DailyOM: Tell us how you designed this seven-day course. What can students expect to learn and practice?
Melissa: This course is designed to take you on a journey through the healing power of your mind and body, introducing you to parts of your system that regulate how you process stress, release tension, and act in your best interest. Just like the vagus nerve, the course wanders through your mind and body.
You’ll learn skills to strengthen your nervous system to improve your ability to manage stress and move out of fight, flight, or freeze situations. You’ll learn gentle movement to release stress, tension, and chronic pain from your head, neck, shoulders, and back. There’s even an at-home face-lift done with your own hands! These practices and skills will teach you how to shift your body and mind’s state!
DailyOM: How did you become so passionate about the vagus nerve?
Melissa: After years of dedicating myself to healing using food, movement, and traditional talk therapy, I still felt like there was a missing piece — or should I say peace. I often felt out of control with emotions or oscillated between feeling too much and not enough. My energy levels were so inconsistent, and I searched outside of myself for a long time. My cousin introduced me to researching the vagus nerve, and I was hooked. It made so much sense and was such a tangible experience; the practices often worked instantaneously, which was a relief in so many ways. Learning how to access the healing power of the vagus nerve has improved every aspect of my life and has equipped me with tools to use for life!
DailyOM: What role does the vagus nerve play in our overall health?
Melissa: It’s not just the role but the resiliency of our vagus nerve that impacts nearly every aspect of our health. The vagus nerve is a superhighway connecting the brain and body, transmitting information bidirectionally from the brain to the body and from the body to the brain. Its nerve fibers extend from the brainstem, traveling throughout the body to the heart, lungs, kidneys, digestive tract, and spleen — hence the name vagus, which translates to wandering. This system controls organ functions like heartbeat, breathing, reflexes, and other automatic processes of the body.
Think of your vagus nerve as the brake system. The vagus nerve works to slow down and speed up heart rate and bring the right degree of energy needed to navigate moment to moment successfully. If the vagal tone is weak, we have a more challenging time navigating moment to moment and end up unable to regulate our stress response or adequately manage stress, including daily stressors. This course empowers people to strengthen the vagus nerve’s tone and flexibility to navigate moment to moment as their best selves.
DailyOM: How do you know if you have a weak vagal tone?
Melissa: Chronic stress, trauma, and our mother’s emotional state while carrying us impact our vagal tone. Trouble regulating emotions and attention and low serotonin or dopamine levels, depression, and anxiety are indicators of low vagal tone. Low vagal tone is also associated with difficulty speaking, problems swallowing, low blood pressure, low heart rate, digestive disruptions, and even IBS and Crohn’s disease.
People often feel like they live reactionary, instead of engaging and responding to life how they want. The great news is that you can change your vagal tone like you would train a weak muscle. This course offers simple and effective tools using your own mind and body.
DailyOM: Let’s talk about fight, flight, or freeze; how do these states correspond with the vagus nerve?
Melissa: The vagus nerve scans our internal and external environments, checking for safety. This is part of the vagus nerve’s communication process. When the vagus nerve senses danger, its brake system activates, mobilizing our defenses to fight, flee, or freeze. The vagus nerve also engages to bring the system back to a regulated state. Those who feel stuck in fight, flight, or freeze can strengthen the resilience of the vagus nerve only to mobilize when truly needed, and not for things like answering an email. These states are not as absolute as you might think; it’s less of an on-off switch and more like an equalizer board.
This course teaches you how to engage with your vagus nerve to improve strength and flexibility. This flexibility allows you to be regulated and connected, while also calling upon a bit of that fight-or-flight system when you need to give a big presentation or engage in friendly competition, or a little bit of that shut-down system to relax for things like meditation or being intimate.
DailyOM: Are these exercises of strength and flexibility available to everyone?
Melissa: Absolutely. You can do the activities using your eyes, face, neck, senses, and even an at-home face-lift using your hands! These exercises are designed to improve your overall well-being and have been known to eliminate head, neck, shoulder, and back pain and improve your overall mood. These exercises will effectively help you process stress and regulate your emotions. This also makes you a powerful co-regulator for those around you. The tools can be implemented and shared with the whole family and even taught to children.
DailyOM: What is one of the biggest takeaways you hope students will learn?
Melissa: I cannot wait for students to recognize the healing power that resides within them! Accessing the healing power of the vagus nerve is such an empowering experience. It’s like trauma-proofing ourselves by connecting with this internal system of healing. For those of us who have experienced trauma, feel like we lost ourselves, or are just living on autopilot, connecting with an internal source of healing is life-changing.
DailyOM: If we can heal ourselves and reset our nervous systems, it seems like it’s time we tap into this amazing vagus nerve and do so. Healing ourselves and easing our pain and stress is literally within ourselves! Be sure to check out Melissa’s course for more. Until next time, be well.
