Most of us grow up believing that how we think, feel and behave is mainly shaped by our experiences, our upbringing, and the stories we tell ourselves. While all of that matters, it’s only part of the picture. Beneath our thoughts and emotions sits something far more fundamental: our nervous system, and more specifically, how our unique genetics influence the way that nervous system responds to the world.

Your nervous system is not just about stress or relaxation. It governs how quickly you react, how deeply you feel, how easily you recover, how your body handles threat, connection, uncertainty, stimulation, and change. For some people, life feels like it flows. For others, it can feel intense, overwhelming, or exhausting - even when they’re doing “all the right things.” Very often, this isn’t a mindset issue at all. It’s biology.

Nervous system genetics influence how your body produces and breaks down neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline and GABA. They affect how sensitive you are to stress hormones, how your immune system communicates with your brain, and how efficiently your body returns to baseline after activation. In other words, your genes help determine whether your nervous system tends to be fast or slow, sensitive or buffered, reactive or resilient.

Some people are genetically wired to stay alert for longer. Their stress response switches on easily and takes time to turn off. Others metabolise adrenaline or cortisol more slowly, meaning stress lingers in the body even after the event has passed. Some produce less serotonin or struggle to use it efficiently, affecting mood, anxiety, sleep, gut health and emotional regulation. Others are more prone to inflammatory signalling that directly impacts how the brain feels and functions.

When you don’t understand this, it’s easy to blame yourself. You might think you’re “too sensitive,” “overthinking,” “not resilient enough,” or “doing healing wrong.” But when we look at nervous system genetics, something important happens: self-blame dissolves. You begin to see that your system has been responding exactly as it was designed to respond - it just hasn’t always been supported in the way it needs.

This is why two people can experience the same life events and emerge feeling completely different. One person may adapt quickly, while another feels anxious, flat, overwhelmed or burnt out. It’s not because one is stronger or weaker. It’s because their nervous systems are playing by different biological rules.

Your genetics don’t doom you, but they do set the baseline. They shape your stress threshold, your emotional processing, your recovery speed, and your tolerance for stimulation. And crucially, they determine which approaches to healing will help - and which may actually make things worse.

For example, some people thrive with breathwork, cold exposure, cbd, melatonin, fasting or intense detox protocols. For others, those same approaches can increase anxiety, inflammation, insomnia or emotional volatility. This isn’t failure. It’s a mismatch between intervention and nervous system wiring. When your genes suggest slower neurotransmitter breakdown or heightened inflammatory signalling, pushing the system harder doesn’t build resilience - it overwhelms it.

This is where understanding your nervous system genetics becomes transformative. Instead of guessing, you can work with your biology rather than against it. You can stop chasing generic advice and start supporting the specific pathways that matter most for you.

When I work with people using nervous system genetic analysis, we’re not looking for labels or limitations. We’re looking for patterns. Patterns that explain why anxiety shows up alongside gut issues. Why trauma lingers in the body even after years of talking therapy. Why sleep doesn’t restore you. Why stress flares skin, hormones, pain or mood. Why certain supplements help and others don’t.

From there, the work becomes far more precise and compassionate. We focus on calming overactive pathways, supporting under-functioning ones, and restoring balance gradually. This might involve nervous-system-safe nutritional support, targeted micronutrients, gut–brain regulation, trauma-informed pacing, and lifestyle strategies that genuinely suit your wiring. It’s never about forcing change. It’s about creating safety in the system so change becomes possible.

One of the most powerful shifts people experience is realising that healing doesn’t always mean doing more. For many sensitive nervous systems, healing means slowing down, softening, stabilising, and building capacity gently. Your genetics help us see who needs stimulation - and who needs protection.

Importantly, nervous system genetics don’t exist in isolation. They interact with gut health, immune function, hormones, and life experience. That’s why my work is integrative. I don’t just look at genes on a page; I look at how they’re being expressed in your body and your life right now. Symptoms are not random. They are messages from a system trying to adapt.

Understanding your nervous system genetics gives you language for experiences you may never have been able to explain before. It gives context to lifelong patterns. And perhaps most importantly, it gives you permission to stop fighting yourself.

If you’ve ever felt that traditional approaches haven’t quite fit, that your system reacts strongly, or that healing feels harder than it “should,” there may be nothing wrong with you at all. You may simply have a nervous system that needs a different kind of care.

Working with your nervous system genetics allows us to design that care - thoughtfully, safely, and in a way that supports real, lasting change. Not by overriding your biology, but by honouring it.

I am right here… at your service.