Craving the Quiet

We are living in a world which demands that our body is on high alert almost all the time.  The consciousness of mankind is bombarded by stimulus every waking moment.  We process more data/noise in an hour than our grandparents might have processed in a month.  When does the body have a chance to shut down from this, regenerate and seek to balance itself?

We need the down time, and yet we rarely take it.  We say we are too busy and yet our busy-ness is creating a stress level that our ancestors would have found unbearable.  Actually, our bodies do find it unbearable.  Our high stress levels are contributing to a lack of wellness which is driving us to be consumers of medical treatment and medication at a far higher rate than ever before.

When was the last time you scheduled an hour a week for yourself?  When was the last time you turned off your phone and allowed your body, mind, and soul to take time off from the world and seek its own sense of balance and harmony?

When we breathe deep … into our belly … we allow oxygen to reach every area of our lungs and we stimulate the vagus nerve which, in turn, helps to stimulate a relaxation response.  Did you know the vagus nerve is one of the most critical in our body?  It helps to turn off the fight/flight response we tend to live under and allows the rest/digest response to initiate.  This place of rest is where our body can once again seek to find balance and its own healing.  Living in stress prohibits our body from finding this place of self-healing … which is its natural design.  Is it any wonder we, as a people, are sick and tired and suffering from immune disorders and chronic pain?

The health of the vagus nerve is also important for our mental health.  It determines how we handle stress and our stress level can contribute to our mood.  Emotional health isn’t just in heads … our physical well-being contributes to our emotional/mental well-being which comes back around to our physical health and continues in the circle.

Some of the health benefits of relaxation are listed below (Source: Mayo Clinic)

• Slowing heart rate
• Lowering blood pressure
• Slowing your breathing rate
• Improving digestion
• Maintaining normal blood sugar levels
• Reducing the activity of stress hormones
• Increasing blood flow to major muscles
• Reducing muscle tension and chronic pain
• Improving concentration and mood
• Improving sleep quality
• Lowering fatigue
• Reducing anger and frustration
• Boosting confidence to handle problems

Our bodies are craving the quiet and our lack of wellness is the body’s way of screaming at us to take care of self.  Are you listening?  If not … will you listen?

More about the vegus nerve in these articles …

12 Ways to Unlock the Power of the Vagus Nerve
Vagus Nerve