Make Every Day Feel Like Life on a Luxury Cruise

A Nervous System Analogy You’ll Never Forget

Picture this:

You’re lounging on the deck of a cruise ship, warm sun on your skin, ocean breeze in your hair. A smiling attendant hands you a cold drink. Fresh meals appear effortlessly. Your bed is made, your towels are folded, and the daily entertainment has been planned—all without you lifting a finger.

Now breathe into that image.
Can you feel it? That sense of ease, safety, and support?
That, my friends, is what life feels like when your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is running the show.

Welcome to the PNS Cruise

The parasympathetic nervous system is lovingly referred to as your “rest and digest” mode. It oversees sleep, digestion, repair, elimination, and your general sense of wellbeing. When your PNS is activated, your internal “staff” are clocked in, calm, capable, and efficiently doing their jobs—just like cruise ship employees focused on delivering five-star service.

Your cells know their roles.
Your body knows the rhythm.
Everything flows.

Ayurveda teaches us that this is our natural state—calm, rhythmic, well-fed, and tuned into the wisdom of our body. This is how healing happens. This is how we build vitality.

But what happens when the cruise doesn’t go as planned?

Trouble on Board

Let’s say the ship suddenly hits a storm. Emergency sirens go off. Staff drop their day jobs to usher passengers into life jackets and lifeboats. Every ounce of attention shifts from comfort to survival.

This is what happens when your body flips into sympathetic nervous system (SNS) mode—commonly known as “fight or flight.”

Your internal workers are no longer attending to digestion or immunity. They’ve abandoned their posts to help you run, fight, hide, or just make it through the day. And while your SNS is vital in emergencies, it’s not meant to run the whole show.

In Ayurveda, we call this state “rajasic”—restless, intense, effortful. And let’s be honest, living in this mode long-term feels more like being stuck in coach on a budget airline, not a cruise.

Abandon Ship or Stay Docked?

Here’s the deal:

1. You don’t get another ship. This body is your only vessel. You don’t get to trade it in, so keeping it seaworthy matters.

2. You can’t live in harbour forever. Life comes with storms. Stress, grief, deadlines, traffic, toxins, grief, loss—these things are unavoidable. But you can learn to ride the waves.

The question is not how do I avoid stress forever?
It’s how do I build a resilient crew that can respond, recover, and reset quickly?

How to Get Back to Sweet Sailing

To keep your internal cruise staff happy and humming, offer them a working environment they can thrive in.

Here’s your Ayurvedic Staff Satisfaction Plan:

🔄 Set Regular Hours

Digestion cells don’t want to be on call 24/7. Eat on a schedule and close the kitchen after dinner. Give your body time to rest between meals. Rhythm creates relaxation.

🌙 Protect the Night Shift

Sleep staff show up every night to do essential repair work. But if the day crew stays late (because you’re snacking at 10pm or binging Netflix), the night crew gets shortchanged. Prioritize early, regular, deep sleep.

🧘🏽‍♀️ Honour Breaks

Your body sends requests all day long: to pee, stretch, sip water, take a breath. Listen. The more you respond with kindness, the more your system stays in ease.

💆🏽‍♀️ Offer Perks

A long bath. A barefoot walk. Abhyanga with warm oil. Deep, slow breaths. All of these are like bonuses for your staff—boosting morale, connection, and capacity.

🚨 Watch for Warning Signals

Overwhelm. Tight breath. Irritability. Trouble sleeping. Disconnection. These are your cruise ship’s internal alarm bells.

When they go off, pause. Ask:

“What do I need right now?”

And listen. You might hear:

• “Drink water”

• “Go pee”

• “Put on socks”

• “Step away from the screen”

• “Go to bed early”

• “Breathe.”

They’re simple. Often free. Always wise.
And the more you say yes, the more your body learns it can trust you.

🌊 Get On Board

What’s the one simple thing your body asks for again and again… that you keep ignoring?

Write it down. Say it out loud. Better yet, honour it today. That’s how you build a body that knows it’s safe. That’s how you return to rhythm. That’s how you turn your life into something that feels like a cruise.

And if you want support recalibrating your internal crew, you don’t have to do it alone: Reach out to me, lean into your trusted 10 habits, find your community that knows you and knows how to do this. Don't have that? Want it? See SisterScience.ca this is what we do. The Year of YOU is the natural starting point. 

We’re here to help you stay afloat—and thrive.

With care and calm seas,

Jill Novak
Founder of Sister Science