August, Back to School, and a Nervous System That Remembers
For me, August brings back a lot of memories.
As a mother of three boys who are now grown, I can still remember those last few weeks of summer. It always started with cleaning out bedrooms and closets, getting rid of clothes that no longer fit, and then heading out to shop for new clothes, shoes, backpacks, and what felt like endless lists of school supplies.
There was excitement, of course, but for me there was also anxiety.
I have always been someone who tends toward worry, and the beginning of a new school year gave me plenty to worry about. Who would their teachers be? Would they like their classes? Would they make good friends? Would they find their way through a new routine? Would they be happy?
I can almost feel my nervous system reacting just thinking about it now!
Years later, when our family moved overseas and I became an international primary school teacher, August took on an entirely new meaning. By then my boys were in high school and college, so I still had all of my mother worries, but now I had another group of children to think about too.
My classroom.
There were desks to arrange, bulletin boards to prepare, curriculum to organize, lessons to plan, and supplies to gather. But what I thought about most were the twenty new little people who were about to walk through my classroom door.
Who would need a little extra encouragement? Who would struggle academically? Which children would naturally become friends? Which personalities would work well together? Who might have difficulty finding their place?
And because I was teaching internationally, there was another beautiful but sometimes challenging layer to consider. My classroom could be filled with children from many different countries, cultures, languages, traditions, and educational backgrounds. Creating a classroom where all of those children felt safe, welcomed, and included mattered deeply to me.
Needless to say, August was not always a month that was kind to my nervous system.
For many of us, wellness means eating better, exercising, drinking enough water, or getting enough sleep. All of those things matter. But wellness also includes paying attention to how much stress our nervous system is carrying.
And August can carry a lot of it.
New teachers. New schools. New routines. New coworkers. New schedules. Earlier mornings. Busier evenings. Sports practices. Homework. College move-ins. Work demands. Family calendars.
Even positive change is still change, and our bodies have to adjust.
This is why I have become such a believer in making neuroregulation part of our everyday wellness, rather than waiting until we feel completely overwhelmed.
There are simple things we can do throughout the day to give our nervous system opportunities to settle. Patterned breathing, grounding, tapping, meditation, movement, time outdoors, and quiet moments can all be part of that daily practice.
Sometimes it really can begin with something as simple as:
Just breathe.
Take a walk.
Step outside.
Put your feet on the ground.
Pause for a moment and notice what is happening around you.
One of my favorite grounding practices is using the five senses. Stop and notice something you can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. It sounds almost too simple, but intentionally bringing your attention back to your body and your surroundings can help interrupt that feeling of being swept away by everything you have to do.
The important part is not waiting until you are completely overwhelmed.
I didn’t.
For years, I was very good at pushing through. I was a mother, a nurse, an educator, a teacher, a wife, and the person who could usually figure things out and keep going.
Until my body decided otherwise.
At 60 years old, I began experiencing panic attacks.
After decades of pushing through stress and not fully understanding what my nervous system needed, suddenly I couldn’t simply push through anymore. My body was getting my attention in a way I could no longer ignore.
That experience eventually led me to neurofeedback and changed the way I think about wellness.
I began to understand that taking care of ourselves isn’t something we should only do when something goes wrong. It is something we practice along the way.
If you are a parent preparing children for a new school year, take care of your nervous system too.
If you are a teacher getting your classroom ready, remember that you are part of that classroom environment. Your wellness matters.
If you are sending a child off to college, starting a new routine, returning to a busier workplace, or simply feeling the shift from summer into fall, pay attention to what your body is telling you.
Don’t wait until stress becomes overwhelming before you give yourself permission to slow down.
Breathe.
Walk.
Ground.
Tap.
Find the practices that help you feel present and settled, and make them part of your day, not just something you reach for during a crisis.
And if you feel like your nervous system needs a little more support, that is part of wellness too.
At Galenoia Brain Wellness, I offer gentle microcurrent neurofeedback designed to support the brain and nervous system’s natural ability to self-regulate. My own experience with neurofeedback is a big part of why I do what I do today.
I can’t go back and talk to that anxious mother buying three sets of school supplies, or that teacher standing in an empty classroom wondering about the twenty children who were about to walk through her door.
But if I could, I think I would tell her:
Take care of yourself too. Your nervous system is carrying more than you realize.
And maybe that is the message I can share with you this August.
As you take care of everyone else during this busy season, remember to put your own wellness on the back-to-school list too.
start your healing journey