The Vagus Nerve

Image from Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014

What is it?

Meaning “the wandering nerve”, this fantastic nerve runs from the base of your skull (it attaches to your spinal cord) and down the center of your body into and all around your gut, even to your pelvic floor. It is the key player in your parasympathetic nervous system (learn all about it under The Nervous System page here).

Think of it as the main information highway that sends sensory information between the brain and your heart, lungs, digestive system and even fascia. Truly a main factor in mind body connection.

Functions:

It plays a big role in involuntary functions like:

• Digestion

• Heart rate, blood pressure and breathing

• Immune system responses

• Mood

• Skin and muscle sensations

• Speech

It regulates your heart rate, helps your body slow and relax tense muscles, opening the ability to send blood and oxygen calmly throughout the body for recovery and proper digestion of food. Your body is smart, it knows it needs to protect itself from threats, and it also knows it needs recovery time in order to stay strong.

Dysfunction:

*Outside of direct damage to the nerve, like a tear or damage from physical injury or disease*

The problem occurs when stress, anxiety or trauma become the regular state of functioning, when they become the pattern, as it constricts the Vagus Nerve.

The body needs balance. The sympathetic and parasympathetic sides of your nervous system intend to work in harmony. They are there to support your physical body, which in turn supports your mental health.

Your sympathetic nervous system helps assess and react to a dangerous situation (fight, flight, freeze & fawn) and your parasympathetic (calming side) system helps you rest, renourish and recover - the Vagus Nerve is truly a main facilitator in the calm side.

If your fight/flight side gets sent into overdrive, it is designed to “push away” the calming side to get things done. Your heart beats quicker, breathing gets more shallow and muscles tighten, bracing you for some form of impact. All of these restrict the flow of information through the vagus nerve and reduces the calming signals it sends. This significantly impacts your ability to digest food properly, the flow of blood and oxygen throughout muscles and organs for recovery, which all end up impacting your immune system and recovery system.

Temporary imbalance or dysregulation is healthy when needed, again these things exist to protect and support us. If you are in physical danger, it may not be the time for relaxation and a snack, you need your fight/flight system to kick in and get you to safety. Or you have a work deadline to meet, or last minute kid’s project, you need to be able to rise to the occasion. The problem occurs when stress, anxiety and trauma become the regular state of functioning, when they become the pattern, and in this modern society we are expected far too often to live in this activated state.