Vagal Tone - Everyone Gets Stressed

Everyone gets stressed, but some people can relax quickly. That ability to pivot from the "fight-or-flight" response to the "rest-and-digest" response, it turns out, is incredibly important for health.

So what am I talking about?

It's called "vagal tone" because it's the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain through the lungs and the gut, that controls these responses. A high vagal tone is linked with reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders and depression.

The vagus nerve helps to regulate your heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, digestion, and emotional state among other functions. If you are experiencing anxiety, depression, stress, fatigue, or any emotional health symptoms, it may mean that you have a poor vagal tone, and your vagus nerve needs some care.

FUNCTION

Your vagus nerve, also known as the 10th cranial nerve, is one of your most important nerves in the body. It is also the longest nerve in your autonomic nervous system that extends from your brain stem through your neck into your chest and abdomen. While we refer to them together as "the vagus nerve," there are actually two vagus nerves, one on the left and one on the right.  Vagus is latin for "wandering" which appropriately describes the nerve. 

Your vagus nerve is critical for the most part of your physiology. It connects your brain and your gut. It carries important sensory and motor information. Your vagus nerve supplies innervations to your major blood vessels, heart, lungs, airways, stomach, esophagus, and intestines.

It helps to regulate your heart rate, digestion, blood pressure, sweating, and speech, among other areas of your health. By controlling the muscles of your throat and voice box, it plays an important role of speaking and eating. It also helps your entire gastrointestinal tract working together, regulating your heart rate, and connecting your brain to the rest of your body.

PARASYMPATHETIC FUNCTION

One of the vagus nerve's most important functions is its role as your body's major parasympathetic nerve. It helps to slow your heart rate, regulate your blood pressure, control sweating, control the gag reflex, allow the involuntary constriction and relaxation of the muscles of your gut, and control vascular tone.

Excessive vagus nerve function can result in nervous system issues. If the vagus nerve is suddenly stimulated, it may result in a vasovagal reflex that may lead to a slowing heart rate, sudden blood pressure drop, pain, sudden stress, or gastrointestinal symptoms. On the other hand, stimulating the vagus nerve also offers some benefits, including stopping hiccups or supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and diagnosing heart murmurs.

THE POLYVAGAL THEORY

The animal world can show us some great examples to help us understand our own behavior and the nervous system. Imagine a group of gazelles peacefully grazing. Suddenly they notice that a lion is nearby. One gazelle becomes hyper aware. The lion notices her fear and begins to chase her. The gazelle is running until it gets caught.

As soon as it is caught, the gazelle's parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and the animal goes limp. Instead of eating the gazelle right away, the lion plays with it for a while. One moment, the lion gets distracted, the gazelle's sympathetic nervous system kicks in, seeing an opportunity, it  sprints away despite all the injuries.

While grazing, the gazelle felt safe and connected, when it  was caught, the body went through a shutdown, but when the opportunity arose, flight-or-fight kicked in and it ran away. This story covers the exact same three states that the polyvagal theory focuses on connection, fight or flight, or shutdown.
Before the emergence of the polyvagal theory, we only understood the nervous system as a two-part system with more activation and less calm or less activation and calmer. The polyvagal theory identified the social engagement system as a third type of nervous system response.

So the moral of this short story is that if you are emotionally healthy in a non-stressful situation, you are in a normal state the polyvagal theory refers to as connection. In this state, you are able to make healthy connections with humans and feel safe. At this point, you feel happiness, peace, openness, calm, groundedness, and curiosity. You sleep well. You eat normally without overeating or undereating. Your immune system is functioning well. Your face is expressive, your body is calm, and you are able to relate to others emotionally.

FIGHT OR FLIGHT VS REST & DIGEST/HEAL

When you are under stress, it affects your entire body. Your sympathetic nervous system causes a flight-or-fight response to keep you alive. Even if you are not in real danger, but only experiencing daily stress, your body wants to keep you safe.

If your body senses a threat, it may freeze and look for danger around you. It raises cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. You feel anxious, angry, or afraid that may be apparent on your face too. You start sweating, your heart rate increases, your digestion slows down, and your blood vessels constrict. You feel tension, pain, trembling, or vibration. You may clench your fist; you may show guarded body language or want to appear bigger. You may feel like running away.

Another way your body may react to stress is by shutting down or freezing, just like the gazelle did when caught. If your body feels real danger or senses that it can’t escape, the parasympathetic nervous system may kick in to create a shutdown. You may feel hopeless, numbness, shame, a sense of feeling trapped, disconnected, or dizziness. You may disassociate. You may feel nauseous, breathe slower, or experience a decrease in your heart rate, blood pressure, immune response, sexual desire, and sensation of pain. Your digestive system slows down, your eyes become fixated, and you have difficulty speaking.

Experiencing a flight-or-fight or shutdown response to something scary, stressful, or triggering is absolutely healthy. We all do it. If there is a flash of lightning, or your boss calls you into their office unexpectedly, or someone suddenly cuts you off on the highway, you may experience signs of flight-of-fight, including increased heart rate, heavier breathing, or a need to scream.

These experiences of flight-or-fight or shutdown are supposed to be acute, short events. A healthy nervous system and the vagal nerve are supposed to shake off this stress and bounce back to a calm, safe, and connected state. However, people who are experiencing poor vagal tone due to childhood abuse, trauma, or other factors, are experiencing this response constantly. When flight-or-fight or shutdown becomes a chronic state, it becomes a problem. It increases the risk of both mental and physical health issues.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD VAGAL TONE

The vagal nerve is involved in many areas across your body making a good vagal tone very important. A good vagal tone is important for:

• Lowering blood pressure
  
• Lowering heart rate
• Managing stress and anxiety
• Regulating mood
• Decreasing inflammation or pain
• Delivering information between the brain and the gut
• Providing sensory information from the throat, lungs, and heart
• Regulating swallowing
• Regulating speech

SYMPTOMS OF POOR VAGAL TONE

Sometimes the vagal nerve is damaged resulting in poor vagal tone. Symptoms of poor vagal tone due to nerve damage may include:

• Abdominal pain
  
• Nausea
  
• Vomiting
• Unusual heart rate
• Unusual blood pressure
• Loss of gag reflex
• Earache
• Lowered stomach acid
• Loss of voice
  

Even if your vagus nerve isn't damaged, you may experience poor vagal tone. Symptoms of poor vagal tone even without nerve damage may include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
  
• Poor emotional regulation
• High stress
• Being in flight-or-fight mode
• Lowered attention span
• Increased inflammation 
• Pain
  

MAJOR CAUSES OF POOR VAGAL TONE

1. Chronic Stress & Poor Sleep
2. Early Childhood Traumatic Experiences
3. Head Injuries
4. Poor Breathing Mechanics
5. Chronic Infections
6. Blood Sugar Imbalances
   
7. High Toxic Load
   

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE VAGAL TONE

• Reduce Stress & Improve Sleep
  
• Practice Gratitude & Laughter
• Social Connections with Others
• Deep Breathing, Meditation & Prayer
• Stimulating the Palatal Muscles
• Cold Water
  
• Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition Plan

• Intermittent Fasting
  
• Improve Gut Health
• Move & Exercise
• Supplements (Magnesium & Zinc)
• Use Adaptogenic Herbs
  
• Chiropractic, Massage & Acupuncture Therapies
  

For more details please contact me directly or check out the source here.