Just Breathe Mindfulness Coaching

Just Breathe Mindfulness Coaching Author of bestseller, The Emotional Hustle. Qualified mindfulness guide hosting Wirral courses & retreats.

Julie offers a daily mindfulness app; online support for sleep, meditation & stress management & one to one support for stress & career transitions

I thought I’d find out what nervous system regulation actually means. There’s been so much hype around this topic that I...
08/09/2026

I thought I’d find out what nervous system regulation actually means.

There’s been so much hype around this topic that I thought I’d finally do some digging.

How hard can it be? I thought!

Afterall, I'd had the perfect research companion sitting in my audio book library, where it’s been gathering virtual dust for two years - The Polyvagal Theory by Stephen Porges.

So one quiet Sunday afternoon, I finally decided to tackle it and settled down to some nice, simple listening.

I love research.
I'm fascinated by complicated ideas.
I have two Master's degrees.
And yet it wasn’t long before my bubble burst.

There were moments when I wondered whether I needed a medical degree just to understand the introduction.

Don’t get me wrong - the work is absolutely fascinating.
But the experience made me realise something.

If understanding our nervous system can genuinely help us navigate stress, surely we need to be able to understand it first.

Because somewhere between the vagus nerve, dysregulation and the endless advice to "reset" our nervous systems, a fairly simple idea can get lost.

Our nervous system isn't supposed to keep us calm all the time.
It needs to help us respond to what's happening.

Sometimes that means becoming more alert.
Sometimes it means mobilising us for action.

And when the challenge has passed, ideally, our state begins to change again.

Regulation isn't about achieving a permanently calm state.
It's about having the flexibility to move between different states depending on what life requires from us.

And that's what interests me.
Not - “How do I calm my nervous system?”
But - “Why am I still on high alert when the thing I was dealing with has already ended?”

If you’re looking for a simple introduction to this complex topic, have a look at my blog - Why is Everyone Talking About Nervous System Regulation? https://www.justbreathesolutions.co.uk/blog/what-is-nervous-system-regulation

No medical degree required.

George explains nervous system regulation!Meet George.George is one of the reasons I'm quite pleased my nervous system w...
04/09/2026

George explains nervous system regulation!

Meet George.

George is one of the reasons I'm quite pleased my nervous system works.

Most of the time, we coexist quite happily. As long as I fulfil his demands within seconds of them being made.

But George has also been known to attack my ankles and, shortly after we acquired him, jump on my head in the middle of the night.

So when I see this small furry predator heading in my direction, a beautifully calm nervous system isn't particularly useful.

I want my body to react.

My heart rate might increase.
My muscles may tense.
My attention narrows.

That's not necessarily a nervous system that needs fixing.
It's a nervous system doing its job.

And I think that message is getting lost in many of the current conversations about nervous system regulation.

We hear a lot about calming, resetting and regulating ourselves.
But regulation isn’t about staying calm.

So consider this... what happens next? When George has sauntered off, looking completely innocent whilst I'm still muttering about him in the kitchen.

The threat has passed but has my body noticed?

That's the part of nervous system regulation I've been exploring in this week’s blog.

And it turns out, we don't all need to become neuroscientists to understand it.

Although after attempting to read Stephen Porges, I did briefly wonder whether a medical degree might help.

Get the full insight - Why Is Everyone Talking About Nervous System Regulation?

https://www.justbreathesolutions.co.uk/blog/what-is-nervous-system-regulation

One difficult hour.How long did you live in it?Sometimes we're exhausted by a day that, on paper, doesn't look particula...
03/09/2026

One difficult hour.
How long did you live in it?

Sometimes we're exhausted by a day that, on paper, doesn't look particularly exhausting.

One difficult meeting lasted an hour.

But we anticipated it all morning.
We experienced it for an hour.
Then we replayed it all evening.

One hour of physical time.
But how much mental time?

I think that's an important distinction.

Stressful situations usually have a beginning and an end. Our thinking doesn't necessarily follow the same timetable.

And every time we anticipate, remember or replay something with enough emotional weight, we're creating another experience in the present.

This isn't about trying to stop thinking.

It's about noticing when thinking has stopped helping.

That's where we begin to reclaim some of the capacity those thoughts have been quietly consuming.

👉 I've explored this more in Why Thoughts Can Trigger the Stress Response:

https://www.justbreathesolutions.co.uk/blog/why-thoughts-trigger-the-stress-response

Enjoy.

“Can we have a quick chat tomorrow?”Six innocent words.And suddenly your perfectly ordinary evening has changed.Have I d...
01/09/2026

“Can we have a quick chat tomorrow?”

Six innocent words.

And suddenly your perfectly ordinary evening has changed.

Have I done something wrong?

Is something about to change?

Am I losing my job?

Meanwhile, your manager may be planning to congratulate you.

That's the fascinating thing.

Nothing has actually happened.

The brain has been given incomplete information and has started filling in the gaps using memory, experience and imagination.

And if the story it creates feels threatening, the body can begin responding to that perceived threat.

For the brain, perception can be enough.

I've explored the relationship between thought and the stress response in my latest article.
👉 https://www.justbreathesolutions.co.uk/blog/why-thoughts-trigger-the-stress-response

31/08/2026

Last call for this fascinating 8 week course for those who want a deeper understanding of the benefits of daily mindfulness. Bookings close Tuesday - next intake January.

I want you to imagine your favourite meal.Picture the colours and textures.Imagine the smell.Think about that first mout...
28/08/2026

I want you to imagine your favourite meal.

Picture the colours and textures.

Imagine the smell.
Think about that first mouthful.

If I've done my job properly, your mouth may already be watering.

Yet there's no food in front of you.

Your mind created a thought.

Your body reacted to it.

We accept this quite happily when we're thinking about food.

But the same mind-body connection becomes rather more interesting when the thought is about

tomorrow's difficult meeting,
yesterday's argument or
the email we're worrying about answering.

The situation doesn't have to be happening right now for us to experience a physical reaction to it.

Find out: Why Thoughts Can Trigger the Stress Response.
I want you to imagine your favourite meal.
Picture the colours and textures.
Imagine the smell.
Think about that first mouthful.
If I've done my job properly, your mouth may already be watering.
Yet there's no food in front of you.
Your mind created a thought.
Your body reacted to it.
We accept this quite happily when we're thinking about food.
But the same mind-body connection becomes rather more interesting when the thought is about tomorrow's difficult meeting, yesterday's argument or the email we're worrying about answering.
The situation doesn't have to be happening right now for us to experience a physical reaction to it.
That's the idea I've been exploring in my latest article: Why Thoughts Can Trigger the Stress Response.
👉https://www.justbreathesolutions.co.uk/blog/why-thoughts-trigger-the-stress-response

When did you last say:“Right. I've done enough.”Not:I've run out of time.I'll finish it tomorrow.I can't do any more tod...
25/08/2026

When did you last say:

“Right. I've done enough.”

Not:

I've run out of time.

I'll finish it tomorrow.

I can't do any more today.

Actually...
I've done enough.

It's surprisingly difficult.

Many of us seem to have absorbed the idea that rest comes after everything else.

When the work is finished.

When the house is sorted.

When everybody else is okay.

When we've replied to the messages.

When we've done enough.

There's just one slight flaw in the plan.

Life is never finished.

There will always be another email.

Another job.

Another person who needs something.

Another thing we could do.

So if rest is something we earn by completing everything first.....rest doesn't stand much of a chance.

Perhaps the question isn't:

“Have I finished?”

Perhaps occasionally it's:

“Have I done enough for today?”

There's quite a difference.

I've been exploring why stopping can feel surprisingly uncomfortable — and why some of us even feel guilty when we try.

👉 Why Do I Feel Guilty When I Relax?
https://www.justbreathesolutions.co.uk/blog/why-do-i-feel-guilty-when-i-relax

This looks like a great session with Sarah, just a few places left
24/08/2026

This looks like a great session with Sarah, just a few places left

You finally get half an hour to yourself.Nobody needs you.Even the cat has stopped head-butting your leg and gone to sle...
21/08/2026

You finally get half an hour to yourself.

Nobody needs you.

Even the cat has stopped head-butting your leg and gone to sleep.

You make a cup of tea, sit down and...

I really should put that washing away.
I haven't replied to that email.
Perhaps I'll just order that thing while I'm sitting here.

And before you know it, you're doing again.

We often assume the reason we don't relax is because we don't have enough time.

But what happens when we find the time.....and feel guilty for using it?

Professor Paul Gilbert's work on our Threat, Drive and Soothing systems offers an interesting perspective.

Many of us have become extremely well practised at Threat and Drive.

We worry about something.
We do something about it.
And doing feels useful.

But the things that allow our Soothing system a little airtime —
the walk,
the lunch break,
sitting with a cuppa,
doing something purely because we enjoy it —
can gradually get squeezed out.

And just when we do finally stop?
"You shouldn't be sitting here"!

Threat has found something else to worry about.
Drive knows exactly what to do.
Get up and make yourself useful.

Perhaps finding time to relax isn't always the problem.

Perhaps we also need to notice whether we've given ourselves permission to use it.

I've explored this — along with the important psychological role of lemon drizzle 🍋 — in my latest article:

👉 Why Do I Feel Guilty When I Relax?
https://www.justbreathesolutions.co.uk/blog/why-do-i-feel-guilty-when-i-relax

How Do I stop My Mind Thinking?One of the questions I'm asked most often when teaching mindfulness is:"How do I stop my ...
20/08/2026

How Do I stop My Mind Thinking?

One of the questions I'm asked most often when teaching mindfulness is:

"How do I stop my mind thinking?"

The answer usually brings surprise- and relief.
Many people assume stopping thoughts is the goal.

They also know how impossible that feels.

The simple answer is .....
We don't.

Thinking itself isn't the problem. The problem begins when thinking quietly stops being helpful.

👉 We replay the same conversation twenty times.
👉 We keep searching for answers that simply aren't available.
👉 We continue thinking long after the situation is ended.

Bringing awareness to our thinking, isn’t about emptying our mind. It’s about recognising what the mind is trying to do.

That moment of awareness creates choice.
The choice to go down the rabbit hole one more time.... or the choice to let those thoughts be.

If replaying conversations long after they've ended feels familiar, I've explored why it happens in my latest article.
👉 https://www.justbreathesolutions.co.uk/blog/why-we-replay-conversations

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