Back-to-School, Back to Stress? How to Regulate Your Nervous System as a Parent During the School Year

The Shift No One Talks About

The start of the school year can feel like a freight train hitting your routine. One day it’s slow summer mornings, the next it’s alarm clocks, lunchboxes, forgotten homework, permission slips, traffic lines, and juggling work with drop-offs and after-school activities. Even if your calendar is perfectly color-coded, your body might still feel the strain.

That’s because transitions—even expected ones—can be stressful for your nervous system. And when you're a parent, the stress isn’t just yours to carry; it’s multiplied by the tiny humans relying on you to stay steady while they move through their own changes.

So how do you create space for nervous system regulation when everything around you feels chaotic?

Let’s start by understanding what your body is really asking for.

Why the School Year Feels So Overwhelming

Most parents don’t realize that nervous system dysregulation isn’t just about feeling anxious or snappy—it shows up in subtle ways:

• You feel wired but exhausted.

• Your patience disappears by 8:17 a.m.

• You zone out or get stuck in “autopilot mode.”

• You can't fall asleep (even when you’re exhausted).

• Your body feels like it's bracing for something to go wrong.

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That’s not you being a “bad parent”—that’s your body living in survival mode.

Back-to-school season tends to trigger your sympathetic nervous system (your fight/flight/freeze response), especially if you’re trying to manage too much with too little time, support, or rest.

5 Ways Parents Can Regulate Their Nervous System

Here are practical tools you can use right now to support nervous system regulation as a parent—without needing to escape to a yoga retreat in the woods.

1. Set Transitional Anchors in Your Day

Whether it’s five minutes in the car before pick-up or three slow breaths before the morning rush, give your nervous system predictable check-in points. These small moments of presence help your body shift out of stress and into regulation.

✅ Try this: Set a phone reminder titled “Take 3 Breaths” at 7:45 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 4:15 p.m.

2. Use Your Senses to Come Back to the Moment

When your brain is in overdrive, sensory input is your shortcut back to presence. Tune into the warmth of your coffee mug, the scent of your child’s hair, the texture of the couch beneath you.

✅ Try this: Name 3 things you can hear, 2 you can feel, and 1 you can see—right now.

3. Create 10-Minute Windows of Stillness

You don’t need a full hour to reset. Just ten uninterrupted minutes of rest—no screens, no multitasking, no stimulation—can help your nervous system start to downshift.

✅ Try this: Sit with your eyes closed and hand on your chest. Let your body be still, even if your mind isn’t.

4. Name the Overwhelm, Don’t Suppress It

Your nervous system doesn’t need you to be superhuman—it needs you to be honest. Saying “I’m overwhelmed” out loud to yourself or a partner gives your body permission to soften.

✅ Try this: When you feel yourself spiraling, say out loud: “This feels like a lot. And I don’t have to handle it perfectly.”

5. Choose Soothing Inputs

Just like junk food can make you feel sluggish, chaotic inputs (news, overstimulating shows, endless scrolling) make your nervous system feel unsafe.

✅ Try this: Swap doomscrolling for 10 minutes of music, nature, or journaling before bed.

The Ripple Effect: Regulated Parents Create Regulated Homes

When your nervous system is regulated, it doesn’t mean you never get stressed or frustrated—it means you recover more quickly. You make clearer decisions. You respond instead of react. And your kids feel that.

Your ability to self-regulate becomes the template for their emotional safety.

This Season, Don’t Just “Get Through It”—Feel Grounded In It

If this time of year feels like you’re always catching up, that’s a sign your system needs more support.

At Vertically Sourced, we work with parents every day to help them reconnect to their bodies, release old patterns of stress, and create more presence in their lives. Because when you feel supported, calm, and steady—everything changes.

Ready to feel more like yourself again—no matter what the calendar looks like?Book a free discovery call to learn how nervous system care can support you through this season and beyond.