I have been in comms recently with a Naturopathic Doctor from here in the North East and she and I have been discussing various ways to stimulate healing through sound.
So, the vagus nerve. Something we may or may not be aware of but the importance of its function in the human body is one of unquestionable importance. We were discussing how the balance of chakras play such an important role in the human physiology and psychology and that the Vagus nerve function is of equally similar and great importance. Often the 2 go hand in hand as they balance out the rest of the body and when off kilter, can lead to an array of physical and psychological problems that can be difficult to rectify. This conversation lead on to a very lengthy exploration of this topic and without going too in to the background details and off track elements, keeping it simple, we realized there is ONE crucial protocol that restores both the chakras and the vagus nerve thus aiding in a full spectrum body healing extravaganza. This protocol, my dear friends, is something so simple yet something so wonderful.
Sound is undeniably one of the greatest triggers, stimulators and healers of the human body and psyche. But before we explore how and why, Let’s talk about what is the vagus nerve?
WHAT IS THE VAGUS NERVE?
The vagus nerve, in Latin, means ‘The wanderer’ -It is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system and is one of the most important nerves in the body. It helps to regulate many critical aspects of human physiology, including the heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, digestion, and even speaking.
Energetically, the Vagus Nerve can:
- Balance the nervous system – the sympathetic (fight/flight) and the parasympathetic (rest and repair) branches of the nervous system, with more emphasis on relaxation
- Balance the heart and brain, which creates harmony that supports higher states of awareness/consciousness
- Develop our compassion, telepathy, and empathy towards others
- Develop our intuition or “gut knowing”
- Develop our connection with others and the world (how we relate to each other)
- Enhance our evolution as a species
For this reason, it is crucial to keep our VN function in check as it correlates with the health of all out vital organs and connected pathways. It is more than just a physical bodily function also. I strongly believe it is deeply connected to the chakras as it is physical proof that the chakras exist as it connects to all the chakra points and carries energy (Chi or Qi) to the vital organs via their meridians. Somehow, through modern westernized practices we have forgotten this, and this has lead to disease. Dis-ease, simply put is an imbalance or the body functions. An imbalance of the VN and chakras.
‘The strength of the vagus response is called “vagal tone” and it is determined by the variations in the heart-rate that can be measured between inhalation and exhalation. During the inhalation, the heart speeds up and during the exhalation, it slows down. The bigger the difference between these two phases, the higher the vagal tone. A high vagal tone is what we need in order to maintain a state of good health.’ – The Sound Healer.
Have you ever had an inner ear problem that has thrown you off balance? Or a throat problem that has caused you to lose you voice or feel discomfort in that area? The vagus nerve helps control several muscles of the throat and of the voicebox. It plays a major role in regulating the heart rate and keeping the gastrointestinal tract in working order. It also carry sensory information from the internal organs back to the brain. The ear and hearing also have a substantial effect on the rest of the body because of their proximity to the vagus nerve. See, It balances or unbalances everything.
This paragraph I am about to insert is written by ‘the sound healer’ at http://www.thesoundhealer.com and it is highly crucial to understand how the ear function plays a huge part in stimulating our vital organs.
The relevance of the vagus nerve in sound-based therapies
The ear and hearing have a substantial effect on the rest of the body because of their proximity to the vagus nerve.
“The vagus nerve, or tenth cranial nerve does not play an active part in the process of hearing, therefore it is not normally taken into big consideration in things that relate to music, hearing and the like outside of the medical field. However, this incredibly important nerve is connected with the posterior wall of the external auditory canal, the lower part of the eardrum’s membrane and in the middle ear: the stapedius (stirrup) muscle. From these parts of the ear, it makes its way all the way down to the lower internal organs and is responsible for a high number of regulatory functions in pharynx, larynx, thorax and abdomen.”
Basically, stimulating the ear means stimulating all the vital vegetative internal organs.
So, in order to keep our bodies and our chakras in balance, we need to think about how we can stimulate this nerve so that our central nervous system can respond in a suitable way in accordance to every other part of our body. People often overlook that simply applying some way of naturally treating this nerve can heal practically every part of their body without the need of medical intervention. We are seeing this now with epilepsy patients that can use charges known as VNS therapy, Vagus nerve stimulation therapy through means of electrical impulse triggers and this has reduced the need for medical intervention and/or brain surgery. This is amazing!
SOUND HEALING EXERCISES
Some simple things that you can do at home to encourage vagus nerve stimulation through sound can be as simple as follows:
- Singing and humming: The tones and vibrations that are achieved through various pitches and resonants have an incredible impact on VN stimulation. Even just for a few minutes a day it can be such a mindful practice that can have a profound effect. Notice that, it also instantly increases your mood and raises your vibration! Sing like no one is listening! Get in the shower and go for it! One thing I really like to do is find a quiet moment in the day. I tend to prefer to do this outside as I like to ground on the grass barefoot and feel the air and then i close my eyes and hum. You will notice (especially if you put your fingers in your ears) the sound passes through every part of your body and if you are still you can feel vibrations from head to toe. One thing I have also noticed is that, without trying and through conscious awareness, the body has a naturally built in mechanism that operates on a 2 beats in a bar sound wave so this channels balance through every meridian as it passes through your system. Pretty incredible!
- Gargling! – I have a very strict morning routine. I always have a hot water first thing to flush out bacteria that has stored overnight and afterwards I brush my teeth, tongue scrape and gargle. The couple of minutes of gargling not only stimulates the VN response but it activates the throat chakra and helps keep a healthy thyroid function.
- Sound bath therapies – These are a luxurious treat but they are fantastic ways of healing the entire body through sound, not just the VN but head to toe magic! As noticed in the video above, the impact that sound can have on our internal function is incredible. From previous experience, I have found that after a practice of this type it is adviseable to drink lots of fresh water and either sit quietly or go to bed to continue the vibrational effects of this detoxifying and rebalancing protocol. And during this practice that involves a lot of variant frequency sounds, drums and so on, there is often the implementation of fork tuning (though this may be done afterwards on a personal request)
- Bio-sonic tuning forks – There are two main types of tuning forks used for healing, plain tuning forks and weighted tuning forks.”
Plain Tuning Forks
Plain tuning forks are mainly used for sound healing in the energy field around the body. The plain forks are used to create musical intervals. The BioSonic Tuning Forks use the ‘Just Tuning’ rather than the ‘Equal Tempered Tuning’. This scale creates perfect mathematical ratios when the tuning forks are used together. For more information on the ‘Just Tuning’ visit this link.
Listening to musical intervals has a healing affect on the body, mind and emotions. This is born out by numerous studies on the healing power of music. For more information please visit this article.
Fibonacci Series
The Fibonacci numbers are Nature’s numbering system. They appear everywhere in Nature, from the leaf arrangement in plants, to the pattern of the florets of a flower, the bracts of a pinecone, or the scales of a pineapple. The Fibonacci numbers are seen in the growth patterns of all living things, from a single cell to a grain of wheat or the structure of a beehive.The simplest Fibonacci ratios are 1/2, 2/3, 3/5, 5/8. These relate to main musical intervals.
- Tingsha bells – The Tingsha cymbals are among the many ritual instruments used in Tibetan Buddhism. These instruments are used to focus awareness and are used to signal the start and the end of group meditations. It is believed that the ring of the cymbals help clear the mind in preparation for long meditative sessions but the sound of these bells however can stimulate the body in the same way tuning forks in sound bath practices can.
- Sound healing frequencies via audio transmission – There are various different hertz frequencies that offer healing and restoration and that can be transmmitted via audio transmission such as, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnpsF3qzhMXgtw2UH_zNUw, a channel that hosts videos specific for condition to frequency matching. They are intense and not always pleasant to sit and listen to but they do trigger.
AND NON SOUND HEALING PROTOCOLS THAT ALSO WORK VN STIMULATION:
- Cold water therapy – This not only works wonders for maintaining a strong immune response, refreshes muscle tone, brain function and more, it is also a great way to trigger the VN and make sure that a simple blast in the morning along with a sing song keeps you on the right path from A-Z
- Intermittent fasting – This is something that scares a lot of people but it shouldn’t. If you see to eat your last meal at 6pm, then you set your body into rest mode and allow for a deeper sleep. Then if you try to not eat and only do hot water flushes until 11-12 am then you allow your body to naturally reset itself and heal therefore your nerve functions across the whole body repairs and restores activity.
- Deep breathing / Alternate nostril breathing – Again, this is something that I like to implement after a morning shower or an evening bath. Sit straight, close your eyes and focus on conscious breathing.
Deep breathing is essential to our survival and to our good health. We can live 4-6 weeks without food, 4-6 days without water, but will die without oxygen for more than 4-6 minutes.
All forms of breathing are not born equal
There are three types of breathing:
- Clavicular breathing — A breath that comes from high up in the shoulders and collarbones.
- Chest breathing — A breath that comes from the centers of the chest.
- Abdominal breathing — A breath that comes from the abdomen.
The first breathing pattern uses the collarbone (i.e. the clavicle) to help move air. You see it most often in people who are feeling panicked, or who truly are struggling for breath, as those with emphysema often do. Clavicular breathing is the most abnormal form of breathing. It occurs with serious breathing impairment or during extreme stress—such as in a panic attack.The second breathing pattern is the most common kind. Your chest and lungs will be expanding, but the expansion is restricted by tension and tightness in the muscles around the abdomen and ribs. This causes the chest to expand mainly upward, with less airflow and more rapid respiration.The third kind of breath comes from the abdomen and uses the diaphragm. When the diaphragm contracts, your lungs expand, pulling air in through your mouth like bellows. When you breathe from your abdomen, your belly will expand and move out with each inhalation. Your chest will rise slightly, but not nearly as much as with chest breathing; your abdomen is doing all the moving.Doing abdominal breathing, you can activate the vagus nerve and trigger a relaxation response. The relaxation response, which is the opposite of the stress response, is necessary for your body to heal, repair, and renew.
ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING (My all time fave)
Alternate-Nostril Breathing will balance the left and right Vagus – sit up straight with a lifted spine. Using your thumb and pinky finger, close off one nostril with your thumb and inhale/exhale through the open nostril for one complete breath. Then use your pinky finger to close off the other nostril and inhale/exhale through the open nostril for another complete breath. Alternate left and right nostrils for a total of 9 complete breaths.
As you see, there is so much importance related to the function of this wandering nerve that holds our health accountable and the ways to stimulate it and heal our bodies can be as simple as singing a song.
By looking at our health in a creative, energetic way as opposed to a formal, medically structured way, we give ourselves the power to claim sovereignty over our health and start to manage the ways we look after ourselves OURSELVES! You are more powerful than you give yourself credit for!
So, take the leap and trust that you can heal yourself. Turn the shower on cold and hum your way through it. Take 10 minutes to slow your breathing down and be conscious that you are making a difference to yourself physically and energetically. Be mindful about what you eat and when. Give your ear a little massage. A wiggle every once in a while never killed anyone did it? LAUGH for goodness sake! Raise your vibrations and you will feel lie a whole healthier, wholesome YOU!
I LOVE YOU
SOMA LIFE LAB 
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