If you’ve ever felt your heart racing halfway through build day, or found yourself suddenly snappy over something small, you’ve experienced your nervous system at work.
That’s not weakness, it’s biology.
Our bodies are designed to keep us safe, and when things get too loud, too busy, or too uncertain (sound familiar?), your stress response steps in to protect you. But there’s good news: with a little understanding and a few simple techniques, you can train your body to reset, even in the middle of the chaos.
The two sides of your nervous system
Your nervous system has two main branches:
- Sympathetic nervous system — your fight, flight, freeze or fawn mode. It’s the part that fires up when the radio won’t stop buzzing, the build is behind schedule, or someone just changed the floor plan again.
- Parasympathetic nervous system — your rest and digest mode. This is where calm, clarity, and recovery happen.
In event life, many of us spend too much time in the first mode. Our bodies are constantly flooded with adrenaline and cortisol, preparing for the next thing to go wrong and over time, that state becomes normal, until we start to feel wired, irritable, or completely drained.
The goal isn’t to eliminate stress; it’s to know how to come back to balance.
What stress actually feels like
Stress doesn’t always look like panic, it often feels like:
- Tight chest or shallow breathing
- Racing thoughts or difficulty focusing
- Butterflies or nausea
- Clenched jaw or shoulders
- Feeling disconnected or “numb”
These are all signs your body is in protection mode and the trick is to send a signal back to your nervous system that says:
“I’m safe. You can stand down.”
And the best part? You can do it in under a minute.
Three 60-Second Resets
Here are three techniques that you can use anytime, anywhere, whether you’re behind the registration desk, in a build briefing, or catching a breath outside the venue.
1. Breathe: The 4-5-7 Method
Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds.
Hold for 5 seconds.
Exhale slowly through your mouth for 7 seconds.
This extended exhale activates your parasympathetic system and literally tells your brain to calm down. Even 3–4 rounds can lower your heart rate and reduce muscle tension.
2. Ground: 5-4-3-2-1 Reset
Notice:
- 5 things you can see
- 4 things you can touch
- 3 things you can hear
- 2 things you can smell
- 1 thing you can taste or imagine tasting
This brings you back into the present moment, shifting your brain from panic to sensory awareness, a powerful antidote to overwhelm.
3. Move: Gentle Re-set for the Body
Roll your shoulders.
Stretch your neck.
Stand up and shake out your hands or walk a quick loop of the space.
Movement releases built-up adrenaline and helps oxygen flow back to the brain, which is why even 60 seconds can change how you feel.
🧬 Why these work: The neuroscience of safety
Your body listens to signals, not logic and you can’t “think” your way out of stress, but you can show your nervous system that you’re safe.
Slow breathing, grounded movement, and sensory awareness all activate the vagus nerve, a powerful communication line between your brain and body that switches on calm, digestion, and emotional regulation.
In short: these tiny pauses restore the balance your body is wired for.
Calm is contagious
One of the most powerful things about regulating your own nervous system is that it helps everyone around you. When a or crew member or manager stays grounded under pressure, it creates a ripple effect of safety. The team feels steadier, communication gets clearer, people mirror calm instead of chaos.
If you lead teams onsite, model those micro-moments of calm, breathe before speaking, take breaks when you can, and check in with others. You’ll be amazed how quickly the energy of a space can shift.
Final thought
Stress isn’t the enemy, it’s your body’s way of keeping you safe, but it doesn’t have to be in charge. With just 60 seconds, a few deep breaths, and a moment of awareness, you can bring your system back to balance and remind yourself that calm isn’t a luxury in events, it’s a skill.
And the more we practise it, the calmer, safer, and more inclusive our industry becomes.
Event Wellbeing Matters 