6 Tiny Design Secrets to Nervous System Regulation

Design has a tremendous impact on the state of your nervous system, and the nervous system IS the lock and key to how you experience your life.

Here are 6 tiny secrets to Re-Designing your Life towards nervous system regulation.

1. Understand what design truly is.

 The irreducible process of design is two parts:

-        Selection of parts

-        How to assemble them

 You can draw many metaphors to life here. First, jot down the big picture parts you have selected.

Then, ponder on how you have assembled them and that realization sits in your body.

2. Safety is everything.

The nervous system is the diplomat of inner perceived safety.

One threat to that perceived safety can shift you into fight or flight responses. You will not live the life you want in fight or flight. Deeply observe your environments and the objects and interfaces you interact with on a daily basis.

What makes me feel tense?

What makes me frustrated?

What makes me stressed?

Begin questioning your environment and the things you use everyday deeply. 

3. Everything is designed, but not everything is designed for You.

You are deeply unique.

The way your nervous system responds to a certain

sound

color

texture

temperature

is a whole world in and of itself.

You don’t need to continue using objects and inhabiting spaces that don’t feel nourishing to you. Objects and spaces nowadays are often designed to fulfill a need at its most basic level. That low standard can be felt when you experience them.

The austerity of dry-wall,

the poor ergonomics of a chair,

the counter-intuitive operation of a gadget.

Just because things are need not mean that’s how they must be.

 4. The key is feeling

There is a reason that we have a natural urge to feel produce at the store. The moment you feel it, you connect with it on a deeper level and you know if it sits well with you or not.

Feel into your surrounding and take note of what expands you and what constricts you.

5. Clearing your environment clarifies your inner space.

Feel into the objects that don’t sit well with you and take them to goodwill.

Spend the extra little bit of money of the better product that feels right to use; bonus if it excites you to use it.

IF it brings you joy to use, your nervous system regulates with joy.

6. Align your everyday spaces with things that evoke the energy you want to be your default.

This is why minimalism is a thing. It feels soothing to only interact with highly curated objects.

Everything emits energy and you feel that, couple that with intention and you are designing the state of being you want to inhabit. Be mindful about all the energy you want to be influenced by on a daily basis.

Everything is designed,

everything has an energy,

everything impacts you.

Getting clear and intentional with the everyday objects you experience deeply contributes to your default state of being. Your everyday-ness is the way of being you inhabit, re-design if it doesn’t feel aligned to you.