-flight responses receive attention, freeze, shutdown, and collapse are actually the most common reactions to traumatic events.

"Outside-in" factors like weather events can shift our neurobiology long after an event passes, and they remain constant in our world. Outside-in influences on the nervous system include social factors as well, forming a key component of the Nervous System Certification Course.

Building stronger, healthier communities requires more nervous system-trained practitioners.

Embodied Stress Responses

As a practitioner or coach, you've likely noticed increased outreach during challenging times like natural disasters.

When winds intensified, I first noticed tension in my neck and tightness in my belly—physical manifestations of my stress response. I was bracing against the coming storm both psychologically and physically. We experienced sleepless nights, my mind felt scrambled, and my energy fluctuated.

This is typically when both existing and new clients seek support because they struggle to manage their feelings.

As more people recognize the connection between nervous system regulation and overall health, demand for trained practitioners continues growing. Fortunately, these skills complement many existing practices.

Nervous System Training Across Disciplines

Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Chiropractors and Massage Therapists: You often serve as the first contact for people seeking relief from tension, pain, and headaches during stressful periods.

Integrating nervous system resources that facilitate state shifts from sympathetic activation or dorsal shutdown into ventral vagal calm reduces the likelihood of long-term dysregulation.

In ventral vagal regulation, the immune system and inflammation settle, helping clients manage pain.

Yoga Teachers, Pilates Instructors and Movement Therapists: People naturally gravitate toward exercise to discharge stress activation.

Incorporating nervous system concepts enhances your ability to guide this process and support your students' and clients' quality of life.

Coaches: Clients often reach out when feeling stuck—frequently stemming from immobilization patterns like freeze that lead to paralysis, procrastination, and hopelessness.

They don't feel themselves at work, manifesting as lack of focus or reduced capacity. Alternatively, they might describe struggles caring for their family.

Counsellors, Therapists and Social Workers: You can help clients achieve more sustainable improvements through integrated bottom-up resources.

Modulating stress by adding body-oriented resources creates changes to regulation-related neural networks through neuroplasticity.

Regulation, Resolution & Restoration

Helping people recover from traumatic stress and regulate their nervous systems produces profound improvements in quality of life.

Modern nervous system approaches are grounded in neuroscience and growing research on cardiac vagal tone, providing evidence-based frameworks for your practice.

Understanding the intersection of emotions, pain, immune function, digestive health, inflammation, sleep, and mental health will expand your scope.

Witnessing clients transition from dysregulation to resilience delivers deeply satisfying and meaningful work. The impact extends beyond individual sessions, creating ripple effects as regulated clients bring their presence into families and communities.

You can get started by joining my free 60 minute on-demand training to improve the functioning of your vagus nerve.You'll learn to regulate stress, your emotions and balance your nervous system.