This past term we have been looking
at the importance of relaxation and restoration to the Vagus Nerve. Yogic
techniques support the function of the vagus nerve and having this as a focus
has an added mindful aspect to our practices. People have commented on the
increased level of relaxation at the end of class.
Why is the vagus nerve and
the quality of our vagal tone, SO important to health? Emerging
research is focusing on the role of the vagus nerve in reducing inflammation,
the health of the immune system and the development of a wide range of diseases.
In our overstimulated
society, we do not always take the time to rest and relax and this overtaxes
the body and the mind. This is because, in evolutionary terms we
haven’t progressed very far. In
spite of all our gadgets and technical know-how, our bodies are
still in the era of rising with the light and going to bed at sunset. Think,
sitting around the fire cooking our meal. The light is soft, our clan might be sharing
heroic stories, and as the firelight fades, we nod off to sleep. The contrast
with today’s society could not be greater. We are on call 24/7 on phones,
facebook etc. Our lights blaze from many sources at all hours. We watch
television to “relax” but flashing lights and loud action is not what the body
and mind find restorative. The result is exploding rates of diseases, such as
cancer, heart disease, strokes and rheumatoid arthritis, mental disorders including
depression, anxiety, alzheimers and OCD etc.
Enter the vagus nerve. The new medical understanding
of the role of the vagus nerve is changing the course of medicine. Your VAGUS nerve has a
direct impact on your immune system and reducing inflammation in the body. Tests have revealed that
people have differing levels of vagus activity. People with low vagal tone are more at risk from diseases such as cancer, heart disease, rheumatoid
arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, and many have also been diagnosed
with depression, panic disorders, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), irritable bowel
syndrome, anxiety, panic disorders, violent mood swings, fibromyalgia, early
Alzheimer’s and obesity.
Research indicates that healthy vagus nerve activity is vital not just
for individual health, but for society at large because high vagal tone is
important for experiencing empathy and fostering social bonding, and it is crucial
to our ability to observe, perceive, and make complex decisions. The vagus nerve
is fascinating. To read more about the importance of your vagus nerve and how
you can stimulate it .
The vagus nerve is by far the longest most far
reaching nerve in the body. Termed the Wandering
Nerve (‘vagus’ is Latin for ‘wandering’), because of
its extensive reach throughout the body, it begins in the brainstem just behind
the ears, travels down each side of the neck, across the chest and down through
the abdomen. It networks the brain with the stomach and digestive tract, right
down through the intestines, the lungs, heart, spleen, liver and kidneys, not
to mention a range of other nerves that are involved in speech, eye contact,
facial expressions and even your ability to tune in to other people’s voices.
The vagus nerve is an
important part of your feedback system. It is made of thousands and thousands of
fibres and 80 per cent of them are sensory, meaning that the vagus nerve reports
back to your brain what is going on in your organs. In other words, it monitors
what is happening in the body and organises your defence system accordingly,
and this is where things can get out of kilter.
‘The Vagus nerve is an essential
part of the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for calming organs
after the stressed ‘fight-or-flight’ adrenaline response to danger. Some people
have stronger vagus activity, which means their bodies can relax faster after a
stress.
The strength of our vagus “response”
is known as our vagal tone which can be assessed by using an electrocardiogram to measure heart
rate. You get a sense of this when you monitor your breathing. When you breathe
in, your heart beats faster, supressing the vagus nerve, in order to speed the
flow of oxygenated blood around your body. When you breathe out, your heart
rate slows. The bigger the difference in heart rate between breathing in and
out, the higher the vagal tone.
Research shows that a high
vagal tone makes the body better at regulating blood glucose levels, reducing the
likelihood of diabetes, stroke and cardiovascular disease, and it seems many
other disorders and diseases. Low vagal tone, however, has been associated with
chronic inflammation.
We need inflammation to
heal. As part of the immune system, inflammation has a useful role helping
the body to heal after an injury, for example, but it can damage organs and
blood vessels if it persists when it is not needed. One of the vagus nerve’s
jobs is to reset the immune system and switch off production of proteins that
fuel inflammation.
Low vagal tone means this
regulation is less effective and inflammation can become excessive, such as in rheumatoid
arthritis or in toxic shock syndrome.
In a move away from drugs,
surgeons have experimented with implants inserted in the neck to stimulate
the vagus nerve several times a day, and this has proved so successful, that
researchers are looking into extending this technique for a wide range of other chronic debilitating
conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, asthama, diabetes, chronic
fatigue syndrome, autism and obesity.
Research findings indicate
that those with high vagal tone are not just healthier, they are also socially
and psychologically stronger – better able to concentrate, remember
things, happier and less likely to be depressed, more empathetic and more
likely to have close friendships.
How can you improve your
vagal tone? Some of this vagal tone response is inherited and some is related to
lifestyle. In our over stimulated society, some of us have lost touch with the
parasympathetic side of our nervous system and spend too much time in “go”
mode. Even when we “relax”, it is often likely to be blobbed out in front of
television (with bright lights flashing on the screen, heart pounding action,
and loud intrusive music), or networking on facebook, phone, or by downing one
too many drinks in an effort to let the day “go”. All this action, often with distressing,
dehumanising imagery of mayhem and destruction, may be exciting and
entertaining, while we are awake, but the downside is that once asleep, our
brains cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy and our dreams and sleep
patterns reflect this at some level.
The net result is that we lack
quality time supporting our vagus nerve. We spend far more time in the sympathetic (flight
or fight) part of our nervous system, than we do in the parasympathetic (rest
and digest”) part of our nervous system.
An important aspect of good
vagal tone is breathing. Remember we suppress the vagus nerve on inhalation and support it, when
we breathe out. When we concentrate or become stressed we tend to “breathe” in,
as opposed to allowing the breath to flow in naturally as it should, in order
to equal the pressure outside our bodies. This hydraulic drawing in of breath
stresses the body organs. The yogis tell us that our exhalation should be twice
the length of the inhalation but as we get stressed, this tends to be reversed.
Hence yoga places much emphasis on pranayama, the science of breathing.
In Brief:
· Low vagal tone has been
associated with a wide variety of diseases, both physical, mental and
emotional, including, but not limited to: - diabetes, stroke, heart disease, cancer, rheumatoid
arthritis, autism, alzheimers, leaky gut, memory and mood disorders, OCD, fibromyalgia,
obesity, tinnitus, multiple sclerosis and irritable bowel syndrome.
·
High vagal tone is associated
with a stronger immune system, helping the body to ward off excessive
inflammation which leads to disease.
·
The latest medical studies into
the vagus nerve are concentrating on trying to improve vagal tone, so that the
body’s immune system can heal itself, rather than the usual method of
prescribing drugs which often only mask the problem, or kill off many useful,
healthy cells in an effort to reach diseased or malignant ones.
· Neurosurgeons have successfully
implanted pacemaker-like stimulators for the vagus nerve, which is manually stimulated six times a day, and the results
have been so successful, that they intend to extend it to patients with many different
diseases.
· Research shows definitively,
that all “mindful” yoga techniques stimulate the vagus nerve, increasing vagal
tone: meditation, doing asana with mindful breathing, pranayama (breathing
techniques), chanting stimulates the vocal cords and has a meditative effect on
the psyche, yoga nidra is deeply relaxing … and so it goes on.
Sources:
