One of the most fascinating new topics I have come across recently is the Vagus Nerve. This nerve is known as the "wanderer," rightfully so, as it wanders throughout our upper body, beginning at the top of our brain stem, going down our neck and connecting our brain with our heart, lungs, and digestive system. There are billions of neurons within the Vagus Nerve that are responsible for communication between these key organs within our body.
The Vagus Nerve is part of the autonomic nervous system, which is the system that controls the automatic functions of our body (breathing, heart rate, digestive system, hormones), the things we don't do on a conscious level.
The autonomic system has two different branches: the sympathetic and parasympathetic. They work together as one; the sympathetic is the accelerator of the body, while the parasympathetic can be thought of as the brakes of the body. The following is an example of how the two branches work together: The sympathetic nervous system makes sure that our heart rate elevates when we inhale. Inhalation is an action, our body is ready for action when we breathe in. The other branch, the parasympathetic, makes sure that our heart rate slows down when we exhale. It is responsible for relaxing and slowing down the body. If we can control that part of our nervous system in our daily life, we will be able to control our reactions to situations that we come across.
The Vagus Nerve is very responsible for the communication that goes on between our heart and our brain. When our eyes perceive a stressful situation, they tell our brain, "we're in a stressful situation"; then our brain tells our heart, and then our heart rate elevates. Then, our heart rate sends a message back to our brain saying, "get ready, we're in a stressful situation." The heart, through its rate, sends a signal to the brain. The message that goes from our heart to our brain has a tremendous effect on how we perceive a situation we're in, as well as how we're going to react to it.
Imagine if you were to be able to consciously control the message that goes from your brain to your heart, as well as your heart to your brain. You consciously control your reaction and perception of every situation you find yourself in.
Our heart continuously tells our brain how we feel at each moment.
Our heart continuously tells our brain how we feel at each moment.
If we control the messages that our heart is sending to our brain, we can control the way we function in daily life. Scientists say that our Vagus Nerve has a tone (just like a muscle can have a stronger or weaker tone, our Vagus Nerve can also be strengthened the more we use it). People with a high Vagus Nerve tonality are better able to relax when encountering a stressful situation, have a greater sense of well-being, as well as stronger relationships. It has also been shown that those with a high functioning Vagus Nerve have a stronger immune system response, as the nerve regulates the body's inflammation response to disease.
Here is a way to strengthen your Vagus Nerve:
Here is a way to strengthen your Vagus Nerve:
1) Breathing: The elevation and slowing down of our breathing and heart rate, if it is at an even, rhythmic pace, there is a greater level of coherence in the communication between our heart and brain. By becoming mindful of your breathing, your body will automatically relax, as your brain goes into an alpha state.
2) Combining breathing with feelings of Love, Compassion, and Gratitute in your heart. Feelings of compassion and love strengthen the tone of your Vagus Nerve.
The Vagus Nerve can be considered as our interface with the world. As we perceive, our thoughts about what we are perceiving get passed around via the Vagus Nerve to all parts of our body, telling our body how to respond based upon what we are perceiving.
The fascinating part is that the Vagus Nerve is also connected to our digestive system, and whatever we put into our stomachs sends a signal from our gut to our brain and our gut to our heart. That is why eating habits are so very important to your state of mind and state of well being. When we perceive that we're in a stressful situation, our Vagus Nerve slows down our digestive system, as the Fight/Flight response [sympathetic nervous system] is activated. So, in learning how to better respond to stressful situations, you are also in turn improving your digestive system. Chew on that!
Here's some interesting videos:
Here's some interesting videos:
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