The Vagus Nerve
- marketingc8
- 7 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Two fun facts about the Vagus Nerve before we get to a fascinating new article about how you can take care of it.
Yes, take care of it.
First, the word “vagus” comes from the Latin and it means “wandering.” Perfect. The vagus nerve is the longest and most extensive cranial nerve as it meanders its way down from the brainstem through the neck to the heart, lungs, and digestive organs.
Second, it was first described by the Greek anatomist Galen 1,400 years ago. He provided the first anatomical description of the nerve and traced its path into the chest and abdomen. Galen did his work on pigs, cutting the recurrent laryngeal (related to the larynx) nerves, he proved that the brain controls vocalization. As you might imagine, this was a finding of great importance at the time.
Some fourteen centuries later, a German pharmacologist named Otto Loewi demonstrated that the electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve released a chemical substance that slowed the heart. The chemical was later identified as acetylcholine and Loewi won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936,
As we all know, the vagus nerve is the main nerve of the parasympathetic system and it controls involuntary functions such as heart rate, breathing, and digestion. Its wandering ways bring the vagus nerve to support a wide range of organs including the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and most of the digestive tract.
Which brings us to this article on Medium.com written by Andy Murphy (“Spreading joy through writing and breathwork.”)
The article’s title: “The Vagus Nerve Is Like Every Muscles in the Body—Use It and It Strengthens”
While we’re not quite sure how a nerve can be a muscle, we get the point and Murphy’s excellent suggestion.
The bottom line? As Murphy puts it, “the health of our vagus nerve is in our control.”
In other words, treat your vagus nerve well and it will treat you back!
A lot of this might be common sense because, after all, where does the vagus nerve end and the body begin? It’s all inter-related, inter-connected, and all the interlinked and integrated words you can come up with.
Nonetheless, Murphy suggests:
1. Stretching
2. Breathing
3. Humming and chanting
4. Laughing
5. Putting your bare feet on the earth
6. Jumping in cold water
7. Exercising
8. Getting massages
9. Creating “soft eyes”
Okay, great list. But let’s go back and touch on three points that might not be immediately obvious.
Humming and chanting, suggests Murphy, activates the vagus nerve. Murphy says he chants for five minutes every morning before his 20-minute breathwork routine and that the “vagus nerve dances on the vibration.” Gargling also works (but who gargles for five minutes)?
Putting your bare feet on the earth, he says, is called earthing. Scientific studies, he says, have discovered that earthing improves glucose regulation, reduces stress, supports immune function, improves sleep, and regulates the nervous system.
And creating “soft eyes” means stop scaring at computer screens! Well, it’s more than that—it’s a conscientious time (for a half hour or so) when you should gaze off in the far distance and “expand your awareness to the spaces up and down without moving your eyes” while also staying connected to your breath.
“It’s not rocket science,” writes Murphy. “Stretch, breathe, laugh, get your bare feet on the earth, exercise, and eat good food.”
Maybe one more step? Thank your vagus nerve. It’s handling issues all day long without any of us having to stop and give it direction.
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