The Vagus Nerve

[lazylathe]

@EverythingsHazy

Day one of the Matcha tea trials and I still feel great at 9pm!
1 tsp in some hot water and drink. I made mine way too strong for the first go, not enough water, the taste is very strong when concentrated.
Nice energy throughout the whole day without any burn out or drops.
Usually by this time of night I am pretty tired, so this is good.

I bought mine in Canada at a bulk store, Bulk Barn, it is a bright green, very fine powder with a very strong green tea smell.
Taste is quite bitter at first but it leaves your mouth velvety smooth feeling.
I can see this becoming a regular item and trying out the ceremonial grades and also acquiring the correct equipment.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

@EverythingsHazy

Day one of the Matcha tea trials and I still feel great at 9pm!
1 tsp in some hot water and drink. I made mine way too strong for the first go, not enough water, the taste is very strong when concentrated.
Nice energy throughout the whole day without any burn out or drops.
Usually by this time of night I am pretty tired, so this is good.

I bought mine in Canada at a bulk store, Bulk Barn, it is a bright green, very fine powder with a very strong green tea smell.
Taste is quite bitter at first but it leaves your mouth velvety smooth feeling.
I can see this becoming a regular item and trying out the ceremonial grades and also acquiring the correct equipment.

Awesome! I'm glad to hear that you had a pleasant first experience with matcha. It has so many health benefits.

I want to go back to culinary grade, to see if it's any less enjoyable than ceremonial grade, with my new preparation method. I feel like ceremonial grade does taste smoother and less bitter, but I also used to microwave the mixture, instead of just the water. I also sift the powder through a sieve, so it doesn't form clumps that are hard to break up. I find it helps ingest more of it and leave less on the inside of the mug when you are done.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

How’s everyone doing with their Vagus Nerve stimulation practices, lately?

I’ve been sticking to the contrast showers, sticking to the tea, and working on getting to a point of consistency with 10-15 minute mediation.

I have definitely noticed significant improvements in my life, including but not limited to the following:
-Increased energy/focus/sharpness during the day
-More calmness
-Overall better mood
-Decreased anxiety/stress
-Decreased time it takes to fall asleep
-Decreased fidgetiness

I am definitely becoming far more awareness of my breath, throughout the day, which allowance me to use various breathing techniques to modify my mental/physiological state.

I’ve also begun to utilize the Wim
Hof breathing technique before some of my cold showers. It consists of the following:
-30 power breaths (quick full inhale, quick incomplete exhales [(I’ve been doing so just by letting the air get pushed out of my lungs to the point that it does naturally, rather than forcing out every last bit.)])
-empty your lungs (I’ve been doing so “incompletely” but I’m not 100% sure if you should force out all of the air for this step)
-hold your breath for a while (be careful, since you aren’t hyperoxygenated in this state, and can pass out before you’re body sends the signal that make sure you feel like you need to inhale. NEVER do this under water, or in any place where passing out could lead to an injury!)
-inhale deeply
-hold the inhale for a while
-I repeat the cycle two or three times. Eventually, I might do 4.

 

[simplywonderful]

How’s everyone doing with their Vagus Nerve stimulation practices, lately?

I’ve been sticking to the contrast showers, sticking to the tea, and working on getting to a point of consistency with 10-15 minute mediation.

I have definitely noticed significant improvements in my life, including but not limited to the following:
-Increased energy/focus/sharpness during the day
-More calmness
-Overall better mood
-Decreased anxiety/stress
-Decreased time it takes to fall asleep
-Decreased fidgetiness

I am definitely becoming far more awareness of my breath, throughout the day, which allowance me to use various breathing techniques to modify my mental/physiological state.

I’ve also begun to utilize the Wim
Hof breathing technique before some of my cold showers. It consists of the following:
-30 power breaths (quick full inhale, quick incomplete exhales [(I’ve been doing so just by letting the air get pushed out of my lungs to the point that it does naturally, rather than forcing out every last bit.)])
-empty your lungs (I’ve been doing so “incompletely” but I’m not 100% sure if you should force out all of the air for this step)
-hold your breath for a while (be careful, since you aren’t hyperoxygenated in this state, and can pass out before you’re body sends the signal that make sure you feel like you need to inhale. NEVER do this under water, or in any place where passing out could lead to an injury!)
-inhale deeply
-hold the inhale for a while
-I repeat the cycle two or three times. Eventually, I might do 4.

This + cold baths yeah, it literaly, switch me into another dimension. I saw once a intergalactic being natural dmt release flash.
Im so thankful for Wim and his story and stories and for the act of sharing which I hugely appreciate
+
binaural beats, turn that into next level shifts.
What would I give to try that neurophone or whatever it was called, that thing which stimulates vagus, but why machine when we have abilllities like a fuckin legion and I do not mean it in bashing cocky egotistic way

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Still going strong with the showers and the breathing exercises, and I've increased the last cold period to 3 minutes.

 

[little maggie]

Just want to say that I'm glad contrast showers are working but there are much "milder" ways to do vagal nerve stimulation- incliuding yoga, meditation and humming. Humming to your favorite songs is a simple and painless way to do this. There used to be techniques within the mental health community but I've forgotten them.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Just want to say that I'm glad contrast showers are working but there are much "milder" ways to do vagal nerve stimulation- incliuding yoga, meditation and humming. Humming to your favorite songs is a simple and painless way to do this. There used to be techniques within the mental health community but I've forgotten them.

That's true. Humming and singing are both good ways to stimulate the vagus nerve by vibrating your neck/throat area. Deep breathing works well, too, and causes your diaphragm to sort of stroke the vagus nerve as it moves with each breath. Meditation is another method, and is great for centering/grounding yourself, in this hectic world in which we live.

As for the showers, I recommend slowly working up to using full cold in the cold portions, by starting with water cool enough to give you the diving reflex (that gasping feeling when you let the cold water run over your face), but not so cold that it hurts. I started by only turning one nob in my shower for the cold cycles (~70F), and now I can easily fully turn off the heat (~49-53F). I have to retest the water temp, now that it has warmed up outside, but it still feels very cold, and yet it is far more tolerable than before, and for much longer periods of time. There's no need to be too abrupt with the process.

 

[little maggie]

Reminds me of the TIP skills from DBT: (Temperature, intense exercise, progressive relaxation). The temp one is the diving reflex for stimulating the vagal nerve and instant calming:
this reflex is activated by icy cold water (i.e., not freezing) on the face. In particular, the icy cold water must hit the parts of the face just below the eyes and above the cheekbones for the dive reflex to be activated. She suggests that when in an extremely heightened state of emotional arousal:

• Fill a bowl with icy cold water
• Bend/lean over
• Hold your breath
• Put face in icy cold water for 30 seconds
• Make sure that area underneath eyes/above cheekbones (most sensitive part of the face) feels the icy water

But there is also: At first the dive reflex was done by dipping the face from the lips to the scalp line into very cold water for 30 seconds to 1 minute. This would quickly melt away anxiety and stress. Later it was found that a large zip-lock plastic bag filled with ice or ice cubes applied to the face from the scalp line to the lips would perform as well without leaving the user appearing like they just emerged from a river. The Dive Reflex, because of its ability to stimulate the vagus nerve, has proved helpful for:

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[EverythingsHazy]

Reminds me of the TIP skills from DBT: (Temperature, intense exercise, progressive relaxation). The temp one is the diving reflex for stimulating the vagal nerve and instant calming:
this reflex is activated by icy cold water (i.e., not freezing) on the face. In particular, the icy cold water must hit the parts of the face just below the eyes and above the cheekbones for the dive reflex to be activated. She suggests that when in an extremely heightened state of emotional arousal:

• Fill a bowl with icy cold water
• Bend/lean over
• Hold your breath
• Put face in icy cold water for 30 seconds
• Make sure that area underneath eyes/above cheekbones (most sensitive part of the face) feels the icy water

But there is also: At first the dive reflex was done by dipping the face from the lips to the scalp line into very cold water for 30 seconds to 1 minute. This would quickly melt away anxiety and stress. Later it was found that a large zip-lock plastic bag filled with ice or ice cubes applied to the face from the scalp line to the lips would perform as well without leaving the user appearing like they just emerged from a river. The Dive Reflex, because of its ability to stimulate the vagus nerve, has proved helpful for:

Yup, that's it. It's a pretty interesting reflex, since it's multiple internal physiological changes, and not just a muscle jerk.

I enlarged the main points that pertain to this thread, in the quote below:
"Your inner dolphin

Humans and other mammals have a Diving Response (also known as The Mammalian Dive Response/Reflex) consisting of a set of reflexes that are activated when our face is cooled (such as by the water during a dive) or if we hold our breath. The diving reflex is a clever physiological mechanism enabling the body to manage and tolerate a lower level of oxygen.


Three main changes occur in the body:

1. Bradycardia, a slowing of the heart rate. The human heart rate slows down 10 – 30% and up to 50% or more in trained individuals.
2. Peripheral vasoconstriction (a narrowing of blood vessels to reduce blood flow by muscle contraction in the blood vessel’s wall), causes reduced blood flow to the limbs ensuring that oxygen-sensitive organs like the brain and heart receive oxygen.
3. During deep dives, a blood shift occurs allowing blood plasma and water to pass through organs and circulatory walls to the chest cavity to protect the organs from the increase in pressure. The lungs gradually fill up with blood plasma, which is reabsorbed when pressure drops.

A slowing of the heart rate occurs relatively quickly upon facial contact with cold water. The trigeminal facial nerves (5th cranial nerve) transmit the information to the brain which innervates the vagus nerve (10th cranial nerve) causing bradycardia and peripheral vasoconstriction. The colder the water, the faster the reaction. Temperatures above 21°C (70°F) do not elicit a response. Reduced blood flow to the limbs occurs more gradually. The reflex is preventive because it is initiated before the level of oxygen becomes critically low. In addition, the large amount of blood that accumulates in the blood vessels of the lungs acts as a protective measure, because fluids – as opposed to tissue and bones – cannot be compressed. The blood thus prevents the lungs from collapsing under the high pressure of the deep.


When vasoconstriction shunts blood away from arms and legs, the amount of blood we have available is concentrated in a “small” circulatory system between the lungs, heart, and brain. These are the most oxygen sensitive organs of the body and the blood shunting is thus a perfect survival mechanism to a low oxygen level. In addition, the decrease in heart rate also helps lower oxygen consumption, since the heart muscle is working at a lower intensity."
-Breathology

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Tested the water in my shower, and it’s at ~60F now vs ~49F in the early spring. I bet it can get a bit colder in the middle of the winter, too.

Unfortunately, I believe that the shower should worked better in the colder water, but they do still work very well for me.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

It's cold water weather again!

 

[mephisto]

Still enjoying all of the posts in this thread. Fascinating stuff indeed. Not sure I will ever have the cajones to intentionally stand under a cold shower. However, the ice bag to the face method will be something I will try. Also the Wim breathing. Thanks!

 

[TheResistance]

I will have to try this out. Sounds interesting, thanks for the post.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Still enjoying all of the posts in this thread. Fascinating stuff indeed. Not sure I will ever have the cajones to intentionally stand under a cold shower. However, the ice bag to the face method will be something I will try. Also the Wim breathing. Thanks!

You can always wean yourself into the shower habit. I didn't start with full-cold water, either. When I'm really tired, I really don't want to flip the hot water off, but I notice a huge difference in how I feel during the day, and I far prefer the clarity and energy that I experience after a cold shower.

I will have to try this out. Sounds interesting, thanks for the post.

Let us know how it works for you!