Winter Nervous System Reset: 7 Natural Ways to Settle an Anxious System
What constitutes a winter nervous system reset?
Naturally, our bodies are already seeking this in the colder months, as we go inward and reflect.
You can use the darker months to implement a winter nervous system reset and leverage it to your advantage.
The winter solstice marks the year’s shortest day and longest night, but on this day, we can feel a sense of hope and anticipation as the days grow longer.
Winter solstice is one of my favorite holidays, as it feels so magical.
It is like an initiation for the soul.
An opportunity for a rebirth, and so we will embark on a pathway for a winter nervous system reset with the winter solstice just around the corner.
It is an eve that is the perfect time to set intentions, a chance for inner reflection, and a perfect time to receive guidance from on high.
Make this your best 2026 yet with these practical yet profound winter nervous system reset tips.
Why can the Nervous System “short-circuit” in the Winter?
The reason can stem from a few issues.
As temperatures drop and sunlight fades, many of us naturally spend more time indoors.
This means more exposure to artificial light, EMFs, and indoor air that isn’t always the cleanest.
From paint fumes and off‑gassing carpets to constant blue light, Wi‑Fi, hidden mold, pet dander, and plain stagnant air, the indoor environment can quietly stress the system, especially if you’re on the more sensitive side.
There may be something underlying to tune into, which I will make sure to remark on at the end of the post.
This insight can be the missing key to healing the nervous system for some people.
The other issue is that with less sunshine, our vitamin D levels can plummet, making our immune system more susceptible to autoimmune triggers and leaving us feeling run-down.
However, we can make wiser, healthier choices for a winter nervous system reset, which will allow for massive benefits both physically and mentally.
Let’s dive into it.
Winter Nervous System Reset Protocol
Step 1
First things first: don’t try to change anything out of nervousness.
Start by taking a few slow, deep breaths and ask yourself if you trust yourself.
Do you trust yourself enough to be capable of being the guardian of yourself?
I say this with a little tough love here: no one is going to do it for us.
We must be the stewards of the person we have become this lifetime.
For me, the key to a winter nervous-system reset, when it comes down to it, is: do you love yourself?
Can you sense that you are already whole, and totally safe, right here and now?
Rarely are we not truly safe but our mind likes to take us to the mode of hyperawareness due to our conditioning and past programming.
I wanted to let you know I won’t tell you to follow the standard practices taught in this arena, such as looking around the room and finding things to connect with. While they are helpful for some, the core question is: Do you feel stable within yourself?
Because, in all honesty, your mind will likely try to find things that don’t support safety.
That is just because the mind has been programmed to go into a default mode.
And in this life, many things can take you off center.
The key here is to love yourself into wholeness and come from that place.
To feel safe and remind yourself that you indeed are safe here and now.
You are the source of your own calmness, happiness, and validation.
Anyone’s opinion says more about them than about you. So how do you view yourself?
Of course, if someone has a valid critique, we can see how it lands for us and see if we need to do some personal growth work.
Take it for a walk before we take it in ourselves.
Key TakeAway: A daily practice of telling yourself you fully love the person you are, the shadow included, and that you are safe and capable will supercharge your energy.
You no longer need something out there to fill it.
Your heart is open to you. You are working on yourself out of love.
We all have things about ourselves to work on, but that is an opportunity for more self-love and compassion.
Step 2
In a powerful Winter Nervous System Reset, we view our food choices as a means to nourish the body and soul.
True medicine.
When most fruits are out of season, we can focus on citrus and make it a key part of our food map.
Nature does this for a reason.
It creates the very foods we need each season.
That is the best way to tune in to how we are all part of this Earth.
Warming teas, broths and stews can be the anchor for our winter nervous system reset.
Hearty, and I mean that literally and figuratively, are the nervous system anchor points to make you feel grounded and rooted this winter.
It gives your immune system the healing and restoration it needs.
Think about the root vegetables that are here for us in the winter, giving us sturdiness and groundedness all winter long.
Winter Nervous System Elixirs – Food as Medicine
Sleepy Cherry Nervous System Mocktail
Step 3
Enjoy these winter nervous-system reset elixirs to feel more at ease this season.
This one is simple: A splash of organic tart cherry juice topped with Gerolsteiner sparkling mineral water for extra magnesium, calcium, and bicarbonate.
Tart cherry naturally supports melatonin production and healthier sleep cycles, which helps the nervous system stop living in “danger mode” all night long.
The minerals in the sparkling water add a gentle gut–brain and electrolyte reset, so you’re hydrating, remineralizing, and signaling “it’s safe to unwind” with every sip.
Mineral‑Rich Nervous System Soup
One of my favorite ways to enrich a winter nervous system reset is to prepare warm, nourishing broths throughout the season.
The process of making the soup in and of itself is a calming, restorative practice.
From nourishing Pho to a remineralizing collagen-rich broth, you can get creative with soups.
For an extra warming effect, add ginger and even cinnamon sticks into a muslin cloth while simmering your soups.
Get some unique spices or roots and elevate your broth.
Think of this as nervous system food you can eat with a spoon.
A slow‑simmered, mineral‑rich broth base floods the body with amino acids like glycine and proline that help calm the stress response, strengthen us and nourish fascia, and support connective tissue from the inside out.
Because hair, skin, and nails are extensions of the nervous system and the connective tissue network, this kind of soup becomes a beauty‑and‑repair ritual: deeply feeding the gut lining, immune system, and the “wiring” that carries signals throughout the body.
Reishi Hot Chocolate Nervous System Tonic
This is your playful “out of fight‑or‑flight” cup.
Start with warm coconut milk to soothe gut inflammation and offer a creamy, blood‑sugar‑friendly base, then whisk in cacao and a blend of medicinal mushrooms like reishi.
Add the sweetener of your choice.
Cacao is traditionally known for opening the heart and softening the edges of stress, helping the body shift from armor into warmth and receptivity, while reishi and other mushrooms add gentle immune and HPA‑axis support.
Depending on the reishi variety you choose, it can support the liver and NK cells, and help you move into a more spiritually connected space, going within to tune in to the wisdom you already have inside you.
In fact, sipping a Reishi Hot Chocolate, practicing self-love, and feeling safe are top priorities.
The result is a cozy nervous system relaxer that feels like a treat but is actually working with your biology to downshift and repair.
Here is a link to a mold and metal free cacao powder.
Redlight Therapy Winter | Nervous System
Step 4
Without ample amounts of sunlight, as mentioned, our Vitamin D levels may plummet in the winter.
We may also be missing out on therapeutic red and near-infrared light waves from the sun.
This is when we can look to a red light device to simulate these waves as a workaround.
I created my own red light board and then got a canvas teepee made as a warm little hut when I lived in the mountains for many years.
It was a soothing nervous system tool and a healing light transmission from the red light bulbs.
This tool will help you build mitochondrial energy, soothe your nervous system, and warm your core, which is crucial in winter.
Here is a link to the red light bulbs, or go to your local hardware store and then purchase a clamp light like this on Amazon.
Then you can have it at your desk all through the winter.
It is a powerful way to ensure your winter nervous system reset is optimized.
Warmth for A Winter Nervous system Reset
Step 5
Spending time out doors is still a very important piece of this protocol even when it is cold.
This is a vital exercise and a way to strengthen our nervous system.
It also gives us a chance to take in fresh, clean air into our lungs.
The key is to be smart about it.
Do it after a red light session or a sauna session.
Have a warm broth or tea ready on the stove when you get back.
Bundle up properly so it is an enjoyable experience.
The body thrives when it is warm and circulating.
Yin Yoga, The Vagus Nerve for the Ultimate Winter Nervous System Reset
Step 6
Recently I got certified to teach Yin Yoga.
It is a deeply enjoyable practice that I enjoy sharing with others, and I look forward to it every single day.
Yin yoga is all about long, deep holds that support the body’s mobility and fascial network.
It is here in this network that we hold energy, and things can get stuck like old, outdated patterns.
This practice can help the vagus nerve to reset, as this practice activates the rest and digestive parasympathetic nervous system.
I highly recommend the practice; be sure to wear a warm pair of thick socks and bring props like a bolster, blocks, and a blanket to warm the body and calm the nervous system.
The Missing Winter Nervous System Reset Key
Step 7
What happens if you do these things, yet you still feel anxious and well, just not like yourself?
There is a good chance you have some sort of toxin or stored trauma wreaking havoc on your nervous system.
This is when you need to look into stealth infections, metals, mold, and retroviruses as a cause of your nervous system issues.
This is what I specialize in.
And you may want to look into Family Constellations work so you can recover from past trauma.
Getting tested by a health practitioner or seeking support in this area would be advisable.
Taking care of these types of interference fields is paramount to ever feeling less wired and stressed.
No amount of mediation or eating perfectly will do that in this case.
I suggest taking a look at my post on detoxing the liver.
This is a key organ that helps you process toxins in your body.
Winter Nervous System Reset Final Thoughts
When we put all of this together, nervous system healing stops being another project and becomes a way of living.
It’s the daily choice to relate to yourself with more love, wholeness, and “I am capable,” instead of self‑fixing from a place of fear.
It’s warming, nourishing foods such as broths, soups, teas, plus heart‑opening allies like medicinal mushrooms and cacao that remind the body it is fed, held, and safe.
It’s yin shapes that soothe the vagus nerve and unwind the fascia, so old stories and stuck energy have somewhere to go, and your body actually feels like a good place to be again.
And it’s also being honest about the deeper layers: viruses, mold, and stealth infections that quietly keep the system in survival mode, and how tools like red light can deliver the healing wavelengths the body has been missing.
None of this has to be perfect.
Even one small ritual—one bowl of soup, one yin pose, one compassionate thought toward yourself, one five‑minute red‑light session can start to shift the field.
Your nervous system is listening to how you live with yourself; let it hear, over and over, that it is finally safe to soften.
This post focused on a winter nervous system reset.
I trust it was helpful.
Please feel free to share your thoughts or comments.
Or if you need guidance, please reach out to me to learn more.
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