The Vagus Nerve is one of the latest buzzword in the health realm. All sorts of techniques and products are aiming to "stimulate the vagus nerve", but why is this so important?
Modern life takes a serious toll on our nervous system, which has not evolved much since the times we were living without technology 24/7, electric light, pollution, hormone disruptors, without working in offices with no natural daylight, and generally constant stimulation.There are two aspects or sides to our nervous system: there is the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system (controlled in part via the vagus nerve).
The sympathetic nervous system is that responsible for the fight or flight response. It is stimulated by our stress response and, although pretty useful to get you out of temporary danger (when our distant ancestors were being chased by a wolf or a tiger), it is not so helpful if the stimulation becomes constant and relentless.
Indeed, the sympathetic nervous system will be stimulated by general stress caused by rushing to get to work on time, meet deadlines, get the kids out the door and to school on time, staying up too late to get things done, etc. It is easy to see how most of us draw on that side of our nervous system A LOT OF THE TIME most of days.
The parasympathetic nervous system (the one we are interested in when we talk of the vagus nerve) is the side of your nervous system responsible for "rest and repair", allowing for cell renewal, detoxification and adrenal restoration. All these are key to avoid most chronic diseases. When the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system is stimulated, the other side (parasympathetic, rest and repair) is being suppressed, and that´s where problems start.
In our modern life filled with overstimulation, we basically need to calm down the fight or flight response and stimulate rest and repair. What is the quickest way to do that? Stimulating the vagus nerve! This helps reduce our blood pressure, slow our heart rate down and generally calm our system down.
There are a few ways to achieve this "vagus nerve stimulation", thanks to its omnipresence in our body; indeed, it is the longest of our nerves, stretching all the way from our colons (hence why constipation and stress can and often do go hand in hand) to our heads – weaving itself through most major organs on the way through.
Its branches also stretch to (did you guess?) our ears. Our outer ear contains many nerve endings, acting as a channel or pathway to our parasympathetic nervous systems.
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds in 2019 showed that stimulating an area corresponding to the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN) at outer parts of the ear for 15 minutes a day for two weeks reduced the “fight or flight” response in volunteers. It was also found to help improve sleep, mood and autonomic balance compared to the placebo group.
With the dot·on Starter Kits, you gain access to the protocols developed by our Co-Founder Carole Duménil, acupuncturist with over 20 years´experience. Many any of those will stimulate the vagus nerve, calming your nervous system on a continuous basis. This will help you become more centered and balanced in the face of modern day stress.