The Story Behind the Multi-Level Nervous System Framework & Training™
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”
— Nikola Tesla
⏱️ Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
1. Guiding Summary
At the core of my work lies a simple truth: your nervous system is the bridge between mind and body — between science and soul.
The Multi-Level Nervous System Framework™ maps how human regulation and transformation happen across seven interconnected layers — from physiology to Existential purpose, from reflexes to relationships.
It’s both scientific and deeply human: a way to retrain your system, not just your thoughts.
This is the story of how the framework was born — from lived experience, deep study, and a lifelong curiosity about what truly helps people feel safe, connected, and alive.
2. The Story Behind the Science
(Personal origins — where lived experience met scientific exploration)
I never planned to develop a framework.
I was simply trying to understand what made me feel good.
As someone living with ADHD, I’ve always experienced life vividly — my mind racing ahead, my body buzzing with energy, my emotions running deep. I followed whatever brought me ease or joy — from movement (weight training, yoga, dance, Animal Flow) to meditation, massage, and music. Each practice became a conversation with my body, and I’ve always trusted that my body knows what’s best for me.
But following instinct wasn’t the whole story.
Every time something helped, I wanted to know why.
So I studied, tested, and researched across disciplines — psychology, physiology, neuroscience, philosophy, biology, sociology, and history — connecting dots between science and sensation. That curiosity (and my ADHD hyperfocus) became the bridge between intuition and analysis.
Then, one night, the pattern revealed itself.
All the practices, all the sciences, all the ways we regulate — they were speaking the same intelligence in different languages.
Yoga, breath, thought, movement, emotion, connection — they all shaped and were shaped by one system: the nervous system.
That night, the Multi-Level Nervous System Framework™ was born — not from theory, but from lived experience meeting scientific evidence.
3. The Invisible Bridge between Mind and Body
(Understanding the nervous system as the true link between mind and body)
We’ve all heard about the mind–body connection, but for most people it feels abstract — something you “believe in,” not something you can measure, feel, or train.
In truth, your nervous system is the mind–body connection.
It’s the communication network that allows your thoughts to shape your physiology and your physiology to shape your emotions. Every anxious thought, every relaxed exhale, every intuitive impulse — they all travel through this same living circuit.
When your nervous system is balanced, your mind and body work in harmony — flexible, adaptive, responsive.
When it’s strained, that connection frays. You might feel disconnected from yourself: your mind says one thing, your body does another, and your emotions pull somewhere in between.
4. The Rubber Band Analogy
(How flexibility, stress, and recovery define regulation)
Think of your nervous system like a rubber band.
Its job is to stretch when life demands more of you — and return to centre when the moment passes.
A healthy system doesn’t stay calm all the time. It flexes and adapts.
But chronic stress, trauma, perfectionism, or emotional overload can keep that band stretched too long. Eventually, it loses its elasticity. That’s when you might feel stuck, reactive, or burnt out — not because you’re broken, but because your system has forgotten how to return to balance.
Nervous system training is how we teach your rubber band to stretch and recover again — safely, consciously, and with choice.
5. Why We Can’t Separate the Mind from the Body
(How talk therapy and somatic work must meet)
When people come to my clinical therapy practice, it’s often because they’ve noticed a repeating pattern — a way of thinking, feeling, or reacting that no longer serves them.
Traditional talk therapy focuses mainly on the mind — exploring thoughts, emotions, and beliefs.
But the mind and body are like the two ends of a rubber band: they’re deeply connected.
If we only stretch or “flip” one end — the mental side — the other end (the body) still holds the old tension. Over time, that tension can pull us back into familiar habits, even when we know better.
In my approach, we work with both ends of the band — the mind and the body — together.
Through body-based practices, we help your nervous system regulate and form a new body pattern. Then, we pair that with new mental patterns through guided reflection and cognitive training.
This process builds a fresh neural pathway — a new “wiring” between body and mind.
Each time you practice, you strengthen this connection, much like training a muscle.
What once felt like effort begins to feel natural. Eventually, the new body–mind pathway becomes stronger than the old one — and this becomes your new default way of being.
You are officially upgraded on a systemic level.
That’s what it means to retrain your nervous system — not just changing how you think, but transforming how your whole system — body, mind, and relationships — responds to life.
6. The Framework: Seven Levels of Human Regulation
(A harmonic model for transformation)
The Multi-Level Nervous System Framework™ maps seven interconnected levels of human regulation and transformation —
a harmonic model for human regulation and transformation.
- Neurophysiological Level – the foundation of bodily regulation and autonomic function.
- Somatic Level – how sensations, posture, and movement patterns express inner states.
- Emotional Level – how feelings arise, discharge, or become blocked in the body-mind system.
- Cognitive Level – the realm of thought patterns, meaning-making, and perception filters.
- Psychological Level – where schemas, identity, and internal working models form and shift.
- Social / Relational Level – how safety, co-regulation, and attachment shape the system.
- Transpersonal/Existential Level – the integrative field of values, vitality, purpose, and connection beyond the self.
Each level is distinct yet inseparable — the same intelligence, expressed in different languages.
7. Integration: The Living Dynamic between Levels
(Where harmony emerges and transformation stabilises)
Integration isn’t a separate level — it’s the music that emerges when the system begins to play in harmony.
Each level of the nervous system — neurophysiological, somatic, emotional, cognitive, psychological, social, and transpersonal — is like a distinct note. Alone, each holds meaning and resonance. But when they interact fluidly, they form chords — complex patterns of coherence where body, mind, and spirit move as one.
Integration happens not by adding more effort, but through attunement.
When one level shifts, it naturally invites others to respond.
A softened breath steadies emotion. A reframed thought relaxes muscle tone.
A safe relationship quiets the body’s alarm.
Over time, these micro-synchronisations create a stable rhythm of regulation — a nervous system that can flex, flow, and return to balance.
Integration, then, is not an endpoint but a state of synergy — the embodied art of being whole.
From that foundation emerged the Multi-Level Nervous System Training™ — a method that teaches people to understand, regulate, and rewire these systems through embodied, evidence-based practice.
In every consultation or class, we work across these layers — helping you move beyond coping into alignment.
We don’t just explore your story; we re-educate the system that’s been carrying it.
8. Where Science Meets Humanity
(The philosophy that anchors the work)
My work lives at the intersection of rigorous science and lived human experience.
It combines neuroscience, polyvagal theory, psychology, and somatic wisdom with the warmth of human connection — because healing isn’t mechanical; it’s relational, creative, and deeply human.
Through my framework and training, I help people not just learn regulation, but live it — in their breath, in their relationships, in their art, and in the everyday symphony of being alive.
9. My Mission
(The ultimate purpose behind the framework)
Life is dynamic — and one of its greatest joys is that it’s ever-changing.
My goal isn’t to help you stay in one state permanently or to feel “fixed.”
My goal is to expand your capacity — to access all the states life has to offer, and to move through them with flexibility and choice.
To do what you need to do and what you want to do — and to experience life in its fullness.
It’s like learning to surf the waves life throws at you — and to have fun doing it.
Because the truth is, life may not get easier, but you can get better at it.
10. My Guiding Philosophy
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”
— Nikola Tesla
To me, our nervous system is how the body listens to — and speaks with — the universe.
Every thought, breath, and heartbeat carries a frequency.
Every act of self-regulation is a vibration returning to harmony.
That’s where science meets humanity —
and that’s the language I continue to translate, one human system at a time.
© 2025 Jieying (Allie) Xie
The Multi-Level Nervous System Framework & Training™ is a proprietary system developed by Jieying (Allie) Xie.
All materials, methods, and terminology are protected under copyright and trademark law.
Reproduction or adaptation without written consent is prohibited.