Note from Dr. Ilene Naomi Rusk:
As clinicians and researchers it is more important than ever for us to collaborate and learn from credible, reliable clinicians and academics who do impactful work in the trauma healing, nervous system, and integrative brain health space. Please enjoy this guest blog on a topic near and dear to my heart, the power of healing your vagus nerve, by Arielle Schwartz, PhD and Licensed Clinical Psychologist. And please enjoy her books as well!
The Value of Embodied Spirituality
Many of us have been taught that our spirituality is something that exists outside of us and that it is disconnected from our bodies. What if those teachings had it backwards? What if your connection to your soul, to your wisest self, lives right here, under your skin, inside of your heart, your belly, your hips. Vagal toning is a way to tap into your body’s intelligence, one breath at a time.
The idea that we must seek our source of wisdom from outside of us disconnects us from our intuition…as a result it can become more difficult to make decisions, navigate our relationships, and feel connected to the world around us. Embodied spirituality resides at the intersection between science, soma, and your soul.
Through a process of listening to your body, you re-align your life so that all of your choices, relationships, and actions become a form of soulful living. From the ground up, you can reclaim your embodied spiritual self.
Artist Credit: Stasia Burrington
What is Vagal Tone?
Vagal tone is measured through the oscillations in heart rate variability that occur with the breath. This is referred to as Heart Rate Variability or HRV. Healthy tone of your vagus nerve involves a slight increase in heart rate on the inhalation and a decrease in heart rate when you exhale.
Healthy vagal tone can be thought of as an optimal balance of parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system actions. People with higher HRV can move more easily from excitement to a relaxed state, and can recover more easily from stress.
Simply put, vagal toning means you are adding gentle stimulation to the vagus nerve pathway through breath, sound, eye-movements, self-applied touch, and gentle movements that help you come into balance.
Since most of us are sympathetic dominant, balance involves more down-regulation of the nervous system into the parasympathetic. However, some of need up-regulating strategies to come out of fatigue or collapse. In that case, the same balancing vagal toning practices will still work, and you can also emphasize the inhalation and gentle expansive movements to up-regulate your system whereas you would emphasize the exhalation and inward awareness to down-regulate your system.
And what is happening as we tone the vagus nerve? We are strengthening the nerve pathway of the social engagement system through repeated practices within the context of connection and safety and we are resetting baseline HRV through conscious breathing, movement, and self-compassion.
The Three S's of Vagal Toning:
Science: The vagus nerve functions as a superhighway of communication that connects your brain to your gut, heart, lungs, as well as the small key muscles within and around your throat, face, eyes, and ears. In short, your vagus nerve helps your body do its job, helping you respond to stress and return to restful states of ease. Vagal toning is a key to reclaiming your birthright of safety, clarity, and inner calm.
Soma: Soma is Greek for body and the integration of body awareness invites you to deepen your relationship to your felt self. What does it mean to become embodied? Sometimes this comes naturally, and for some of us, we have disconnected from our soma because living in this human world is challenging. Many of us have coped by learning to disconnect from our sensations. Engaging in vagal toning practices invites you into a felt-sense of safety that helps you to reclaim a relationship to your body.
Soul: Soul invites you to listen deeply to the voice of your intuition, your wisest self, that is always accessible when you turn your attention inward with curiosity and compassion. Soul can be thought of as the deepest center of our identity that houses your sense of meaning and purpose. When you have a history of trauma or chronic health conditions it is valuable to attend not only to your psychological and physical symptoms but also to your spiritual well-being. Soul work is an invitation to discover the quiet, still, and unchanging self that resides in the depths of your being.
Vagal Toning for Mind-Body Health
Vagal toning means you are adding gentle stimulation to this nerve pathway through breath, sound, eye-movements, self-applied touch, and gentle movements that help your body optimize your well-being. Bodywork, time in nature, meditation, and mindful movement such as yoga, tai chi, or qigong all engage the vagus nerve to nourish your nervous system.
As a result of vagal toning practices, many people immediately feel a shift. This might be a subtle sense of calm, an urge to yawn, or a spontaneous sigh. Sometimes these practices lead increase your access to emotions or sensations. If this is new, you might feel a little bit uncomfortable at first. Some people even feel a little nauseas or dizzy the first few times. But overtime and with repeated practice most people begin to notice a greater feeling of ease, connection, and inner peace.
A Journey Home to Self
By toning the vagus nerve you re-awaken yourself to your instinctual wisest self that says “yes” I like this, or “no” that is not good for me. You clarify your boundaries and you re-orient your life based upon this inner compass that is always with you. It becomes easier to make decisions, to know who to trust, and to listen to the inner voice or your true self.
The above practice guides through natural vagus nerve stimulation practices. Based upon my book, Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery, I share with you some key practices to held you regulate your nervous system.
Regulation of the nervous system relies upon the goldilocks principle. We recognize we are “too hot” when we feel keyed up, anxious, irritable, or panicky. We are too “too cold” when we are shut down, depressed, or feeling hopeless. Sometimes we alternate between the two which is like driving with one foot on the gas and one on the brakes. Practices that regulate the vagus nerve are aimed towards either relaxing or re-energizing ourselves depending upon what is needed to feel “just right.”
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