In today’s busy world, we often feel the effects of a fast-paced lifestyle — heightened stress, sleepless nights, and even difficulty focusing. At Vital Energy, we believe that movement and breath are key to improving not just strength and mobility, but also our overall mental and physical wellbeing. One key player in this balance is a neurotransmitter called GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid), and understanding how it works can offer you practical ways to support your body, calm your mind, and feel more grounded in your daily life.

What is GABA and Why Does it Matter?

GABA is often referred to as the “calming” neurotransmitter. It plays an important role in the brain and nervous system by helping to reduce excessive brain activity, which helps us feel more relaxed, focused, and in control. It acts like the brakes on a car, regulating the speed at which signals are sent to the brain. When GABA levels are balanced, we experience calmness, a clear mind, and reduced anxiety.

But when GABA levels are too low or not functioning properly, we can experience heightened stress, racing thoughts, and even physical tension, which makes it harder to relax or sleep.

How Can We Support Healthy GABA Levels?

Fortunately, there are several ways to enhance GABA production and function naturally — and many of these practices align perfectly with the nervous system led movement and relaxation techniques we use here at VE through our breathing, strength, mobility and yoga classes:

1. Movement and Stretching

Movement, particularly slower, mindful practices, helps regulate the nervous system and supports the production of GABA. The gentle stretches and core-focused movements in our SMFT classes are designed to promote deep relaxation and activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (your body’s “rest and digest” mode), which in turn supports optimal GABA function.

Practical Tip: Try incorporating slow stretches and longer-held positions into your routine. Focus on deep, controlled breathing, allowing your body to release tension with each breath. Over time, this helps you access that inner calm and boost GABA levels.

2. Breathwork: Your Built-In Stress Buster

Breathing techniques play a huge role in balancing your nervous system. Slow, intentional breathing can activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which naturally supports GABA production. In particular, diaphragmatic deep belly breathing (breathing deeply into the belly) and box breathing (inhale, hold, exhale, hold for equal counts) are excellent tools to bring GABA back into balance.

Practical Tip: Start with 3-5 minutes of diaphragmatic breathing before any of our classes. This simple practice allows you to settle into the present moment and prepare your body for the class ahead, while also supporting your nervous system. In fact it is a signature component of SMFT classes that each class, whether weight training or slow stretching begins with a breath regulation intro and sequence aimed at delivering a specific nervous system activation.

3. Relaxation and Mindfulness

Mindfulness techniques, including breathing-led meditation, yoga nidra, and body scans, are another great way to increase GABA production. By focusing your attention and being present with your body, you create the conditions for relaxation and balance within the nervous system. Breathing regulation and awareness is the key component to optimising results in all mindfulness modalities. Practising yoga through poor breathing, compromised core mechanics can reduce efficacy and reinforce system chaos. Where and how you practice mindfulness is just as important.

Practical Tip: After a workout or at the end of your day, consider taking 5-10 minutes to relax in a comfortable position, focus on your breathing, and check in with your body. A few minutes of stillness can have a profound effect on reducing stress and increasing feelings of calm.

4. Nutrition for Nervous System Support

The foods you eat also play a role in supporting your GABA levels. Certain foods contain natural compounds that help enhance GABA production, such as fermented foods (like yogurt, kimchi, and kefir), green tea, and almonds.

Practical Tip: Add more calming foods into your diet, especially those rich in magnesium (like leafy greens, nuts, and seeds). Longevity, good health and wellbeing is not just a action checklist. It's a 360 approach and lifestyle that touches movement, nutrition and unique biological factors.

5. Regular Rest and Recovery

Stress is an inevitable part of life, but how we manage it is crucial. Just like our muscles need time to recover after a workout, our nervous system needs rest and rejuvenation to keep things in balance. Adequate sleep, regular downtime, and taking breaks throughout the day can help restore GABA levels, allowing us to function better both physically and mentally.

Practical Tip: Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night, and don't be afraid to take breaks during your day to decompress. Restorative practices like our Slow Stretch and Yoga Nidra classes, are great ways to guide your body into deep, calming relaxation. The time of day and how you exercise equally matters. At VE, our evening schedule is not influenced by trend or convenience. Our ethos for circadian cycle friendly scheduling means classes after 5pm are mostly driven around relaxation and recovery. Even strength based classes have breath and nervous system balancing components interwoven into sequencing and are carefully spaced out throughout the week to prevent burnout and overdrive.

Final Thoughts

By taking time to care for your body through mindful movement, controlled breathing, and proper rest, you can help your nervous system function at its best and naturally boost GABA production. Whether you're here for a mobility class, a strength-focused workout, or a restorative practice, we’re committed to helping you find the balance your body needs.

At Vital Energy, we integrate movement with nervous system driven techniques to help you build strength from the inside out. With a holistic approach that supports both the body and mind, we help you harness the power of GABA for better health and long-term vitality.

What Next:

Ready to take the next step in supporting your nervous system and overall wellbeing? Join us at VE for a class designed to foster deep relaxation, improve your strength, and boost your resilience. Explore our SMFT classes and do your nervous system a favour today! If unsure and would like a more structured approach book in a 1:1 for a more guided entry.