Vagus Nerve Exercises To Rewire Your Brain From Anxiety
Rewiring Your Brain from Anxiety
In this video, Sukie Baxter, founder of Whole Body Revolution, explains what anxiety is and how it affects the body. She also provides three exercises that can help reprogram the brain to reduce anxiety symptoms.
Understanding Anxiety
- Anxiety is a nervous system state that can result from accidents, injuries, surgeries, physical pain, chronic stress, emotional shock or trauma.
- Anxiety is an emotion that produces physical symptoms such as tightness in the chest, racing heart, inability to take a deep breath and muscle tension.
- Thoughts do not directly cause emotions. They cause shifts in the internal state of your body that then change the sensory data sent to your brain which in turn shifts your emotional state.
Reprogramming Your Brain
- Neuroplasticity allows us to reprogram our brains to reduce anxiety symptoms.
- Traditional therapies geared toward anxiety relief focus on changing thoughts to reduce anxiety symptoms but there are parts of our biology that don't respond to thought-based therapies.
- Chronic and habituated emotional states like anxiety dictate muscle tension which is controlled by our nervous system.
Exercises for Reducing Anxiety Symptoms
- Exercise 1: Humming - Humming stimulates the vagus nerve which helps regulate heart rate and breathing.
- Exercise 2: Jaw Release - Releasing tension in the jaw can help release tension throughout the body.
- Exercise 3: Grounding - Grounding techniques such as feeling your feet on the ground can help bring you back into your body and out of anxious thoughts.
Timestamps are approximate and may vary depending on the version of the video.
Vagus Nerve Exercises for Anxiety Relief
In this section, the speaker introduces vagus nerve exercises for anxiety relief. The exercises are inspired by Stanley Rosenberg's book "Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve".
Exercise 1: Neck and Eye Movement
- Sit in a comfortable position and bring your right hand to the top of your head, then tip your right ear towards your right shoulder.
- Keep your head in that same position and shift only your eyes up and towards the left side of your vision.
- Release that movement.
- Repeat on the other side with left hand to top of head, left ear towards left shoulder, and eyes moving up towards the right.
Exercise 2: Rib Cage Movement
- Place your right hand on top of your head and bring down your right ear to touch your right shoulder while using your left hand to pull ribs away from each other.
- Move only eyes upward and towards the left side of vision.
- Release that movement.
- Repeat on other side with left hand on top of head, left ear touching left shoulder, while using right hand to pull ribs away from each other.
Exercise Tips
- Take breaks if needed as less is more when it comes to these exercises.
- Use titration concept where small doses can help make cumulative changes over time.
- Avoid making large movements if you have had any injuries or trauma in those areas.
Exercise to Reset Your SCM Muscle
In this section, the instructor demonstrates an exercise that can help reset your sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle, which is a thick muscle along the side of your neck that can get really tight. This exercise can be helpful for migraines or tension headaches.
Lying Face Down Exercise
- Lie face down comfortably on a yoga mat or comfortable carpet.
- Bring your elbows under your shoulders and hands flat on the floor. Your shoulders should be supported by your elbows.
- Turn and look over your shoulder while lifting your head using the muscles along the side of your neck.
- Hold this position for 30 seconds to reset your SCM muscle.
- Release and repeat on the other side by turning your head to the right and looking over your right shoulder.
Conclusion
In this section, the instructor concludes the video by thanking viewers for watching and providing instructions on how to show support if they found these exercises helpful.
- If you found these exercises helpful, please click the like button and let me know in the comments below.
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