DailyOM: For our readers that may not know, what's the vagus nerve?
Sadie: When it comes to most aspects of health and wellness, if exercise and diet are like a car, then the vagus nerve is like the wheels on that car: you can work on the body of the car all you want, but without the wheels, it isn't going to go where you want it to go, and certainly not as fast.
What's really cool about the vagus nerve is that it's the longest one in the body. And many people don't know this, but the vagus nerve is actually doubled! Everyone has two vagus nerves — one running down their right and their left side, from neck to throat to chest to belly.
DailyOM: Why is the vagus nerve critical to our well-being?
Sadie: We have a lot of nerves in our body. So why is this one so important? The vagus nerve directly informs the esophagus, heart, lungs, stomach, and gut. It's even thought that its power extends to the reproductive organs. These amazing nerves also help regulate your mood and your immune system. In addition, the vagus nerve is like a superhighway between the brain and belly, something called the gut-brain access, and this road goes both ways. Information is carried from the brain to the gut, but importantly, the vagus nerve delivers feedback from the gut to the brain. So if your vagus nerve is not toned up, or stimulated regularly, both your brain and belly will miss signals from each other, which can lead to a host of problems.
What's more, your vagus nerves make up 75 percent of your parasympathetic nervous system — the one you need to help you stay calm and balanced. If the vagus nerve isn't healthy, then your parasympathetic nervous system can more easily lead your body into states of anxiety, known as fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. A dysfunctional vagus nerve has been linked to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), anxiety, headaches, dizziness and fainting, abdominal pain and bloating, poor immune function, acid reflux, irregular heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar imbalances, difficulty swallowing, and vomiting.
And if it is properly toned, then your heart, breathing, digestion, hormones, immune system, and whole central nervous system can work better. And when these systems work optimally, then all the workouts, eating well, and mindfulness practices you do will be far more effective too.
DailyOM: In your program, how do you access and stimulate the vagus nerve?
Sadie: Since the nerves are so long and wandering ("vagus" literally means "the wanderer" in Latin) — we have to access them in different ways. In this program, there are 10 sessions, all about 10 minutes each. That's all it takes to wake up the vagus nerve! Each session is focused on a different aspect of the nerve — one day it's an ear-and-neck massage for the upper branches; the next, it's a gentle sideband or twist series for the middle branches, and another session targets deep belly massage and release for the digestive-area lower branches.
In order for the vagus nerve to work best, your body needs to be free from too much muscle tension, which can constrict it anywhere along the line. So these lessons always include outer body warmups and stretches for the areas around the nerve branches, as well as inner body releasing and stimulation through various breathing, sounding, and tapping techniques. All the sessions are short, gentle, subtle, and can be done by anybody, even with limitations. I give lots of options for modifications for these already highly accessible moves.
DailyOM: What results can people expect from doing this work?
Sadie: Work with your vagus nerve, and you'll learn a shortcut to block disease-causing stress from living in your body. The vagus nerve actually carries feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, so after a session, you're likely to experience a sense of bliss, mellowness, and calm. These sessions can help balance your digestion, heart rate, blood sugar and pressure, immunity, and mood — all of which add up to your workouts. As a result, your body, mind, and life as a whole will work better for you.
After these vagus nerve lessons, you'll be more skilled at quickly mastering your mind and body and be able to bring it back into a state of ease at will. That's true empowerment. A vagus nerve session in the morning can help you wake up and feel clear and ready to face the day. One during your day as you feel challenges arise can bring you back into balance before stress gets the best of you. A session before bed can help you fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply too.
I've been doing vagus nerve self-care for years, and from the beginning, my stubborn, longtime anxiety, sleep, and digestive issues completely disappeared. With this course, I'm beyond honored to be able to show others how simple it can be to create deep, lasting, positive changes at such a foundational level.
DailyOM: Thanks Sadie! Learn more about the amazing vagus nerve and how you can cultivate better sleep, healthier digestion, more calm, and greater bliss. Until next time, be well.
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