NRS Theory | The Hela Method

What is the Neuro‑Reflex System (NRS Theory)?

The Neuro‑Reflex System (NRS Theory)

is a framework developed by Hela Kammoun the founder of The Hela Method.

It understands primitive reflexes and the autonomic nervous system as one living system, constantly asking a single question: “Am I safe, or am I in danger?”

This conversation begins in the womb and continues through infancy, childhood, and adulthood.

The two units of the NRS

The Neuro‑Reflex System has two main units:

Primitive Reflex System
The in‑born movement programs (like the Moro, grasp, rooting and others) that protect the newborn and build the foundations for posture, movement, and early bonding.
Autonomic Nervous System
The body’s automatic regulator of heart rate, breath, digestion, and stress responses (fight, flight, freeze, and shutdown).

In NRS Theory these two units are always in conversation, not separate silos.

Same pathways. Same triggers. Same outcomes.

Same pathways

Both units rely on fast, mostly unconscious reflex arcs that run from the body to the brainstem and back again. These reflex routes constantly adjust breathing, posture, and muscle tone long before the thinking cortex has time to decide what to do.

Same triggers

Both are activated by sensory overload:

sudden sound
bright light
abrupt movement
loss of physical support

In babies, these cues can fire primitive reflexes such as the Moro (startle) reflex; in older children and adults, the same cues can produce a startle, racing heart, and a surge in sympathetic arousal.

Same kinds of outcomes

When these pathways stay very active, they show up in behavior and emotion:

clumsiness and poor coordination
sensory sensitivities and overwhelm
big, fast emotional reactions (panic, anger, tears)
or, on the other side, numbing, withdrawal, and “checking out”

What often looks like “behavior” is, in NRS Theory, the joint outcome of these two units working hard to protect the person.

A clear example: prematurity

One of the clearest pictures of the Neuro‑Reflex System is a premature baby.

A preemie arrives before the body and brain were ready for the world. Their system is suddenly bombarded with light, sound, and medical touch and is often separated from the mother in the NICU.

The Neuro‑Reflex System is asked to work very hard, very early—without the buffering of skin‑to‑skin contact, smell, voice, and the familiar heartbeat.

For many of these children, recovery of reflexes and nervous‑system regulation takes much longer than after a supported, full‑term birth.

Later, they are more likely to be described with sensory integration challenges, learning differences, or other neurodevelopmental labels—not because something is “wrong” with them, but because the support their NRS needed in those first days and weeks was missing

Why touch, voice, and presence are medicine

Research on co‑regulation shows that calm physical presence, gentle touch, and a soothing voice help a child’s autonomic nervous system shift out of defense and into safety.

In NRS Theory:

The mother’s or practitioner’s nervous system becomes an external support structure for the child’s Neuro‑Reflex System.

Through:

safe, welcomed touch
soft, regulated voice
attuned gaze
grounded, steady presence

the adult offers the child a living template of what safety feels like in a body, until the child’s own system can carry more of that pattern on its own.

When early bonding around trauma was not possible, the work later in life is to offer this kind of safety again—through our hands, our voice, our energy, and our attunement—so the NRS can slowly move from chronic protection toward genuine connection.

This is the heart of NRS Theory:
reflexes and the nervous system are one story, and **our presence can help rewrite it.