Rooted & Regulated: Vagus Nerve Support for Everyday Life
An Exploration that Essential to our Self+Community Leadership by Sarah O'Brien
What is it?
When discussing the body, somatics, trauma, the nervous system, the vagus nerve often gets brought into the conversation. That’s because the vagus nerve is an essential part of your autonomic nervous system. This part of your nervous system controls the things your body does automatically, such as breathing, digesting food, and sweating. These functions are involuntary, meaning you can’t consciously control them. This long nerve makes up 3/4 of the nerve tissue in your parasympathetic nervous system. In fact, the vagus nerve is the longest of any of the 12 cranial nerves, extending from the brainstem (specifically the medulla oblongata) down through the neck and into the chest and abdomen.
More specifically, the vagus nerve is part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms your body after you've been in a stressful situation. The vagus nerve carries signals from your brain to other parts of your body, like your heart or intestines, to initiate this process.
What does it do?
It helps your body exit its fight-or-flight mode. You can remember what the parasympathetic nervous system helps you to do with little rhymes that describe its functions, like "feed and breed" and "rest and digest."
Your vagal nerves are part of your body’s nervous system. They play important roles in involuntary sensory and motor (movement) functions, including:
Heart rate
Taste
Speech
Skin sensations
Muscle sensations
Immune system responses
Respiratory rate
Blood pressure
Mucus production
Saliva production
Digestion
Frequency of urination
Mood
What are the signs of Vagus Nerve problems?
Common conditions related to vagus nerve injury include Gastroparesis and Vasovagal Syncope. As a result of this condition, gastroparesis prevents food from moving through your digestive system. Some cases of gastroparesis are caused by a damaged vagus nerve resulting from surgery, diabetes, an infection, or an auto-immune disorder. If you have vasovagal syncope, you are more likely to faint in hot weather, when you are hungry or anxious, or in other uncomfortable conditions. The vagus nerve will overreact to these situations and it causes your blood pressure to drop very quickly, making you dizzy or causing a fainting spell.
*Sensitive Content Example* A person who had to identify their father’s body after he completed suicide developed gastroparesis afterward—a debilitating condition marked by nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Eventually the condition can get so bad that folks have been unable to leave their house and require psychotherapy treatment to manage stress, anxiety, and trauma activations.
Vagus nerve conditions cause different symptoms depending on the specific cause and affected part of your nerve.
You may experience:
Abdominal pain and bloating.
Acid reflux (gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD).
Changes to heart rate, blood pressure or blood sugar.
Difficulty swallowing or loss of gag reflex.
Dizziness or fainting.
Hoarseness, wheezing or loss of voice.
Loss of appetite, feeling full quickly or unexplained weight loss.
Nausea and vomiting.
Anxiety
Panic attacks
Chronic pain.
Fatigue
What is the impact of Trauma on the Vagus Nerve?
Trauma is an inner injury, trauma imprints itself into our neurobiology, leaving a footprint in nervous system. Trauma can reshape our physiological reaction to stress. Understanding the impact of trauma on the vagus nerve is crucial, as it can have significant consequences to our overall health and well-being. One of the impacts of trauma is dysfunction in the vagus nerve, which may manifest as chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and physical health problems like digestive issues and cardiovascular irregularities. This dysfunction can disrupt the body's ability to return to a state of calm after stress. Emotional trauma experiences can alter the functioning of the vagus nerve. Chronic stress from unresolved trauma can lead to reduced vagal tone, impairing the nerve's ability to regulate bodily functions effectively. If you have unresolved trauma, you may be experiencing some of the things listed above. Physical trauma experiences can also impact the vagus nerve. Injuries to the neck, chest, or abdomen can directly affect the vagus nerve. Conditions such as whiplash or blunt force trauma can stretch or compress the nerve, leading to dysfunction.
During traumatic experiences, the vagus nerve helps modulate physiological responses to stress, including heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. However, in cases of chronic or severe trauma, the vagus nerve may become dysregulated, leading to symptoms of hyperarousal, hypervigilance, and emotional dysregulation. We’re learning more and more about the vagus nerve and its vital role in our everyday functioning. Research into the vagus nerve has to led to breakthroughs in understanding the impact of trauma on the human body and the nervous system. Just like trauma can alter brain parts and functioning, so, too, can trauma alter natural functioning of the vagus nerve. All of this falls into the neuroscience understanding of trauma and trauma related disorders.
What are helpful therapeutic approaches to treating trauma via vagus nerve interventions?
The vagus nerve is crucial for trauma recovery as it plays a significant role in heart rate, digestion, respiration, and emotional responses. Mental health professionals are increasingly incorporating vagal regulation techniques into trauma-focused therapy approaches. By targeting the vagus nerve, therapists can help clients regulate their autonomic nervous system, promoting a sense of safety, calm, and connection in the body. Techniques such as deep breathing, mindfulness meditation, and body-centered therapies like yoga and somatic experiencing can help clients activate the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system, facilitating relaxation and emotional regulation. By focusing on vagal regulation, folks can build resilience, restore balance to their nervous systems, and cultivate greater capacity for self-regulation and emotional well-being.
Techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing, yoga, and mindfulness can stimulate the vagus nerve and restore balance to the autonomic nervous system. Cold plunge therapy, cold shower, or holding ice can also stimulate the vagus nerve. These practices promote relaxation and can enhance vagal tone, improving overall health and resilience to stress. These are considered mind-body therapeutic interventions.
In psychotherapy, approaches like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: a form of energy medicine designed to reduce trauma-based stress by remembering the trauma while focusing the eyes on a particular point) can help individuals process traumatic experiences while stabilizing their nervous system, allowing for better emotional regulation and recovery. In fact, any intervention that activates both sides of the brain at the same time—like singing—helps balance the nervous system and facilitates healing of traumatic wounds.
You can also deliver electrical impulses to the vagus nerve in something called Transcutaneous Vagal Nerve Stimulation. This innovative treatment involves stimulating the vagus nerve through the skin, which has shown promise in alleviating symptoms related to trauma and stress. It has also been used to treat epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression, showing promising results in improving symptoms for some people.
You can download Lindsay Braman’s Tool “The Rainbow of Emotional Regluation” for $2.50
I hope this article has been helpful for you in understanding the role of the vagus nerve in our bodies as well as our health. Even if you haven’t experienced physical damage to it, your vagus nerve can still function improperly due to a number of reasons, experiences, and conditions. If you are a person who has lived through childhood trauma, multiple traumas, or a chronically traumatizing situation where your body remains in stress mode then it would be beneficial to talk to your support team about interventions that include stimulating the vagus nerve.
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