For any of you following along for a while now, you'll know how much I go on about the brain-body connection and that if you want good mental health, we need to take care of our physical health too. This post will help you understand why it's so important, how it works, and how to hack it to work better for you. To feel our best mentally and physically, it's important to know about the parts of our body that help us stay healthy and one of these parts is the vagus nerve. This nerve can have a big impact on how we feel both physically and emotionally.
So what is the Vagus Nerve?
The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in our body, think of it like a highway for communication between your brain and organs. It starts in the brain and goes down through the neck and into the chest and belly. It helps control things like our heart rate, digestion, and breathing. It also helps manage stress and keep our mood balanced.
Why is the Vagus Nerve Important?
The vagus nerve helps with many important functions:
Stress Relief: It helps calm the body after we feel stressed.
Inflammation Control: It helps control inflammation, which is linked to many health issues.
Digestion: It helps with digestion by making sure our stomach and intestines work properly.
Mental Health: It affects our mood and can help with anxiety and depression.
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems
The Vagus nerve also works with our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system which helps control how we respond to stress and relax. You can see from the image below that these highways are in control of just about all the important parts of our body!
Sympathetic Nervous System: This is like the body’s gas pedal. It gets us ready to face challenges by increasing our heart rate and sending more blood to our muscles. This is often called the “fight or flight” response.
Parasympathetic Nervous System: This is like the body’s brake. It helps us relax and recover by slowing our heart rate and improving digestion. The vagus nerve is a big part of this system and is often called the “rest and digest” nerve.
Signs of an unhealthy Vagus Nerve
An unhealthy vagus nerve can manifest through various physical and emotional symptoms. Key signs include chronic stress or anxiety, digestive issues like bloating or constipation, irregular heart rate, difficulty swallowing, and a hoarse voice. Emotionally, you might experience depression or a lack of resilience to stress. Additionally, problems with sleep, such as insomnia or poor sleep quality, can also indicate vagus nerve dysfunction. If you notice a combination of these symptoms, it may be worth exploring ways to support and improve vagus nerve health.
How to take care of the Vagus Nerve
Deep Breathing: Take slow, deep breaths. This can calm your body and stimulate the vagus nerve. Try to practice deep breathing for a few minutes every day. *The box breathing technique is a great one to start with... Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4 and hold for 4 and repeat as many times as needed. If you want to try something a little trickier, inhale for 4, hold for 7 and exhale for 8.
Meditation and Mindfulness: Spend a few minutes each day being mindful or meditating. This can improve your mood and reduce stress by helping the vagus nerve work better.
Cold Exposure: Try taking a cold shower or splashing cold water on your face (ice baths are also great if your extra bold). This can activate the vagus nerve and help improve your mood as well as speed up metabolism, reduce inflammation and swelling, improved circulation and has been found to even reduce symptoms of depression.
Regular exercise: Try endurance activities such as jogging, cycling and swimming. Research suggests that endurance and internal training stimulate the vagus nerve and control parasyphathetic activity in the brain (the rest and digest one). That may be one reason why athletes report reaching a sort of “high” during long-distance runs.
Singing, Humming, and Chanting: Using your vocal cords for activities like singing, humming, and chanting can stimulate the vagus nerve. These can be fun and relaxing ways to feel better. So, time to bring out that carpool karaoke.
Healthy Eating: Eating foods that are good for your gut, like fish, yogurt, and leafy greens are no secret to being good for your physical health and now we also know that a healthy gut helps the vagus nerve work better = improved mental wellbeing.
Social Connections: Spend time with friends and family (the ones who make you feel good). Positive social interactions can stimulate the vagus nerve and improve your mood, reduce anxiety and depression, improve relationships, and can improve your immune system making you less susceptible to disease and will even extend your life span!
Want to learn more about your mind + body and how to make them work better for you? You can call us on 0487 933 653 or book through the website to secure your session.
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