Regulate to Sustain: Why Nervous System Care Is Essential for Grassroots Nonprofit Professionals
In the nonprofit world, we talk a lot about burnout. But we don’t talk nearly enough about what’s underneath it—what’s happening in our bodies, in our nervous systems, when we’re constantly navigating urgency, injustice, underfunding, and overcommitment.
If you're a grassroots leader, you're likely holding way more than the world sees. And you're probably doing it with a smile, a spreadsheet, and a half-eaten granola bar in the car between meetings.
First of all, if the above resonates, please know that you are not alone. Many of us in the nonprofit space are navigating anxiety around current events and the roller coaster of executive orders.
And if you’re feeling especially burned out right now, I want you to know that I’ve been there and I deeply empathize with how isolating and overwhelming severe burnout can be.
Unfortunately, I spent years in severe burnout before I learned about nervous system regulation. If you’re curious, you can read more about my burnout story HERE.
Below, I’m diving into what nervous system care is and why I think it’s one of the most important tools we can access to sustain our work in the nonprofit sector.
What Is Nervous System Regulation?
Your nervous system is your body's internal command center—it controls your stress response, digestion, heart rate, energy levels, sleep, and more. It toggles between different states:
Fight or Flight (mobilization)
Freeze (shutdown or overwhelm)
Rest and Digest (regulation and calm)
Nervous system regulation is the process of returning to (and staying in) that regulated “rest and digest” state. It’s where your body feels safe enough to breathe deeply, think clearly, connect with others, and heal. Sounds like a dream, right?
This doesn’t mean being relaxed 24/7—it means being able to recognize when you're dysregulated and having the tools to come back into balance.
Why It Matters in the Nonprofit Sector
Let’s be real—as grassroots nonprofit professionals, we are often under-resourced, overextended, and deeply emotionally invested in our work. Add in funding deadlines, staff turnover, community trauma, and systemic barriers, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for nervous system overload.
But when your nervous system is regulated:
You respond thoughtfully instead of reacting impulsively during conflict or crisis.
You make clearer, more values-aligned decisions under pressure.
You can set boundaries and actually honor them.
You stop running on adrenaline and start operating from a place of sustainability.
A regulated nervous system is what lets you do the nonprofit work—without losing yourself to it.
The Nervous System Regulation Pyramid (From Third Nature Therapy)
Nervous system care doesn’t have to be complicated. According to Third Nature Therapy (who by the way has an incredible website full of trauma informed tools for regulation), your foundation isn’t breathwork or a morning routine—it’s sleep, food, and movement. That may not sound revolutionary, but when you’re in the nonprofit grind, it’s easy to forget that basic needs are not optional.
The Nervous System Regulation Pyramid by Third Nature Therapy highlights simple yet powerful foundations for well-being: sleep, nourishment, movement, mindfulness, and gratitude.
Here’s how the Nervous System Regulation Pyramid breaks it down:
Base Layer – 7–9 Hours of Restful Sleep Each Night
Your body heals and restores itself during sleep. If you’re running on caffeine and 5 hours a night, regulation becomes almost impossible. This is step one.
3 Nourishing Meals a Day
This one is challenging for me. Shoutout to smoothies and cauliflower crust pizzas for making it a bit easier.
You can’t rely on snacks in your car or coffee until 2pm. Your body, brain, gut, and nervous system require real, nourishing meals to function properly. Feeding yourself well stabilizes blood sugar, mood, and energy, and signals to your nervous system that you're safe.
Daily Movement
You don’t need a gym membership. Walk, stretch, dance—anything to move stress through your body and invite calm back in.
Fun Fact: Dancing alone in your bedroom to your favorite song from the ‘90s releases endorphins, which in turn lowers stress and anxiety.
Mindfulness
This can be as simple as 5 minutes of deep breathing, a pause between meetings, or a walking meditation. The goal is presence, not perfection.
Guided Meditation channel on YouTube has been my go to for daily 10-minute meditations for the last 5 years.
I also use Dr. Kristin Neff’s Self-Compassion Break to guide myself into a meditative state when I only have a few minutes (ex: right before I go into a meeting, after I get hard feedback and need to prevent a shame spiral, before I go onstage to solicit donations, etc.).
Gratitude
At the top of the pyramid is gratitude—not as a spiritual bypass, but as a gentle reframe that brings you back to what’s working, what’s beautiful, and what’s worth staying grounded for.
Together, these small daily acts help you show up to your work with clarity and sustainability. They’re not “extras”—they’re everything.
But What If I Don’t Have Time (or This Stuff Never Works for Me)?
These are valid concerns. So let’s name them and consider some alternatives.
“I don’t have time.”
Regulation doesn’t have to mean 60 minutes of meditation. It can be 30 seconds of breath before a meeting, a slow sip of tea, or standing barefoot on the earth for 2 minutes. Start where you are. Tiny, consistent moments add up.
Real Talk: I’ve been meditating since 2020, and I still only do 10-minute meditations regularly. I’ve been journaling since I was a little girl, and I rarely write more than a page. On a good week, I squeeze in three to four 45-minute workouts. That’s it. But it all adds up, and the benefits I experience in my nervous system are incredible! I am a completely different person that I was three years ago when I was in the trenches of severe burnout.
“I’ve tried all of this, and it doesn't work.”
If your nervous system has been dysregulated for a long time, it might resist slowing down. This is normal. That doesn’t mean it’s not working—it means your body needs practice feeling safe again. Be gentle. Regularly revisit the pieces of the Nervous System Pyramid and slowly but surely you’ll begin to notice subtle shifts in how your body responds to triggers.
Final Thoughts
Regulation isn’t just about feeling better—it’s about making your work more sustainable, your leadership more grounded, and your team more supported.
It’s not self-indulgent. It’s strategic and necessary to unlearn the martyrdom that is rampant in the nonprofit sector.
Lastly, in the second half of THIS BLOG, I explore resources like compassion fatigue training, free and low-cost staycation ideas, processing emotional responses, and managing burnout.
Want expert guidance on improving your grant strategy? At Beckie Irvin Consulting and Research, LLC, we help grassroots nonprofits develop stronger grant proposals, research funding opportunities, and build sustainable fundraising plans. Book a consultation today, and let’s get your organization the funding it deserves!
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