Card Deck Review: Hack your Nervous System by Brianna Rose

Brianna Green is a licensed Mental Health Counselor, a 200 RYT, and the creator of the Hack Your Nervous System Card Deck (sold on Etsy and other online stores). Raised in a household of chiropractors and holistic healers, Green grew up where a focus of the mind-body-spirit connection was honored. With a passion for holistic mental health care and a masters in mental health counseling, Green created Hack Your Nervous System, rooted in the leading view in psychology for how to regulate your nervous system (called Polyvagal Theory). 

The deck consists of 60 cards split into three sections: Mild Stress/Maintenance, Moderate Stress/Anxiety, and Acute Stress/Anxiety. Depending on your mood and energy levels, you can pick one card to walk you through various asanas (yoga poses), breathing techniques, and stress management tools. “My strongest belief,” states Green, “is that embodiment, eye movement, breath, awareness, and self compassion are the key architects of resilience and deep healing.”

Hack Your Nervous System is a great tool to have on hand for stressful moments, deep periods of anxiety, or even for use in yoga classes or your own personal practice. Most cards can be used at home, around others, or even in your car (just don’t close your eyes!). Green teaches “Shake it Out,” an activity guiding the user through stress release by gently shaking the body. On another card, she encourages you to find a memory of a scent to focus on, creating grounding and positive feelings in the body. And because movement is a great healing tool for anxiety, Green encourages the user to “Walk and Talk,” by taking a walk in nature (or on a treadmill) by yourself or with a friend. Many cards provide a short sentence explaining why each particular practice or movement helps, bringing a bite-sized amount of science to provide reassurance to the user. 

With calming colors, simple line drawings by Edoardo Lo Vecchio, and helpful tips, Hack Your Nervous System is a practical, science-based tool easy to fit in purses, backpacks, or on your bedside table. After using the deck for a while, Green encourages creating a “Resilience Routine” in which you pick the 3 most helpful cards from the deck and place them in visible areas around your living space. Whenever you see a card, you follow the practice on it, helping you to build up coping skills even at low-stress moments. 

Pulling from cutting-edge somatic research, many of Green’s cards focus on nervous system resets, like purposefully holding your gaze to the left side of the room until your body yawns or sighs. “My aim,” Green states on her website, “is always to hold the safest space possible, one in which you can remember your essence as worthy, powerful, loving, and loved.”

Reeve Klatt is a creative living in North Minneapolis. When she’s not writing, you can find Reeve playing with her cats, teaching yoga, or digging in her garden.