Vagus Nerve Exercises To Rewire Your Brain: Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve With Natural Self-Healing Daily Exercises For Anxiety, Depression, Trauma & Overthinking

By Tiegan Williams

Discover How The Barely Known Vagus Nerve Can Hold The Power To Ultimate Health & Discover The BEST Strategies To Activate Its Incredible Power!



• Language: English
• Publisher: Spent Pens Publications
• Release date: Nov 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781998101542

Book preview

Introduction

Many people in the modern world suffer from mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, trauma, and excessive thinking, particularly in more recent times. However, many people resort to over-the-counter medication or other types of treatment that do not target the true problem, which is a dysfunction in your autonomic nervous system. This is because these treatments do not target the actual cause of the problem.

The component of the human nervous system that is responsible for monitoring and regulating the activity of the visceral organs is called the autonomic nervous system. Visceral organs consist of the genitalia, the heart, the lungs, the liver, the gallbladder, the stomach, the intestines, the kidneys, and the gallbladder. Almost always, a problem with your autonomic nervous system is the root cause of any anxieties or aches that are associated with any of your visceral organs.

The autonomic nervous system is composed of two distinct divisions, and these divisions frequently behave in a manner that is contradictory to one another. The sympathetic division and the parasympathetic division are the two categories that concern the span of this book. The sympathetic nervous system helps the body prepare for imminent action, which can be either the fight or flight reaction. However, this preparation comes at the expense of the body's regulatory functions, such as digestion.

When we humans are dealing with a stressful situation, our muscles automatically respond by tightening up because they have been trained to do so. Because of this tensing movement, we are able to move more quickly and/or summon more strength to the areas where strength is needed. The process of calling upon the power of your muscles is lengthy and difficult, not to mention unique. Because of this, the visceral organs require as much assistance as they can receive, and the cranial nerves are there to lend a helping hand in achieving the relaxation response.

Only in two situations can the relaxation response be activated: one, if we have prevailed in the conflict and eliminated the risk, and two, when we have disengaged ourselves from the situation to the point that we are no longer in danger. In either situation, the body will fall into a state of relaxation, signaling to the individual that they are safe for the time being, at least until the next potential danger presents itself.

The rest and digest or feed and breed state of the autonomic nervous system was once assumed to be synonymous with the state of relaxation. Our autonomic nervous system seemed to cycle between states of tension and relaxation. This story only goes true if we are to believe the conventional theory that is accepted by the majority of people.

Having said that, this interpretation does not take into account one factor. Problems develop when we continue to be in a state of stress even after we have successfully avoided the threat or danger, which may be due to the fact that our line of work or way of life is inherently stressful.

Because of this, long-term stress has been recognized as a problem in people's health for several decades, and great quantities of scientific research have been concentrated on gaining an understanding of the potentially harmful effects of stress that is endured over an extended period of time.

Knowledge of the autonomic and central nervous systems is the first step toward having a better understanding of how we deal with stress. The former nervous system is comprised of sensory, motor, and gland-stimulating components, whereas the latter nervous system, is predominantly comprised of the brain and spinal cord as its primary organs of operation.

The control of the muscles that do not require conscious action (otherwise known as nonvoluntary muscles) is carried out by the autonomic nervous system. The peripheral nervous system is responsible for the same thing, but it is incapable of controlling the heart, glands, or organs that contain smooth muscles like the intestines.

Different neurotransmitters with diametrically opposed effects are utilized by each of the two branches. The neurotransmitters that we need to focus on are norepinephrine or noradrenaline, which is used for the sympathetic branch, and acetylcholine, which is used for the parasympathetic branch.

If you are having trouble seeing the two neurotransmitters opposing one another, consider the fact that norepinephrine quickens the rate at which your heart beats, whilst acetylcholine decreases the rate at which it beats. In addition, it is known that norepinephrine can widen the pupils and the airways in the lungs, reduce the activity of the digestive system, and slow bladder contractions as well as blood flow to the genital area.

On the other hand, excessive stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system as a result of prolonged exposure to high levels of stress is taxing on the body and has a strong propensity to be linked to heart disease as well as other stress-related persistent ailments.

In other words, it all comes down to stress—or rather, how your body copes with stress.

This is precisely why healthcare professionals sparked a widespread movement with their efforts to treat and manage chronic stress. As part of this movement, they have written (and are continuing to write) a large number of articles aimed at a general audience and published them in a variety of formats, including newspapers, magazines, books, and blogs. The pharmaceutical industry also started producing a wide variety of antistress medications, which have resulted in substantial financial gains for the companies producing them as the number of people taking these medicines has increased. However, in spite of all of these resources, there are still a great number of people who believe that they have not been assisted nearly enough. They continue to feel the effects of stress.

As a result of this, there is a widespread consensus that the level of stress in our society is rising at an exponential rate. Some people even argue that individuals are experiencing higher levels of stress as a direct consequence of being stressed.

Upon investigating dry cranium bones in an anatomy dissection lab, scientists observed that the sawtooth edges of adjacent cranial bones might fit together, but also that there was a possibility of modest movement between two nearby bones, even without the sawtooth edges.

It was a widely held notion at the time that if something occurred in nature, there had to be an explanation for why it did so. This was the birth of craniosacral therapy.

A Closer Look at Cranial Bone Movement

The bones of the skull are held together by a network of elastic membranes, which also permit some motion between the individual bones. Many of the medical conditions that originate in the neurological systems also restrict movement between the bones of the cranium. But releasing some of the tension from the neurological systems has been a longstanding method that provides some room for cranial bones to move. This makes treatment options available to patients struggling with a wide range of health problems. It gives new hope to people who have not been able to seek conventional treatments of medicine and surgery—and for patients whose past attempts at treatment have failed.

The craniosacral approach is a hands-on therapy method that has proven to be particularly effective in improving the function of the nervous system. This is in contrast to the typical practice of traditional medical doctors, who are more likely to prescribe medication for the treatment of stress and other medical conditions. The craniosacral method has the potential to lower chronic stress, release tensions in the muscular system, and put the hormonal (endocrine) system into a more balanced state. There are various therapeutic techniques for chronic stress, and they can be grouped under three different categories: (1) reducing the strain in the membranes, (2) relaxing the limits between the different cranial bones; and (3) enhancing the flow of cerebrospinal fluid.

The Blood–Brain Barrier

The brain and spinal cord are both encased in a physical structure called the epithelial sheath, which is made up of epithelial cells. The blood–brain barrier is formed by these cells, also known as endothelial cells.

There is no direct circulation of blood to the neurons in the brain and spinal cord, thus they do not receive blood directly. Instead, the tissues of these structures are surrounded by a colorless fluid called cerebrospinal fluid, which circulates in order to supply the brain and spinal cord cells with the required nutrients and to transport away waste products of cellular activity before returning to circulation. These functions take place before the cell enters the bloodstream.

It is true that cerebrospinal fluid is only present in trace levels in the blood throughout the body, but its consistency is noticeably different from that of the rest of the blood. It does not have any red or white blood cells, and it has a significantly lower level of contaminants than blood does.

The cerebrospinal fluid is created when blood is filtered in the brain, and it then travels around the cranium in the areas that surround the brain and spinal cord. Cerebrospinal fluid, after completing its circuit of the brain and spinal cord, travels back to the jugular veins, where it rejoins the blood that is traveling to the heart from the rest of the body. After that, it is pumped out of the heart and passed via the lungs and kidneys to be purified.

The flow of blood to the brainstem and the nerves that emerge from it is essential to the operation of the five cranial nerves, the operation of which is required for the condition of social engagement. This includes the ventral branch of the vagus nerve. In order to properly improve the function of the ventral branch of the vagus nerve and the other four cranial nerves that are crucial for social engagement, it is essential to remove any constraints that may be placed on the blood supply to these areas. The field of craniosacral osteopathy is home to some of the most effective strategies for accomplishing this goal.

Osteopathic physicians were the only healthcare professionals allowed to receive craniosacral education for many years. In the past, they had a policy that only licensed osteopaths and students currently enrolled in osteopathic medical schools were allowed to participate in their classes. However, gradually, some of the hands-on disciplines were taught to students and physicians who were not trained in osteopathic medicine.

The Rationale Behind Our Participation in Social Activities

Spinal nerves, which have their beginnings in the brain, are a component of the spinal cord. They exit the spinal cord between vertebrae that are next to one another and then travel to numerous locations all throughout the body. A spinal nerve is a mixed neuron that carries motor, sensory, and autonomic messages between relevant parts of the body and the spinal cord.

Some of the spinal nerve fibers interweave with one another to form the sympathetic chain, which extends from vertebrae T1 all the way down to L2 and runs the whole length of the spine. (The first thoracic vertebra is referred to as T1, and the second lumbar vertebra is referred to as L2.) When a person is activated into a fight-or-flight response in response to the perception of a threat of danger, this chain provides support for the activity of the muscles and visceral organs.

The brainstem, which is located at the bottom of the brain, is where most of the cranial nerves get their start, with the exception of the cranial nerves I (olfactory) and II (optic). After there, they go to a variety of structures located within the cranium as well as the rest of the body. For example, certain cranial nerves supply the muscles that control facial expressions, while others travel to the heart, lungs, stomach, and other organs that are involved in digesting. Some of the cranial nerves connect to the muscles that control eye movement, while others link up to the cells in the nose that are responsible for our ability