Vagus Nerve: Why It is So Important
It is the new it-piece among the body parts: the vagus nerve, which connects the brain, organs and intestines and provides for rest and relaxation. If we give it a little care, it will return the favor. And how!
Most people only know it vaguely – even though it is probably the hottest part of the body. We are talking about the vagus nerve, central nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system, i.e. the part of the nervous system responsible for regeneration and inner balance. It runs from the brain stem down the throat, past the heart and then branches out into the lower abdomen.
Like a giant cable it connects brain, organs and intestines.
Like a giant cable, it connects the brain, organs and intestines. Its tasks include slowing down the heartbeat, reducing stress hormones, stimulating the digestive process and improving the blood supply to the sexual organs. And it is the antagonist of the sympathetic nervous system – that is the part of the autonomic (i.e. unconsciously controlled) nervous system that keeps us on our toes in performance or difficult situations.
Unbalanced
Our organism is actually structured in such a way that the two systems are in balance – effort and alarm must be followed by rest and relaxation. But our modern lifestyle has completely thrown the healthy up and down of both nerve bundles out of balance for many people. If you are constantly stressed, restless and unhappy, the vagus – or parasympathetic nervous system – has no time at all to come into action. And yet he, of all people, is one who needs his freedom in order to be able to swing optimally.
Its name comes from the Latin “vagare”, to wander around, because the magic nerve wanders like a vagabond almost everywhere in our body. And like most wanderers, it needs serenity to get going and develop its powers. Stanley Rosenberg, a famous body therapist and author of the book “The Self-Healing Nerve”, says that only a body that is in complete security and in an actual state of rest gives the vagus nerve the space to act. He knows from experience: to treat tension or pain, for example osteopathically, when a client lies anxiously or tense under his hands, is hopeless.
The “Wake Up” Exercise
The reason for this is that there are actually two vagus cords: one in the back and one in the front. When the organism is under stress or exposed to a traumatic situation, the rear part falls into a kind of rigidity. If we don’t resolve this (for example, through relaxation techniques or therapeutic help), the front part cannot take action at all, according to Rosenberg. In his book, the therapist swears by an amazingly simple “basic exercise”, which “wakes up” the vagus again by simply turning the head and a certain focus of the eyes (look once to the left, once to the right). A relaxation reflex, which then sets in, just as there is also the escape reflex during stress.
But why does our resting nerve actually come so short today? The worst thing we do to it is that we forget to breathe properly. It happens all the time. When we get annoyed, meet an unpleasant colleague, watch Netflix series, let things get out of hand, or when climate change scares us, we breathe shallowly and consume little oxygen. The consequence of this breathlessness: Less of the most important messenger substance of the vagus (acetylcholine) is produced, the neuronal signal transmission comes to a halt, the vagus atrophies.
Conscious breathing as first aid
In their current book “Das Parasympathikus-Prinzip”, the two doctors Ursula Eder and Franz J. Sperlich compare our modern everyday life quite vividly with a car ride with the accelerator pedal permanently depressed – without any consideration of losses (which would be continuous use of the sympathetic nervous system, flooding with the stress hormone norepinephrine).
We can’t find the brake while the parasympathetic nervous system cries out in vain: Stop, we need to refuel or see if something needs to be repaired! In order to slow down the frantic drive, we would first have to breathe in and out deeply – as a first aid program. Really? Yes! Because the acetylcholine we are longing for is incredibly fast in action, it only takes 0.15 seconds to take effect.
Eder and Sperlich state: “A control of the parasympathetic nervous system can measurably prolong the heartbeat within a single interval between two heartbeats with only one single exhalation and thus build up resources. This may sound banal, but it is the starting point for releasing the neglected nerve from its tension. Just a few medium-deep to deep breaths several times a day mean that we are holding up the stop sign for being rushed. Eder and Sperlich recommend getting a special bracelet or alarm clock to remind us to break our shallow breathing routine. Or to take unpleasant situations as an alarm signal yourself, to expand your lungs, stretch your ribs and let off steam just at that moment.
Those who have actually managed to breathe, then go to the advanced course for the supernerve: water does him good (baths, saunas, alternating showers), singing (makes him vibrate), pauses for thought, interval fasting, sleeping, meditation and of course yoga (especially in Kundalini Yoga there are exercises that are specifically aimed at the vagus).
Vagus stimulation – Use in many areas
Vagus stimulation is now also used in the treatment of depression, migraine and loss of appetite. A tiny device, implanted under the skin, sends minimal electrical impulses through the body – a treatment that works for a large number of patients. This may also work because a stimulated vagus has been shown to reduce inflammation in the body. And depressive symptoms caused by an inflammation immediately subside.
The British psychiatry professor Edward Bullmore, who considers the vagus to be a great fighter against emotional lows, knows how the stimulation works even without the apparatus: “Just massage the auricle again and again when we feel miserable. The outer upper part, the tragus, but also the area directly above and next to the ear canal; editor’s note]. It helps.”