Rest and Relax - vickimatthews.com

Rest and RelaxUSING THE CHINESE FIVE ELEMENTS TO SUPPORT THE VAGUS NERVE

Vicki Matthews, NDwww.vickimatthews.com

© Vicki Matthews, ND 2021

2© Dr. Vicki Matthews • 2021 www.vickimatthews.com

Do you sometimes have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning? Do you move through the day running at top speed, then find you can’t relax when the day is finally over? Or maybe when you do slow down, you catch yourself fretting over everything that still needs to be done. If any of this sounds familiar, there’s a good chance you will benefit from working with your vagus nerve, the primary nerve in our parasympathetic nervous system, the balancing pair to our sympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system directs the body’s rapid, invol-untary “fight or flight” response to dangerous situations. When we are threatened, a flood of hormones boosts the body’s alert-ness and heart rate. Our breathing quickens, delivering fresh oxygen to our brain, and an infusion of glucose is shot into our bloodstream for a quick energy boost. This response occurs so quickly that we often don’t realize it’s taken place. For instance, a person may jump from the path of a tree before they fully register the fact that the tree is falling toward them.

The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the body’s “rest and relax” response when the body is relaxed, rest-ing, or feeding. Active during restful times, the parasympathetic nervous system basically undoes the work of the sympathetic nervous system once a stressful situation has passed. It decreases our respiration and heart rate and increases our digestion. It also oversees a vast array of crucial bodily func-tions, including control of mood and immune response.

Every day of our lives, we experience a constant dance between the effects of our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. But sadly, it isn’t always a dance of balance. Our current world creates scenarios where stress is more likely to find us than relaxation. This leads to a condition where we actu-ally can’t rest as much as we should because the parasympa-thetic system isn’t strong enough to counter the stress of the sympathetic nervous system. When this happens, it’s important to step in and support the main player of the parasympathetic system: our friend, the vagus nerve.

“The vagal response reduces stress. It reduces our heart rate and blood pressure. It changes the function of certain parts of the brain, stimulates digestion, all those things that happen when we are relaxed.”

DR. MLADEN GOLUBIC, MD, Medical Director of the Cleveland Clinic


The Vagus NerveThe vagus nerve is the longest of the 12 cranial nerves in our body. Vagus means “wanderer” and it’s an apt name for this nerve because when it leaves the cranium, it branches out and wanders all over the body. Containing both motor and sensory nerves, the vagus nerve links the brain stem to all major organs of the body. And as the primary nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system, it controls how easily we relax, or if we can even relax at all.

To be able to rest and relax, we can’t be in a constant state of flight or flight, which means the parasym-pathetic nervous system needs to be more dominant than the sympathetic nervous system. And the way to do this is to keep our vagus nerve active because increasing vagus nerve activity – also called improving vagal tone – activates the parasympathetic nervous system. This not only helps us relax, it helps our bodies relax faster after stress.

The easiest way to improve vagal tone is to stimulate the vagus nerve. By stimulating the vagus nerve, we send a message to our body that it’s safe, it’s time to relax and de-stress, that everything is okay. Stimu-lating the vagus nerve can also lead to long-term improvement in mood, wellbeing, and resilience. Accord-ing to researcher Jordan Fallis, there are many excellent ways to temporarily stimulate the vagus nerve. These include:

1. Exposure to Cold: Researchers have found that exposing ourselves to cold on a regular basis can lower our sympathetic “fight or flight” response and increase parasympathetic activity through the vagus nerve. This means cold showers, time outside during cold weather, even splashing cold water on our face.

2. Slow Breathing: Deep and slow breathing is another way to stimulate the vagus nerve. You can do this by training yourself to concentrate on taking 6 breaths per minute (instead of the more normal 10 to 12 per minute). Breathe from the diaphragm and make the exhale as long and slow as possible.

3. Singing/Humming/Chanting: The vagus nerve is connected to your vocal cords. Singing, humming, and chanting can activate these muscles and stimulate your vagus nerve.

4. Gargling: The vagus nerve is also connected to the muscles at the back of your throat. Gargling can activate these muscles and help to improve vagal tone.

5. Meditation: Research shows that meditation increases vagal tone and positive emotions, as well as reducing the sympathetic “fight or flight” activity.

6. Exercise: For years, research has shown that exercise is important for brain health, but it’s also been shown to stimulate the vagus nerve. Walking, weightlifting, and sprinting are excellent forms of exer-cise, but you should choose a sport or exercise routine that you enjoy so that you will stick with it.

7. Massage: Research shows that massage can stimulate the vagus nerve, increase vagal activity, and improve vagal tone. Foot massages (reflexology) have also been shown to increase vagal tone and decrease the “fight or flight” sympathetic response. Massaging the carotid sinus, an area located near the right side of your throat, can also stimulate the vagus nerve.

These are wonderful temporary fixes for a sluggish vagus nerve, but I believe that if we can actually balance the energy of the vagus nerve, we can make more permanent and lasting changes. And that’s where the Five Elements theory comes in.


Improving Vagal Tone with the Five ElementsThe ancient Chinese believed that the whole of anything could be understood using yin, yang, and the five elements. This includes the movements of the stars, the workings of the body, the nature of foods, the qualities of music, the engagement of warfare, the progress of time, the operations of government, even history (which they believed to be the workings of yin, yang, and the five elements applied to human affairs). Understanding the relationships within these patterns gave the Chinese philosophers and physi-cians the knowledge necessary to maintain harmony and balance in every area of life.

To ramp down our stress levels (and the physiological effects they have on our body), we need to increase the de-stressing activities of the vagus nerve. There have been dozens of studies in past decades to determine ways to increase vagal tone (and thereby decrease inflammation, stress hormones, etc.), but some of the most promising actually depend on the Five Elements model. This isn’t too surprising, though, because as the “wandering nerve” moves though our body, every single organ it impacts is influenced by the five elements.

The Five Elements ModelLike any useable model, the Five Elements model takes a grandiose idea and reduces it to a simple design. At its core, the Five Elements model is associated with phases and interactions found in the natural world. The phases are represented by Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal. These interactions are represented by two different cycles: one that creates and one that destroys.

Visually, this model is depicted using five colored circles, one for each element. Water is blue, Wood is green, Fire is red, Earth is yellow, and Metal is white. Graphically, the model looks like this:

In this model there are just two ways the elements relate to each other: the big circle and the big star. The big circle is called the Generating or Nurturing Cycle and connects every element to the one next to it. The big star is called the Destructive or Controlling Cycle and creates a connection between every other element. Energy moves in a clockwise direction in both the circle and the star.

Because the ancient Chinese believed that perfection rested in being able to maintain balance, conceptu-ally this model contains everything needed to restore and maintain dynamic balance for itself. Watch: If the


Fire element is out of balance because there isn’t enough energy in Fire (it’s under energized), where would we look? Yes, to Wood, since Wood acts on Fire (via the big circle) in a nurturing way: Wood feeds Fire. If we need less energy in Fire, where would we look? If you’re thinking Water, you’re correct. Water acts on Fire (via the big star) in a controlling way: Water puts out Fire.

Every element in our model has an element that increases it and an element that decreases it, all in the quest for perfect balance. In fact, this system is so simple that there are really only two major problems that can occur in it: either too much energy in an element (excess) or too little (deficiency). And the fix for either problem is embedded in the relationship of the elements to each other. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?

Even more amazing, the whole of the human body fits into this model, which is why it has been so popular with Chinese physicians for millennia. Here’s how that works. Each of these elements “energize” or “govern” specific organs in the human body via a system of energy streams called meridians. Most meridians are named for the organs they energize. This relationship can be seen in the chart below:

ELEMENT THEME ORGANS GOVERNED/MERIDIAN NAMES

Water Beginnings Kidney (yin)

Bladder (yang)

Wood Manifestation Liver (yin)

Gallbladder (yang)

Fire Connections Heart (yin)

Small Intestine (yang)

Earth Balance Spleen (yin)

Stomach (yang)

Metal Assessing Lung (yin)

Large Intestine (yang)

There are two meridians in Chinese medicine that hold together and energize the system itself, rather than specific organ groups. These are Central and Governing meridians which flow up the front of the body (Central) and up the back of the body and over the head (Governing) to meet at the mouth. And because Governing meridian flows right up the spinal column, it is said to impact the nervous system as a whole. Bladder meridian, which flows back and forth across the cranium and brain, is also said to govern the nervous system.

Now, if you look at the list of organs mentioned above, you will see that all of them are impacted by the vagus nerve. There are many ways to re-balance the energy associated with the complimentary activities of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, but the easiest is to hold specific points on these meridians that encourage energy to move from the meridian system into the physical body in ways that support the vagus nerve.

Finally, as you can also see from the chart above, each of the five elements has a theme associated with it. These are all important, but for equalizing the activities of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems to increase vagal tone, balance is a key aspect. And as the chart indicates, balance is the name of the game for the Earth element. For this reason, one of the energy techniques we will use helps create


balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, as well as working directly with the vagus nerve, will rely on the balancing energy of the Earth element. The other technique will rely on the fact that the Bladder meridian (which sits in the Water element) governs the nervous system.

Supporting Your Vagus NerveHere are two simple exercises you can do to help support the “rest and relax” part of your nervous system by increasing vagal tone. Ideally, you will do them both at least once a day. More often is always better because the more you do them, the more they help re-pattern the stressed parts of your nervous system and increase energetic support for your vagus nerve.

Use the Power of Earth to Create BalanceBased on a 2014 study by Torres, Rosas, et al., it turns out that one of the easiest ways to stimulate the vagus nerve is using the Earth acupoint Stomach 36. This makes complete sense because Stomach meridian is the yang (think: most outward-oriented) meridian in the balancing element of Earth.

Acupoints can be stimulated via electric acupuncture needles, regular acupuncture needles, or the energy of our hands. A simple way to use Stomach 36 (ST-36) to stim-ulate your vagus nerve is to rub your hands together for a good 10 seconds, then take the middle finger of each hand, press in on the ST-36 location on each leg, and wiggle. Don’t be too gentle (but no bruising, please), you want to wake-up and energize this little point. Do this for at least 3 minutes. Working ST-36 on both legs (they can be done separately, if you want) two to three times a day can help improve vagal tone.

Use the Power of Water to Impact the Nervous SystemAs mentioned, because Bladder meridian runs back and forth on both sides of the brain, it is also said to help govern the nervous system. This means that it’s important for Bladder meridian to stay balanced. As a yang meridian, it has a tendency to become over-energized (although at times, it can go the other way and become under-energized). There are points you can hold that will balance Bladder and Kidney meridians together regardless of whether they are over- or under-ener-gized. To do this, on one side of the body gently hold K-4 with BL-58 for 2-3 minutes, then repeat on the other side of the body. Doing this several times a day will train your Kidney and Bladder meridians to hold a state of friendly balance between them, which will greatly support the vagus nerve.


One Heck of a Ride

“Life is like a roller coaster, live it, be happy, enjoy life.” AVRIL LAVIGNE

I’m writing this as the world emerges from a once in a century pandemic. Covid stressed us all in ways we could never have imagined, so there has never been a better time to sit ourselves down and work on supporting our all-important vagus nerve. It can help us all de-stress, rest, relax, and stay healthy. And the ability to do this is right at our fingertips.

Blessings to All,

Vicki

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Rest and Relax - vickimatthews.com