Vagus Nerve Health & Healing

The vagus nerve is, without question, one of the most powerful and influential forces in our life. It affects our mood, how we engage with others, our anxiety level, digestion, sleep, and how well we recover from illness, accident, stroke, and brain injury. Strong “vagal tone,” can improve overall health, physical stability, emotional balance, flexibility and adaptability, recovery and regeneration after shock and trauma, and our ability to connect and engage with others.

The vagus nerve, which responds to stress directly through the sympathetic nervous system (our freeze/fight/flight reaction), can become locked in a pattern of heightened alertness (hyper-vigilance) and reactivity. We may also experience the opposite by completely shutting down in depression and withdrawal.

In addition, because the vagus nerve connects and innervates (stimulates through nerve networks) the inner organs of the body, we may experience “psycho-somatic” symptoms. These may manifest as such things as stomach upsets, hives, headaches, etc. The body, the vagus nerve in particular, is simply overwhelmed with stress.

Somatic, body-centered therapy can be a powerful tool in calming and reinvigorating the vagus nerve to heal us emotionally and, in some cases, reduce or eliminate physical manifestations of stress. To learn more, read my article The Power of the Vagus Nerve: Renewal, Regeneration, and Connection.