Clarity with your Vagus Nerve and 'Gut' - The mind-body connection

Your Nervous System
The nervous system can be divided into two categories: sympathetic and parasympathetic.
Let's have a look at it;
Your (SNS) sympathetic system is your "fight-or-flight" response, also known as the stress response.


Your;

• Heart rate accelerates

• Breathing becomes faster and more shallow

• Pupils dilate, with tunnel vision and selective hearing possibly occurring

• Mental focus alters - which can lead to feeling chronically overwhelmed

• Blood is shunted away from your core and to your limbs and large muscle groups (to prepare you to fight or flight (run)

• Stress hormones are released (adrenaline, noradrenaline)

Conversely, your (PNS) parasympathetic system is responsible for our "rest-and-digest" functions.


Your;

• Heart rate slows

• Breathing becomes slower and much deeper

• Relaxation and rest occurs

• Sleep is deeper and more restful

• Blood returns to the organs to aid more normal digestion and excretion

• Saliva, biles and digestive enzymes are released

• Digestion is now being stimulated

• Cellular detox and regeneration will occur

The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve, connecting the brain to the gut (and other organs). This explains its massive influence on physiological functions, reaching from your head to toes. Most vagus nerve functions are involuntary, as is the rest of the autonomic nervous system. Despite their independent functions, the entire vagus nerve is connected. For example, heart rate alters digestion and breathing while influencing your heart rate. To put it simply, the vagus nerve is a communication pathway that the body and brain use to listen to each other. It’s a fundamental form of Mind-Body connection and our internal body communication.

Nerve Influences the Stress Response

Stress activates our fight-or-flight response, keeping us in a sympathetic state (alert) until the threat (or stressor) has gone. However, the body does not recognise the difference between running from a lion or driving in a traffic queue or living through the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. To our body, stress is stress.

Trouble arises when we cannot or do not maintain a natural balance of stress and recovery. When we have chronic stress, the body is not able to fully recover and rest, ultimately impacting the parasympathetic system (rest and digest). This ultimately leads to dysfunction in digestion, tissue building, detoxification and effects our immunity system, etc.

Therefore, our vagus nerve helps regulate the body’s response to stress. In moments of stress, the activity of the vagus nerve, also known as our vagal tone, is instrumental. Vagal tone has the ability to increase or decrease our nervous system’s adaptation and response to stressors. A high vagal tone allows the body to relax much faster after a period of stress with minimal impact to your autonomic nervous system functions (less impact on breathing and digesting). Importantly, vagal tone is the one part of the autonomic system that we actually have some voluntary control over.

CLARITY, will highlight and educate you on the important role your vagus nerve plays in Mental Health and how stimulating it will have fast lasting affects.

The Vagus Nerve?

The vagus nerve, links the brain and gut through its afferent and efferent branches, is a critical route in the bidirectional communication of this axis. Directly or indirectly, the vagus afferent fibers can sense and relay gut microbiota signals to the brain and induce brain disorders including depression.

Through the vagus nerve, we react to signals in our environment in ways that calm, alarm, or dysregulate the body, and these states in turn create emotional experience and play out in our emotions and behaviour

Among the many operations of the body and brain it controls, the vagus nerve is responsible for relaxing tension, counteracting activity of the sympathetic nerves and establishing the very positive state of homeostasis, sometimes called “rest and digest.” (Our HRV session will look at this further), The opposite of “fight or flight response” It down-regulates the response to stress, curbing the physiologic state of alarm and ushering in a state of calm experienced as a sense of safety, which the body needs for repair, growth, and reproduction. The disturbed physiology that marks states of threat is often a player sometimes an unrecognized one, chronic physical and mental health (psychiatric disorders) giving the vagus nerve a huge role in maintaining health in the body and the brain.

We will teach you to regulate your bodily response to Stress, with various techniques such as; controlling your breathing exhale, it should be long and slow. This is key to stimulating the vagus nerve and reaching a state of relaxation. The vagus nerve is connected to your vocal cords and the muscles at the back of your throat. Singing, humming, chanting and gargling can activate these muscles and stimulate your vagus nerve. Cold water therapy, plunging yourself into cold water, cold showers. Our HRV sessions will further enhance this with our HRV- Biofeedback, (We will show you visually how adjusting your breathing will bring ‘Coherence’ between your Brain and Heart and you will feel the difference.

Breathing;
Your exhale should be long and slow. This is key to stimulating the vagus nerve and reaching a state of relaxation. The vagus nerve is connected to your vocal cords and the muscles at the back of your throat. Singing, humming, chanting and gargling can activate these muscles and stimulate your vagus nerve.

• Our longest cranial nerve

• Parasympathetic Nervous system (PNS)

• Brings us out of Fight or Flight

• Brings us into Rest and Digest

• Needs to be active for proper relaxation

• ACTIVATING THE VAGUS NERVE...

• INCREASES THE VAGAL TONE

VAGUS NERVE?

HOW TO TRIGGER THE VAGUS NERVE:

• HUMMING

• LAUGHING

• PROBIOTICS

• COOLING DOWN

• SLOWED BREATHING

• THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS

Gut Health
Because of the vagus nerve’s role in regulating automatic functions of the body, it is extremely important to maintain good gut health. It controls the motor fibres (efferent fibres) of the digestive tract. These motor fibers create and regulate the contractions of the muscles that move food through the digestive tract.

If the vagus nerve is not working properly, you may experience diarrhoea, constipation, or bloating often seen in inflammatory bowel disorders Improving vagal tone, can vastly help improve IBS symptoms

Your ‘Gut’ Stomach - ENS ENTERIC Nervous System

When a word like ‘gut’ teams up with the word ‘feeling’, you know there must be a good reason, here’s why. Research suggests that emotion and intuition have a physical presence in our gut. The gut is lined with a network of neurons and is often referred to as the ‘second brain.’ It’s known as the enteric nervous system (ENS) and it contains about 100 million neurons, which is more than the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system but less than the brain. This is why we get ‘sick’ about having to make a tough decision or knowing we’ve made a bad one.

The vagus nerve is thought to be largely responsible for the mind-body connection (our gut-brain axis). It appears to play a crucial role in our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It is also believed that stimulating the vagus nerve may trigger the relaxation response (Soothing), reducing heart rate and blood pressure.

A troubled or irritated intestine can send signals to the brain, just as a troubled brain can send signals to the gut. Therefore, a person's stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of stress, anxiety, addictions or depression. That's because the brain and the gastrointestinal (GI) system are intimately connected.

Our psychology and physical factors may cause pain and other related bowel symptoms and vice versa. Psychosocial factors can influence the actual physiology of the gut, as well as symptoms. In other words, stress (depression or other psychological issues) can affect the movement and contractions of the GI tract.

Several mood disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and autism spectrum disorders now have well-established links to functional GI disruptions, whereas GI disease (eg, irritable bowel syndrome, irritable bowel disease) often involve psychological co-morbidities associated with any alteration of the gut microbial.

Talking Therapy in today’s Multicultural Cities with our Modern Daily Lifestyles Psychological Therapies (Talk Therapies) 

Many misconceptions surround talking therapy, including that it's only for people who are struggling with a mental health problem. This is not necessarily the case. Therapy can be a great way to explore and understand the issues we have to face every day, including decisions to do with work, relationships or general life matters. Therapy is often used as an element of personal and professional development. As the therapy process involves gaining insight, raising self-awareness, motivation, goal setting, planning for the future, improving self-compassion to yourself, self to others or accepting compassion from others and changing perspective.  Therapy also increases motivation, strengthens assertiveness and is empowering and are becoming more common for people seeking positive life changes.  

Many clients have asked us, “Can I go to therapy just to talk, I’m stuck with my direction in life.”  Absolutely. Therapy doesn't always need a specific issue or mental health problem needing addressed. It's a safe and confidential space where you can process emotions, discuss your thoughts and feelings. You can also explore your various values and goals in life, that may affect different aspects of your life. Therapy is often seen as a preventative or routine form of personal trainer for your mind.  

Glasgow (Scotland),
is the Largest City in Scotland, a port city on the River Clyde in Scotland's western Lowlands. It's famed for its Historical Victorian and art nouveau architecture, a rich legacy of the city's 18th–20th-century prosperity due to trade and shipbuilding. Today it's a national cultural hub, world class museums and galleries, Hollywood films set here, rated one of the World’s friendliest cities, home to institutions including the Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and National Theatre of Scotland, as well as acclaimed museums and a thriving UNESCO City of music scene, Universities, Schools and Sporting excellence.  A multicultural society, reflected in its lifestyle and the choice of food and drink.  

Barcelona (Spain),  
Spain is the favourite European destination for hundreds of thousands of expats, often retirees, who enjoy Spain's laid-back lifestyle and sunny weather. Around 800,000 British expats have packed their bags in favour of Spain, most live on the busy Mediterranean coast. Barcelona, has built its reputation over the last ten years as the largest tech and cultural hub in southern Europe. As well as a growing business city.  A wealth of Museums, Galleries and Universities. A multicultural society reflected in the choice of entertainment, food and drink.  Minutes from the stunningly beautiful coastline.  

Cities with a growing demand for Talking Therapies, increasing constantly need for online therapy to fit in with modern daily ever-changing lifestyles.  Various Public Perceptions Surveys have shown increasing domains for talking therapies. Interestingly, surveys have found that 78% of men now say, it’s more commonplace to discuss their mental health than five years ago and that 83% of men say it’s a good idea to seek counselling or psychotherapy for a problem before it gets out of hand.  In fact, men are also more likely to go for therapy now than a decade ago.  

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