Have you ever experienced a ‘gut feeling’? Sometimes accompanied by butterflies in your stomach, a strange feeling in your abdomen or food isn’t digesting well because life has been a bit h E c T i C? We’ve all been there – someone’s energy doesn’t sit right with us, eating on the run or while multitasking 5 different things, pent up emotions or general daily worry of what to do, what to do.. you’re not alone. I’ve been doing a lot more study around gut-brain connection as well as adrenal health this year and by golly, the 21st century is all about RUSHING. This time of year in October, people start to get tired and stressed with only 2-3 months left until the dramatic Christmas season. Already, people are visiting the clinic worn out and running on their reserves. Just take a moment, to take a deep breath, to check in with where you are at.
Today’s living involves a lot of low level anxiety over multi tasking, relying on coffee/stimulants to wake us up, too rich food, restless sleep, social media, lack of exercise and real fun, financial pressure and general trying to ‘have it all’ or merely keep up. I recently read a book called ‘Slow’ by Brooke McAlary and it is literally about living a slower life. To come back into a state of rest and digest so that sleep is sound and restorative, moods are better, you aren’t relying on coffee/stimulants and you’re recognising your own values and what really matters to you.
Nerve pathways run throughout our body, assisting in all things function. Concentration, digestion, respiration for example are all connected in a linking system. The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve that starts in the brain and connects through to our neck and chest, then linking to the abdomen. The vagus nerve is involved with the parasympathetic (rest and digest – when you feel calm and grounded) and the sympathetic (fight-flight – a natural response from stress, when adrenaline kicks in). Both (parasympathetic and sympathetic) are needed to function. Sometimes though, the fight-flight response gets a little overworked – when we push ourselves, when life has thrown us curve balls all at once, pressures of keeping up with everyone else, post traumatic symptoms from trauma and simply feeling anxious and worrying too much. What happens – our gut is affected ! Not to mention pain in the body, fatigue etc.
Chinese medicine offers some relieving perspective for easing back into the rest and digest state of being by addressing the pathology at its root. When an issue is rectified at the root level, innate processes within you start to take over in a positive domino effect.
Examples include using acupuncture to:
- Regulate the circadian rhythm (the sleep cycle) so that your hormones and metabolism naturally function well and you wake feeling refreshed, therefore you’re not relying on coffee to perk you up. Not to mention healthy weight and all things gynaecological for woman is smooth sailing throughout monthly cycles.
- Regulate and strengthen your immune and digestive function so that you are absorbing nutrients properly, your bowel movements feel great and your energy is therefore good too!
- Unblock stagnant energy in the body from built up stress, tight muscles, poor posture, repressed emotions and that funny gut feeling when worries build up.
- Supporting your body to prevent overstimulated adrenaline – there is only so many times you can push your adrenals before it becomes detrimental to your health long term.
The vagus nerve doesn’t need to be shocked into shape. It can be toned and strengthened similar to a muscle with small mindful changes to bring you back into feeling cool, calm and collected where you can take a big deep abdominal breath, shaking that funny gut feeling.
Other ways to stimulate the vagus nerve and bring you back into rest and digest ways of being include:
- Gargling – stimulates the palate which is fired by the vagus nerve.
- Singing and chanting – increases the heart rate, sending relaxing vibrational waves through the vagus nerve that passes through the neck.
- Laughing – bursts of joy are natural immune boosters. A good laugh can also be followed by coughing, swallowing and bowel movements which all are connected through where the vagus nerve travels.
- Yoga and Tai chi – both increase the rest and digest activity and studies show regular yoga practices increase the feel good neurotransmitters in the brain.
- Positive social relationships – research has suggested that thinking compassionately about others naturally increases feelings of joy, hope and serenity which therefore increases the heart rate, thus stimulating the vagus nerve in a positive domino effect.
- Deep breathing and meditation – your heart and neck contain neurons that have receptors which detect blood pressure and transmit information to your brain. This activates the vagus nerve that connects through to your heart to lower the heart rate and blood pressure. Breathing the equal amount in as out can be very helpful, and you may even notice you naturally breathe shallowly or mildly hyperventilate which then leads to anxiousness.
- Exercise – shown to stimulate the vagus nerve which then benefits the brain and mental health. As the vagus nerve also connects to digestion, your gut is also stimulated when exercising – increasing blood flow, expanding the diaphragm through breathing and moving pent up stuck emotional stress.
- Colonic hydrotherapy – expanding the bowel increases vagus nerve stimulation and increases the livers detoxifying pathways.
- Bursts of cold – washing your face with cold water stimulates the vagus nerve via temperate change and “always takes the edge off” when you’re in a state of panic, stress or mindlessness. A quick 10 seconds of cold water at the end of your morning hot shower can have a similar effect.
- Learning to CHILL OUT may just be what the doctor ordered. Learning to ‘do nothing’ on weekends, say no to social events when you are tired, and living in a state of your own values and rest.
- Trusting your gut feeling is a good way to intuitively check in with yourself to give you a heads up about whether you’re in rest and digest mode or fight-flight mode. Most relaxing activities will stimulate the vagus nerve, thus bringing you into a natural state of peace.
Hi, I’m Tanya, an Acupuncturist in Nambour on the beautiful Sunshine Coast, Australia.
I practice Chinese medicine because its safe, logical, relevant and has effectively shown methods of natural wellness for thousands of years. Life doesn’t need to be complicated and nor does the treatment approaches to get people feeling vibrant and well. I’ve seen people gain a lot from treatments, much more than just alleviating symptoms. It’s exciting to connect with people and share deep wisdom from the classics of ancient and traditional medicine, with modern protocols for todays mind-body living. See you in the clinic !