Review: Everyday Nervous System Regulation by Melissa Romano

Everyday Nervous System Regulation: Simple Exercises to Reset & Recenter
by Melissa Romano

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Non-Fiction Self Help

Blurb:
Simple nervous system regulation exercises to feel safer, calmer, and more present—for anyone, anywhere

For many of us, stress is baseline. Busy schedules, trauma, and chronic pressure can keep the nervous system stuck in survival mode. In Everyday Nervous System Regulation, Melissa Romano—bestselling author of the Vagus Nerve Deck—translates neuroscience into simple practices that return the mind and body to a calm and connected state. These accessible, somatic exercises help you reset in the moment while gradually retraining your nervous system to feel more grounded, less reactive, and attuned to the world around you.

Inside this book you will find:
– ACCESSIBLE TOOLS: Start now—no exercise clothes required. These practices are intentionally low effort while remaining effective.
– SCIENCE-BACKED STRESS RELIEF: Proven techniques to release stored tension and restore energy using the natural power of breath, movement, nature, and more.
– TARGETED SOMATIC PRACTICES: Find exercises mapped to a specific experience—like anger, loneliness, or fatigue—or begin with the Emergency Toolkit that includes 10 quick resets.
– STRUCTURED 7- AND 30-DAY PLANS: Turn simple practices into sustainable habits. Examples and templates provided

My Review

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Regulation is so important for me and something that impacts me on a regular basis, so when I saw this book on Netgalley I knew I wanted to read it and see what new techniques the book could teach me.

The book starts with an introduction about how the nervous system works and some of the theories behind the techniques, but where the book really shines for me is when it gets into the exercises. I liked the encouraging tone of the book and how the author emphasizes it’s totally fine to not do everything or try things out and adjust them in a way that works for you.

This book has so many different exercises you can try for nervous system regulation. These are separated into different chapters for different goals or states of being, like there is a chapter about when you’re feeling shut down, but also one for when you want to wind down and sleep or when you want connection or when you’re feeling angry or anxious. I liked the way this grouped the exercises and how you can eaisly find some that fit your current state of being.

I liked how many different exercises there are and I think that is one of the biggest strengths of this book, I think there is something for everyone. Some exercises didn’t resonate with me at all, others I adjusted so they would work for me and others were just right for me. I didn’t try all of them, but I made notes of the ones I wanted to try out and thought would work for me and even have incorporated some of them in my daily life already. I also was pleasantly surprised to recognize a whole lot of things I already do and it was nice to see that and knew I was doing some of this already.

The last chapter deals with ways to incorporate these exercises into your daily life by making a weekly or monthly plan and how to evaluate what is working and what is not. I didn’t really do much with this, but I think it’s helpful and gives you a starting point.

The only thing I sometimes struggled with is how information dense this book is, I could only read 3-4 exercises per time as else my brain just couldn’t process it. That’s more a me thing than something inherently bad about the book, but it made it so I only read this one in short burst so I could process the parts I had read. I do think this is a book I plan to read again and try some more exercises that I didn’t the first time.

To summarize: This was a great book about nervous system regulation. It feels very accessible and doable and I liked the encouraging writing style. The exercises are grouped in chapters focussed on a state of being or mood like exercises for when you’re angry, anxious or want to sleep. I liked the wide variety of exercises and I think there is something that works for everyone here. It was nice to recognize some things I already did as well as have plenty of new ideas to try. Not every exercise resonated with me, but that’s okay as there are so many of them that there were plenty I did try or want to try. I could only read this book is short bursts as it’s so dense with information and exercises and I needed some time to process after reading a few exercises. In the last chapter there also is a way to help you plan and fit these exercises in your daily life and evaluate what is working. All in all I can definitely recommend this book.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.