The Art of Being Well Why Breathwork Isn't Always Safe For Nervous System Regulation & What To Do Instead | Jessica Maguire
Apr 23, 2026
Jessica Maguire, physiotherapist and nervous system researcher who founded Repairing the Nervous System, discusses interoception, the eight sensory systems, and why IBS is now seen as a gut‑brain disorder. She explains freeze and collapse responses, how breathwork can sometimes dysregulate, and offers trauma‑sensitive sequencing and simple in‑the‑moment anchors for nervous system repair.
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Trauma Is Defined By The Nervous System Response
- Trauma exists on a spectrum from stress to traumatic stress and is defined by the nervous system's response more than the event itself.
- Co‑activation of sympathetic and dorsal vagal systems (accelerator plus handbrake) produces freeze, collapse, or ongoing dysregulation.
Body Postures Lock In Threat Responses
- Sensory-motor patterns (postures, involuntary movements) store threat responses in basal ganglia and continually signal danger to the brain.
- Changing posture and creating new sensory experiences produces prediction errors that drive neuroplastic change.
Apply Neuroplasticity Principles To The Whole Body
- Neuroplasticity is the nervous system's ability to rewire, but trauma recovery requires expanding this to 'bioplasticity' because gut, vagus and physiology also change.
- Rehabilitation principles (high repetition, specificity) apply to retraining regulation.