Activate Your Vagus Nerve
The word vagus means "wandering" in Latin
DO YOU WANT TO LEARN ABOUT YOUR VAGUS NERVE AND HOW TO ACTIVATE IT?
As a Naturopath, the vagus nerve is something I teach my clients about everyday.
Here I have designed a Vagus Nerve worksheet for you to download.
Simple click the button just below to get it right away
The vagus nerve is unique in the body because it provides sensory and motor functions.
Sensory functions include: somatic and visceral sensation of the ear, larynx, oesophagus, lungs, trachea, heart and most of the digestive tract.
Motor functions include: stimulation of the muscles in the pharynx, larynx, soft palate, heart - to help lower resting heart rate, involuntary contractions in digestive tract to move food through.
VAGUS NERVE + STRESS
When your fight or flight response is dominant and pouring out cortisol and adrenaline, the vagus nerve is responsible for telling the body to chill out by releasing acetylcholine. The vagus nerve extends out to many organs and also helps to release enzymes and proteins like prolactin and oxytocin which calm you down.
Treatments that target the vagus nerve increase the vagal tone and inhibit cytokine production. Both are important mechanism of resiliency.
i.e. people with a weaker vagus nerve response may have a higher level of difficulty in stressful situations that others.
GUT BRAIN CONNECTION
The vagus nerve is like the highway between your gut and brain. Anxious stomach cramps, reflux, nausea, unexplained digestive issues, poor nutrient absorption - all are examples of vagus nerve and gut function miscommunication. Your "gut feelings" are actually a real thing!
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY VAGUS NERVE
The inflammatory reflex is a physiological mechanism through which the vagus nerve regulates immune function and inhibits excessive pro-inflammatory cytokine production.
A certain amount of inflammation after injury or illness can be normal. Although inflammation that the body cannot down regulate can be linked to many diseases and conditions - particularly autoimmune conditions. When the vagus nerve notices the presence of cytokines or a substance called tumor necrosis factor (TNF)—it alerts the brain and draws out anti-inflammatory neurotransmitters that regulate the body’s immune response.
ACTIVATING THE VAGUS NERVE
Auricular branch of the vagus nerve stimulation - pinch the cymba conchae (see X in photo above) between thumb and forefinger. rub your thumb gently back and forth over this area. When you get the right spot and pressure the relief of anxiety, tension or discomfort can be almost instant.
Abdominal massage - on empty stomach start at sternum and move down toward lower left quadrant using fingertips to make small circular motions, progressively getting deeper and firmer.
Yoga pose - Supta Matsyendrasana
Humming - Humming, gargling, singing and chanting
Meditation - just 15 mins per day has been shown to activate the vagus nerve
Chiropractic adjustments
There are many reasons why the vagus nerve may lose tone, if you need to investigate this further feel free to contact me.
References:
Breit, S., Kupferberg, A., Rogler, G. and Hasler, G., 2018. Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain–Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders. Frontiers in Psychiatry, [online] 9. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5859128/>
Howland, R., 2014. Vagus Nerve Stimulation. Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports, [online] 1(2), pp.64-73. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4017164/>
Pavlov, V. and Tracey, K., 2012. The vagus nerve and the inflammatory reflex—linking immunity and metabolism. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, [online] 8(12), pp.743-754. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4082307/>
Pavlov, V., Wang, H., Czura, C., Friedman, S. and Tracey, K., 2003. The Cholinergic Anti-inflammatory Pathway: A Missing Link in Neuroimmunomodulation. Molecular Medicine, [online] 9(5-8), pp.125-134. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1430829/>.
Tracey, K., 2007. Physiology and immunology of the cholinergic antiinflammatory pathway. Journal of Clinical Investigation, [online] 117(2), pp.289-296. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1783813/>