Gentle Release Therapy – Vagus Nerve

Focusing specifically on the Vagus Nerve this treatment promotes rest and recovery by calming and soothing the nervous system to enhance physical and emotional wellbeing.

By facilitating the release of blocks, tension and micro-trauma held in the Vagus Nerve we help to regulate the body’s response to stress. 

By supporting the Vagus Nerve we can promote the body’s recovery from chronic physical and emotional symptoms that have developed as a result of imbalance in the Vagus Nerve.

What is the Vagus Nerve?

The Vagus Nerve is a bundle of nerves that starts in the brain and connects to every major organ and system in the body.

One of the Vagus Nerve’s main functions is to counteract the body’s response to stress by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that promotes calm and rest after a stressful experience.  Often referred to as the ‘rest and digest’ part of the nervous system when activated it helps to:

• Reduce heart rate and respiration.
• Increase digestion, processing food through the body.
• Inflammatory responses are turned off.
• Hormone responses to safety are released in to the blood.

How well the body responds to stress is dependent upon the vagal tone, which is a measure of the health of the Vagus Nerve.  Part of the job of the nervous system is to keep us safe.   The life experiences we are exposed to leave a trace in the nervous system which can then start to effect the vagal tone.  If vagal tone is impaired the parasympathetic nervous system becomes less effective and we get stuck in the sympathetic nervous system,  known as ‘fight and flight’.  This can lead to experiencing a state of anxiety and irritability or disconnection where we feel exhausted, hopeless and a lack of motivation.

Alongside the life experiences that would naturally be considered stressful e.g. bereavement, unemployment, divorce, etc, in modern society we are perpetually exposed to l