The Vagus Nerve
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Unlock Your Power: Calm the Vagus Nerve and Energize Your Life
What is the Vagus Nerve and Why is it Essential for Health?
The Vagus Nerve is the 10th cranial nerve. It means “wandering” in Latin which is a fitting title since it wanders to so many of the body’s organs affecting most of the body’s systems. Our nervous system is divided into the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches. We as a society are stuck in the reactive sympathetic state when we should be more in the parasympathetic rest and digest state. This all relates to Stephen Porges Polyvagal Theory pictured below.
Are you stuck in a freeze or fight/flight state?
Understanding Dissociation, Emotional Regulation,
and the Nervous System
Scrolling and emotional eating can be signs of dissociation, especially when you're stuck in a freeze or fight-or-flight state.
Polyvagal theory explains how our nervous system moves through three main states:
✔ Dorsal vagal(freeze/shutdown):
Associated with dissociation and immobilization.
✔ Sympathetic (fight or flight):
Linked to heightened stress and anxiety.
✔ Ventral vagal (calm and social):
The safe state where we feel relaxed and connected.
Meditation is often recommended to calm the mind, but it may not work well for someone in a fight-or-flight state. It can skip necessary steps in the nervous system's recovery process.
Movement, like shaking, can help release stored tension in the body, allowing you to shift from a heightened state to a place of calm and safety.
From Danger to Healing: My Personal Transformation
I have come to learn in my own healing process just how I have been stuck in freeze or fight or flight throughout my day. I was constantly communicating messages of "danger" to my body.
Examples that create a feeling of "danger" in the body include:
Food fear
Constantly rushing
Eating quickly
Generalized anxiety
Lack of emotional awareness
Self-sabotaging with emotional eating
I was doing all of these and have worked on changing these negative habits. I now know how to give myself compassion, I feel safer in my body, and there is an inner sense of trust that was absent before. This positive change allows me to serve as a resource for others, helping them slow and calm the mind and body.
Through qigong
Self-massage
Breath work
Emotional healing
Self-energy techniques
I sense myself thriving, and I’m proud to share my knowledge with you and my health coaching clients.
Melanie’s Trainings on or related to the Vagus Nerve:
Donna Eden, Energy Medicine Course through Mind Valley - learned how to stimulate or sedate energy pathways and meridians based in oriental medicine. Learned ways to balance the energetic system to relieve headaches, gut dysfunction, vertigo, inflammation, and any imbalances due to stuck energy.
Dr. Melanie Smith, Tap Into Your Vagus Nerve's Healing Power to Rewire Your Nervous System for Optimal Health - Course through the shift network incorporating oriental medicine and use of acupressure points and meridians to reset the vagus nerve.
Body by: Breath Immersion Certificate by Jill Miller at Tune Up Fitness (18 hours) - Learned ways to activity and tone the Vagus Nerve, improve mind body connectivity and promote deep relation through breath and myo-fascial release.
Breema Body Work (in process) - This is a relaxing type of body work that combines aspects of tie massage and yoga. It is very relaxing and nurturing to the nervous system and therefore tonifying for the vagus nerve. I have been training on and off for the past 10 years in Israel, California, and Colorado.
Self-Study - Qigong training with Lee Holden on Mind Valley which is balancing for the vagus nerve. I follow Marisa Cranfilll at Yoqi and use her practices daily.
Need more support? Book a risk-free virtual call and share your story with me.
I’ll supply you with a roadmap for how I would solve your health problems.
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© 2020 by Root 2 Rise Wellness LLC. All rights reserved
© 2020 by Root 2 Rise Wellness LLC. All rights reserved