Regulating the Nervous System Instead of Quick Fixes: What Really Helps
Before Athens was called Athens, the city was known as Kekropia. Two gods wanted to become its patron deities: Poseidon struck the rock of the Acropolis with his trident and caused a spring to gush forth—dramatic, impressive, and instantaneous. Athena, on the other hand, knelt down and planted an olive tree. No spectacle. Just a tree that took time to grow. King Kekrops chose the tree—and to this day, the city bears Athena’s name.
This old story describes quite accurately two options I see every day with my clients: the quick fix—the dietary supplement, the radical reset, the promise of results by Friday. And the slower path, which first asks what the body needs to feel safe before anything changes.
Why the quick fix doesn't work for the nervous system
The nervous system can’t be reprogrammed overnight. It regulates itself through small, unremarkable, repeated signals: breathing, rest periods, digestion, safety. None of these seem particularly impressive on any given Tuesday—and that’s exactly why they’re so often overlooked in favor of solutions that yield faster, more visible results.
The Polyvagal Theory (according to Stephen Porges—a model that is still debated in some scientific circles but remains a helpful framework) describes how the body first seeks safety: connection, calm, the feeling of “I’m okay.” Only when that fails does it switch to fight-or-flight mode. Only when that, too, is insufficient does it shut down completely. A regulated nervous system does not mean the absence of stress—but rather a body that knows how to find its way back to a state of safety, rather than getting stuck in a state of alarm.
The Gut-Brain Axis: Why Digestion and the Nervous System Are Connected
The connection between the gut and the nervous system is not a footnote but an increasingly well-studied field. A 2025 study by the Universidade Católica Portuguesa followed participants for 100 days as they consumed polyphenol-rich olive oil and found measurable changes in inflammatory markers—in saliva, blood, and the gut and oral microbiomes. Other research on the gut-brain axis identifies similar bioactive compounds in extra virgin olive oil as having anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, with a plausible signaling pathway from the gut to the brain via the vagus nerve.
The same goes here: none of this has an immediate effect. It’s a hundred small meals, not a single dramatic source.
Patience is not a weakness—a tree proves it
In Crete, there is an olive tree in the village of Ano Vouves that researchers estimate to be between two and four thousand years old—the exact age can no longer be determined, as the trunk has become hollowed out over time. It continues to bear fruit every year to this day. When the Olympic Games returned to Athens in 2004, branches from this very tree were used to make the victory wreaths for the marathon runners. This is exactly what sustainable regulation from the outside looks like: unobtrusive, slow—and still there centuries later.
My Own Experience: From the Fast Pace of Corporate Life to Work on the Nervous System
For over ten years, I worked in corporate consulting—a world that operates almost entirely according to Poseidon’s principle: quick answers, visible results, and making a strong impression by Friday. It took a burnout, a digestive system that wouldn’t settle down, and finally chronic exhaustion for me to realize: I couldn’t optimize my way out of a nervous system that had never learned to truly find peace. Training to become a health coach was, quite simply, the decision to plant a tree instead of continuing to bang my head against the rock.
In what area of your life do you need a tree right now, not a spring?
Is there an area of your life where you’re currently reaching for something quick—a quick fix, a radical reset—even though your body actually needs something slower that requires time rather than intensity? You don’t have to answer that right away. It’s enough to just let the question sink in for a moment.
If you’re at this point—functioning just fine on the outside, but with a nervous system that’s been running at full speed for years—I’d be happy to help you change that. My free 30-minute introductory consultation is a great first step, with no pressure and no sales pitch.