A certain amount of inflammation after injury or illness is normal. But an overabundance is linked to many diseases and conditions, from sepsis to the autoimmune condition rheumatoid arthritis. The vagus nerve operates a vast network of fibers stationed like spies around all your organs.
Your gut uses the vagus nerve like a walkie-talkie to tell your brain how you’re feeling via electric impulses called “action potentials”. Your gut feelings are very real.
A University of Virginia study in rats showed that stimulating their vagus nerves strengthened their memory. The action released the neurotransmitter norepinephrine into the amygdala, which consolidated memories.
When your ever-vigilant sympathetic nervous system revs up the fight or flight responses—pouring the stress hormone cortisol and adrenaline into your body—the vagus nerve tells your body to chill out by releasing acetylcholine.
The degree of our mental health is often reflected in the degree to which we love and respect ourselves and others in a myriad of different feeling states. Real self-esteem and real intimacy with others depends on the ability to lovingly be there for oneself and others, whether one’s feeling experience is pleasant or unpleasant.
Your parasympathetic systems oversee the relaxation response – which is also known as the calming response or the regenerative response. All healing takes place in this restorative system. Blood pressure drops, heart rate goes down, blood sugar regulates, heart rate variability (HRV) goes up, and immune function strengthens. That’s why it’s extremely important to create… Read More Sympathetic nervous system
The speed at which your nervous system processes all of this environmental information is lightning quick. This is why you so often feel like your mental and emotional state is out of your control. This is what leads to an overactive sympathetic nervous system.
When you’re chronically stressed or overwhelmed you tend to keep reacting in the same emotional way over and over. This conditions your nervous system to potentially (mis)read your environment based on past experiences, and the associations and perceptions you’ve formed around those experiences. It also trains your mind to automatically think more negative thoughts and… Read More Chronic Stress
Everything you perceive through your senses – everything you can see, hear, taste, smell, intuit, and touch is processed through the nervous system. Like a good gatekeeper, it helps you maneuver through life by keeping track of every single little sensory detail of your experience so you don’t consciously have to.
Stress is unavoidable and can, under the right conditions, even be beneficial. We can’t escape stress, but we can befriend it. We can learn to control our stress response and channel that energy in constructive and creative ways. If you’re experiencing chronic stress or feeling constantly on edge chances are you’ve got an overactive sympathetic… Read More Stress is unavoidable
