Regulate Your Nervous System This Fall With These 7 Cozy Tips
As many parts of the world get colder, you might naturally begin to crave coziness, which involves feeling warm, relaxed, and comforted. Lean into that cozy impulse, as creating a cozy vibe can help regulate your nervous system.
When regulated, you feel more grounded, calm, and balanced. So coziness really can be curative! Try these tips to increase the cozy quotient in your life.
Watch a cozy movie or show, or read a cozy novel that emphasizes compassion
Coziness is about feeling connected in heartwarming ways. Get lost in stories set in small, close-knit communities where people accept and support each other. Snuggle into characters who approach their lives and the world with compassion.
When we treat ourselves and others with compassion, our hearts open and the nervous system gets a boost of positive energy. These “cozies” are often set in a quaint village.
Feel physically snug and comfortable
Surround yourself with blankets of different weights, soft pillows, and clothes that are snuggly to the touch. Feeling snug is not only a time-honored cozy practice, it helps you feel safe on a deeper level, which makes the nervous system more resilient.
Snuggle up with a pet, child, or partner to feel the cozy comfort of companionship, or reach out with messages of love to your inner circle.
Tell yourself truths, or offer others wisdom, in gentle ways
We can sit with difficulties, change, or new perspectives much easier when they arrive in a cozy package. This was the inspiration for my new cozy deck, The Comforting Wisdom Oracle.
Whether you’re navigating an exciting, big transformation or working through a painful issue, speak to yourself and others about it in comforting ways. This will help your nervous system feel more stable, and will make it easier to be hopeful and stay motivated to take assertive action.
Warm your inner hearth
We often picture people and pets gathered around a comforting hearth fire when conjuring cozy images, and sitting around an outdoor chiminea or indoor fireplace is definitely cozy. But we each have an inner hearth as well, which also needs regular tending, giving us a warm inner glow.
Be sure to do activities this fall that make you feel happy, peaceful, and inspired. Whether it’s getting lost in a book with an inspirational story, spending time on a favorite creative hobby, or taking a walk to observe the beautiful seasonal changes in nature, the regular rhythm and routine of these activities will help regulate your nervous system.
Stock the cupboards
Coziness is a feeling of plenty—not having too much, but rather the comforting sense of having enough of what you need. Keep your favorite healthy snacks on hand and load up on ingredients for homecooked meals to feel emotionally satiated and more regulated.
Billions of people around the world experience food insecurity, so offering a donation of food or funds to a local charity helps you and others feel more cozy this fall.
Savor simple pleasures to feel grateful
Coziness isn’t just for certain seasons, it can be a lifestyle, and simplicity is a central theme. Watching the sunset, sipping your favorite warm beverage, lighting a scented candle, listening to comforting music, or holding someone’s hand are pleasures that don’t cost much or anything at all.
Yet these simple treats are among the most precious life has to offer. Slow down so these pleasurable moments linger. Stay present to savor simple pleasures and to ground your nervous system.
Add cozy visual elements to your home
Fall and winter are traditionally times to not only get cozy, but to decorate your living space both inside and out. Hang a wreath on the front door, cozy up a room with a pretty rug or throw, or make a centerpiece for the kitchen table with found nature elements like leaves, dried flowers, and pine cones.
When the weather is cooler and you’re not outside as much, coziness is bringing nature indoors. Nature has an amazing ability to help regulate the human nervous system.