What the F*ck is Your Nervous System (And Why You Should Care)

Understanding your nervous system is one of the most life-changing things you can do.

Which brings us to an important question:

What the F*ck is Your Nervous System (And Why You Should Care)

Let’s break it down.

Your nervous system is basically your body’s communication highway, sending signals between your brain and your body all day long.

•  It controls how you feel.

•  How safe or unsafe you feel in any moment.

•  How calm or activated your body is.

•  It’s what triggers your fight, flight, or freeze response when your body senses danger, real or perceived.

•  It’s also that gut feeling you get when something just isn’t right. Your body is reading the situation faster than your mind can explain.

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It’s running the show underneath your thoughts, even when you don’t realize it.

The basics:

• Central nervous system = your brain and spinal cord. This is the control center that processes information and sends out instructions.

• Peripheral nervous system = all the nerves running through your body. These nerves carry messages between your brain, spinal cord, and the rest of your body.

The peripheral nervous system has two branches:

•  Somatic nervous system — controls voluntary movements, like moving your arm.

•  Autonomic nervous system — controls automatic functions, like your heart beating, breathing, digestion, and your stress and safety responses.

  
  

The most important aspect of your nervous system, and the part we are usually talking about in healing work, is your autonomic nervous system. This is the system that constantly scans for perceived or real safety or danger, and adjusts how your body feels and responds, both physically and emotionally.

The autonomic nervous system holds two main modes:

•  Sympathetic = fight, flight, freeze (stressed, activated, anxious, defensive, on edge)

•  Parasympathetic = rest, digest, repair (calm, grounded, connected, at ease)

  
  

Your body moves between these modes all day long.

But trauma, chronic stress, and life experiences can wire your nervous system to stay stuck in danger mode, even when you are safe.

That is why understanding your nervous system matters.

Because when you learn how to work with it, you can:

•  Calm anxiety

•  Build resilience

•  Heal trauma

•  Improve relationships

•  Feel more grounded in your body and your life

And in case no one told you:

You can absolutely rewire your nervous system. It is not stuck. It can change.

You will hear me talk about this a lot, because nervous system work is life-changing.

We will explore it in more detail over time, so you can start to understand and work with your own system.

So now you know.

That is WTF your nervous system is.

By Katherine Tatsuda

About the Author

Katherine Tatsuda is a writer, speaker, and legacy builder who believes in turning heartbreak into art and ashes into gold. A former grocery store CEO turned community leader and creative force, she writes with emotional precision and luminous truth. Whether she’s hiking mountain trails, leading a school board, or unraveling the tangled threads of love and loss, Katherine shows up with clarity, courage, and a little bit of glitter. She lives in Southeast Alaska, where the rain never stops, but neither does her fire.