Why is the Vagus Nerve the first thing to address if you want to heal your V?

If there was only one part of your body I’d like for you to focus on to live a good life, I would love for you to focus on healing the V. And no, I am not speaking about the vulva, though if you’re readying this, it’s likely you struggle with vulvodynia. The V-word I want for you to always keep in mind is the Vagus Nerve. That is the 10th cranial nerve and one of the most important pieces to regulate the autonomic nervous system (fight or flight/rest and digest) that goes from the brainstem to the cervix, innervating all major organs in the body.

For our bodies to be able to heal, whether it is an acute infection or a chronic illness/pain, it is important to promote a relaxation response in the body. For if we are focused on survival, our energy cannot go towards healing. The Vagus Nerve helps us regulate our autonomic nervous system, activating the parasympathetic state. That is the “rest and digest”, opposite to the “fight or flight”.

Often we live stressed out and especially when we live in chronic pain it’s easy to lose homeostasis (in this case, meaning the balance between the sympathetic – fight or flight and the parasympathetic – rest and digest branch of the autonomic nervous system), so in order to heal from chronic pain, the top thing we need to address is the nervous system to foster an environment for healing. For this, I’d like to share some techniques with you that help stimulate the vagus nerve (and therefore the parasympathetic response).

Breathing

Breathing is one of the easiest ways to activate the vagus nerve. Now, lots of us don’t pay enough attention to our breathing in our day-to-day lives, so we end up with shallow breaths. This only makes us feel more anxious, so as they say “control your breath, control your life”.

Try to bring attention to your breath during the day and slow it down a bit, bringing the air to your diaphragm. This will help stimulate the vagus nerve and make you feel more serene, as well as allowing more healing in your body.

There are certain types of breathwork you can practice depending on what you’re trying to achieve, it’s generally a very powerful tool to regulate the nervous system. I love doing the 4-7-8. That is inhaling in 4 seconds, holding for 7, and exhaling in 8. When the exhale is longer than the inhale, we stimulate the vagus nerve and therefore, the relaxation response.

Vibration

Vibration is a good way to stimulate the vagus nerve; things such as humming or singing are a fast and powerful way to induce a parasympathetic (rest and digest) response.

Massage

The vagus nerve can be accessed through some self-massaging techniques, usually better performed with the help of some props. This one is one of my favorite to teach as it allows to change the level of physiological activation super quickly! Usually, I use props for better grip, but for some of the practices, you could also use your hands. Working the sides of your neck or through the sides of the ribs, it’s a powerful way to stimulate the branches of the vagus nerve.

Taping

Applying tape behind our ears and in our collarbone can also help induce the relaxation response – you’ll need Kinesio tape for that as tapes that aren’t suited for skin contact can be irritating.

These are just a few of the several ways to stimulate the Vagus Nerve, if you’d like to know more on how to trigger the rest and digest response and promote the best environment for your body to heal, feel free to comment or send me a message, I look forward to hearing from you. Much love,

Miriam