Does anyone else have trouble noticing signs of stress? Most days, I feel pretty aware of/attuned to my body. Still, the concept of being 'stressed' (outside of the rare occasions when it feels like there's an anvil on my chest) feels vague and wholly unhelpful to me. This might be a stupid question, but does stress feel different for everyone? What symptoms get categorized as 'stress'? It feels like I could point to any feeling in the body and call it stress. Does anyone have any clarity to offer on this?
As a nervous system regulation evangelist, I heartily endorse your exploration!! I have an NSR Wiki on my website with lots of info and resources, all of which I have vetted. Free because it's important. stacib.com/nsr-wiki
Excellent timing on this, Rachel. Iām currently reading Polyvagal Practices by Deb Dana, and it is filled with all sorts of vagus nerve exercises and habits to form.
I'm sure you're on to something here. My blood pressure is highly sensitive to my stress level. I check it most mornings. Often, the first measurement will be in stage 2 hypertension territory, but a couple of rounds of vagus nerve stimulating breathing will bring it down to normal in a couple of minutes.
There are times when I know it's going to be high, and that my underlying anxiety level is such that it's not going to come down. Unfortunately, one of those times was in my cardiologist's office earlier this week. I told her what I was feeling, and showed her my results from home, and we were good. I'm grateful for a doctor who listens.
So yes, that vagus nerve is real!
I'm trying to work on adjusting my overall response to stress, rather than rely on hacks to fix it. That's the work of a lifetime in a world that sees profit in stress.
Vagus nerve exercises have been helpful for my POTS! Not as helpful as medication but stillā a great tool to have. I find humming and singing āvooooā for a few minutes to be surprisingly effective in calming down my sympathetic nervous system. I have some vague nerve meditations on Insight Timer that I do daily and Iām eager to check out the ones you linked! Thanks ā¤ļø
You nailed it Rachel when said we can hear something a kazillion times and then suddenly it sinks in. Thanks for this info about the meditation, I use Insight Timer daily so will look for this one.
Thanks for this reminder. I first learned of the vagus nerve and it's importance when I was working with a yoga instructor in some one on one sessions. I would see her after work, usually rushing to get home to make it in time to our 90-minute session. I was so stressed and wound up at the beginning of one session she started working on different parts of my body to specifically work on my vagus nerve. I think it's also why the cold immersion dipping I do in the mornings is helping me so much. It activates the nerve. I have no idea how it all works, but I'm glad to see it's helping you. I'm going to try to eye movement one tonight!
I never knew the translation as wandering, but of course! Thank you so much for this.
You may be interested in Dr Stephen Porges work on Polyvagal Theory. He developed a listening protocol to help with nervous system regulation and itās called The Safe and Sound Protocol. My son completed it and found it so helpful š
I have been working with regulating my nervous system for about 5 years. It takes time and patience to re-regulate and it's really important to build capacity in our systems first by going slow to avoid too much stress coming out all at once and overwhelming us and potentially making things worse. There are two branches to the vagus nerve. One serves the organs below the diaphragm. The other the organs above it. If you want you can find out more in this free video series. https://irenelyon.com/healing-trauma-freeresources/
When I read this, āIt was four minutes long and involved looking (with your eyes) as far as possible to the right for one minuteā¦ā I thought it had to be the same meditation I do. Sure enough, it is!
I love the vagus nerve and learning all about it!
I often suffer from Vasovagal syncope. That's how I first became acquainted with the vagus nerve. Now, I'm trying to use it to heal my much-damaged nervous system.
Tried vagus nerve exercises for panic attacks a few years ago. It didnt work as well as other visualization and breathing exercises did at the time. I have been curious to try it again since a lot of that anxiety is much, much less. Thanks for this reminder.
Does anyone else have trouble noticing signs of stress? Most days, I feel pretty aware of/attuned to my body. Still, the concept of being 'stressed' (outside of the rare occasions when it feels like there's an anvil on my chest) feels vague and wholly unhelpful to me. This might be a stupid question, but does stress feel different for everyone? What symptoms get categorized as 'stress'? It feels like I could point to any feeling in the body and call it stress. Does anyone have any clarity to offer on this?
As a nervous system regulation evangelist, I heartily endorse your exploration!! I have an NSR Wiki on my website with lots of info and resources, all of which I have vetted. Free because it's important. stacib.com/nsr-wiki
Excellent timing on this, Rachel. Iām currently reading Polyvagal Practices by Deb Dana, and it is filled with all sorts of vagus nerve exercises and habits to form.
Thank you for posting this!
I'm sure you're on to something here. My blood pressure is highly sensitive to my stress level. I check it most mornings. Often, the first measurement will be in stage 2 hypertension territory, but a couple of rounds of vagus nerve stimulating breathing will bring it down to normal in a couple of minutes.
There are times when I know it's going to be high, and that my underlying anxiety level is such that it's not going to come down. Unfortunately, one of those times was in my cardiologist's office earlier this week. I told her what I was feeling, and showed her my results from home, and we were good. I'm grateful for a doctor who listens.
So yes, that vagus nerve is real!
I'm trying to work on adjusting my overall response to stress, rather than rely on hacks to fix it. That's the work of a lifetime in a world that sees profit in stress.
Vagus nerve exercises have been helpful for my POTS! Not as helpful as medication but stillā a great tool to have. I find humming and singing āvooooā for a few minutes to be surprisingly effective in calming down my sympathetic nervous system. I have some vague nerve meditations on Insight Timer that I do daily and Iām eager to check out the ones you linked! Thanks ā¤ļø
Super interesting! The link between the eyes and the vagus nerve must explain how EMDR works (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing#:~:text=EMDR%20involves%20focusing%20on%20traumatic,for%20some%20other%20psychological%20conditions.)
Thanks for sharing!
You nailed it Rachel when said we can hear something a kazillion times and then suddenly it sinks in. Thanks for this info about the meditation, I use Insight Timer daily so will look for this one.
Thanks for this reminder. I first learned of the vagus nerve and it's importance when I was working with a yoga instructor in some one on one sessions. I would see her after work, usually rushing to get home to make it in time to our 90-minute session. I was so stressed and wound up at the beginning of one session she started working on different parts of my body to specifically work on my vagus nerve. I think it's also why the cold immersion dipping I do in the mornings is helping me so much. It activates the nerve. I have no idea how it all works, but I'm glad to see it's helping you. I'm going to try to eye movement one tonight!
I never knew the translation as wandering, but of course! Thank you so much for this.
You may be interested in Dr Stephen Porges work on Polyvagal Theory. He developed a listening protocol to help with nervous system regulation and itās called The Safe and Sound Protocol. My son completed it and found it so helpful š
I have been working with regulating my nervous system for about 5 years. It takes time and patience to re-regulate and it's really important to build capacity in our systems first by going slow to avoid too much stress coming out all at once and overwhelming us and potentially making things worse. There are two branches to the vagus nerve. One serves the organs below the diaphragm. The other the organs above it. If you want you can find out more in this free video series. https://irenelyon.com/healing-trauma-freeresources/
When I read this, āIt was four minutes long and involved looking (with your eyes) as far as possible to the right for one minuteā¦ā I thought it had to be the same meditation I do. Sure enough, it is!
I love the vagus nerve and learning all about it!
I often suffer from Vasovagal syncope. That's how I first became acquainted with the vagus nerve. Now, I'm trying to use it to heal my much-damaged nervous system.
Thanks for this post!
Tried vagus nerve exercises for panic attacks a few years ago. It didnt work as well as other visualization and breathing exercises did at the time. I have been curious to try it again since a lot of that anxiety is much, much less. Thanks for this reminder.