Why Routines Are Good for Your Nervous System

Do you crave routines or do you become absolutely bored with set rhythms?

I once thought strict routines meant that I don't get to have any fun.

And for a time, I did take my routines a little too far—to a point that I was declining every social event and dinner plan with friends.

Routines aren't about strict adherences, but rather about setting rhythms in which our body can lean into for predictability. And predictability can signal safety to our body and brain—one of the simplest ways to support nervous system regulation in daily life.

When that safety, regulation, and trust are established, it actually frees our body and mind more to enjoy the fun, the pleasure, and the joy that life brings us. Because a body and mind that are free from uncertainties and unpredictabilities is a body and mind that gets to experience the present moment to its fullest.

This is also one of the reasons yoga therapy often begins with small, repeatable practices rather than complex protocols. The body learns safety through repetition, not through force.

Why our bodies crave rhythm and predictability

Our bodies are constantly responding to the world around us. While we can't make life completely predictable (nor would we want to), familiar rhythms can give us small pockets of certainty within otherwise uncertain days.

For the person living with burnout or chronic stress, life can feel like a never-ending stream of stressors without a clear beginning or end. Routines can create boundaries around our days—helping the brain register when something is beginning, when something is finished, and when it is finally time to rest.

For someone who lives with persistent anxiety about the uncertainties in their life, routines can provide familiar anchors throughout the day, small moments where they know what to expect next in a constantly changing world.

For those living with chronic pain, where everything about their body seems unpredictable and a constant guesswork, routines can not only help establish a sense of self-agency and normalcy in their life, but help map out patterns in their days that are potential pain triggers.

Over the years, my personal routines have become almost non-negotiable:

• Morning quiet time: I rotate between exercise, meditation, restorative yoga, or a walk—(I used to be able to accommodate all, but not anymore after becoming a mom!)

• A nourishing, home-made lunch: I don't ever see clients anymore during my lunch hours

• Evening decompression: you can find me with my legs up on the wall or over the couch with a book in hand

Not all of them happen all the time and every day in my life. Most days, I'm lucky if I get to enjoy one of my sacred rituals. This is what slowing down has looked like for me: not doing less for the sake of it, but doing less so that what remains actually matters.

This also doesn't mean that my routines never get derailed. Travel, illnesses, and child care can throw them off. But the beauty of routines is that they become habits—it's become harder not to do them than to do them.

Eventually, your routines become something you look forward to.

When routines become rituals

If the idea of having yet another checklist is giving you the ick, I get it.

All of us already have too much on our plate—we do not need to add more to it.

As enticing as it is to follow the trendiest self-care routines and biohacks that the podcast gurus tell us that we should be doing, routines should feel more like rituals—personal, intimate, and uniquely ours.

Just because someone works out 5 days a week at the crack of dawn as part of their routine, doesn't mean that it needs to be yours.

I recently heard a story from a friend, that she used to wake up at 5:30am to do her exercises and then cold plunge, following the routines so many health "gurus" advocate for.

She hated it, so much so that she dreaded going to bed.

When she finally ditched the practice and listened to her body on what brings her joy, she replaced it with a quiet 15 minutes at her sunny nook, coffee in one hand, and a book in another.

The best routine isn't the one someone else recommends. It's the one your body looks forward to.

The trick is to find something you absolutely love and feel good about, which makes returning to it day after day enjoyable.

Think about brushing your teeth or taking a shower. Most of us don't need to put these things on a self-care checklist. We simply do them.

Over time, our rituals can begin to feel the same way. They take on a life of their own.

Changes in life, changes in your rituals

While routines and rituals help anchor us, that doesn't mean they remain the same through every season and stage of life.

As I've mentioned before, my rituals have had to adapt ever since becoming a mother. They've become shorter, a little more sporadic, but still present.

Similarly, your priorities and circumstances in life may change, what brings you joy may change, and what once supported you well may no longer feel so. Part of self-awareness is noticing these changes in life, and allowing our rituals to change with them.

While routines and rituals have a certain firmness to them, they are not about being overly rigid.

Sometimes, honoring a ritual also means letting it go. If something you once enjoyed is now creating more stress because you're trying to follow through simply for the sake of doing it, perhaps it's time to set it aside—at least for now. You can always return to it when life has space for it again.

How to create a ritual you'll actually return to

Finding a ritual to anchor your day around is much simpler than most would imagine.

Oftentimes, it's less about finding what's new and trending, and more about remembering what used to light us up and anchor us.

Think of recent moments where you thought, “Ahhh, that was nice. I should do it again.”

Was it that morning walk with your dog?

An evening walk with a friend?

A cup of coffee or tea enjoyed in leisure?

A simple stretching sequence upon waking or before bed?

A few minutes of quiet reading time before the rush of the day?

Whatever you choose, it should be something that can actually become part of the rhythm of your life: joyful, simple, accessible, and repeatable.

If your routine requires hauling your bike in your car to a trail an hour away, that's probably more of a hobby rather than a routine.

(But hey, if hauling your bike in your car doesn't stop you from getting to it every day, I fully respect that!).

Your ritual should be something you can return to easily. Something that, if all else goes sideways that day, is still there waiting for you.

Once you've identified one or two joyful, simple, and repeatable rituals, ask yourself two questions:

1) What can I take off from my daily schedule to make space for this?

Instead of squeezing one more thing into an already-full life, consider what you're willing to reduce or remove.

For example, when I wanted to read every night before bed, I reduced my TV time by 20 minutes.

I wasn't really adding reading. I was trading something that wasn't bringing me much joy or fulfillment for something that did.

2) How can I make it easier to return to?

Any new habit requires a bit of effort at the beginning. When I decided I wanted to read more, I told my husband what I was trying to do. Saying the intention out loud made it more tangible, and having someone who knew what I was trying to create helped me protect that time.

Your support might come from a partner, family member, friend, or trusted colleague. Or it might be as simple as leaving your book on your pillow, putting your yoga mat somewhere visible, or setting out your walking shoes the night before.

The point isn't to force yourself into consistency. It's to make returning to it a little easier.

Eventually, you find your rhythm, and what once required effort begins to feel familiar. Instead of something you have to think about, it becomes something that you just do.

Your September Practice Ritual

This month, I'm introducing something new inside the Elaine Yoga app: a September Practice Ritual.

Rather than giving you a different practice every day of the month, I've chosen just seven practices—one for each day of the week—that you can return to again and again throughout September.

Because I don't think we always need more practices.

We need practices we can return to.

Repetition can be deeply therapeutic in our modern world of constant stimulation, novelty, and gratification.

With each repetition of each practice, you become more familiar with the movements, your body starts to flow more in rhythm with the practice.

There is less figuring out, and more of being in the present moment with your body and breathing.

That mindfulness is in and of itself a form of rest.

So this isn't a 30-day challenge. There are no boxes you need to check off, no streak to maintain, and no risk of “falling behind.”

Think of it instead as a weekly rhythm. Seven practices repeated throughout the month.

Practices simple, short, and familiar enough that your body can begin to settle into them.

You might practice all seven repeatedly, or you might discover three that you love and return to those. You might miss several days and simply begin again.

It's not about completing every single one of them, but finding something worth returning to.

That is your ritual.