anxiety

What is the vagus nerve? First of all, the vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body which originates in the brain as cranial nerve ten, travels down the from go the neck and then passes around the digestive system, liver, spleen, pancreas, heart and lungs. This nerve is a major player in the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the ‘rest and digest’ part (opposite to the sympathetic nervous system which is ‘fight of flight’).

Anxiety is the experience of a nervous system that is not running smoothly.  Many things cause anxiety including stress and trauma. Here are several simple somatic practices to soothe the nervous system. Each gently invites awareness back into the body and can create experiences of safety and calm. You can develop these resources at home, or anywhere you have a moment, and then practice tapping back into them during stressful experiences.

When experiencing intense negative emotions, it’s not uncommon to feel like “this will never end” or “this will last forever.”  It’s not surprising that when in this distressed state of being, one might resort to the use of unhealthy coping mechanisms (like binge eating, use of illicit drugs, self-harm) in an effort to self-soothe.  Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) founder Marsha Linehan developed distress tolerance skills that are easy to access and straightforward to help people use more adaptive, less destructive strategies when in crisis.

Below is a list of flight, fight, freeze responses. These are possible signs that one is no longer feeling safe and might need to stop what they are doing.  While this is not a complete list, it may help to identify what you need to be watching for:

Fight:

• Crying

• Hands in fists, desire to punch, rip

• Flexed/tight jaw, grinding teeth, snarl

• Fight in eyes, glaring, fight in voice

Flower Breaths:

Provide your child a fragrant, colorful flower and tell him to breathe in through the nose and breathe out through the mouth. Flower breaths help release tension. Offer a flower like daffodils, daisies, and roses.

Hissing Breaths:

Hissing breaths help with physical and mental relaxation. Teach your child to breathe in through the nose. Make him inhale a deep breath, and then ask him to exhale through the mouth, while making a hissing sound like a snake. Prolonging the exhalation will help with relaxation.