This has been a long time coming.
It is one of the most asked about topics, after “what the heck can I eat?”.
Nerve toning is a pivotal part of the Thrive with Gastroparesis Program. We establish these techniques before we even touch any type of meal plan, because it doesn’t matter what you put in your body if your body cannot function properly to digest said food.
Nerve toning isn’t something that is one and done. It takes consistent practice, just like muscle toning. You don’t lift weights once and expect to be super strong. Same concept. You don’t tone the nerve once and expect to feel 100% better.
But, with some consistency, it makes a world of a difference.
So, what exactly is nerve toning?
It is through different techniques that help stimulate the Vagus Nerve that plays a major role in stimulating the stomach muscles to digest your food. Essentially, it is teaching it to rewire the connection back to the brain and the body to work together again.
Can you reverse nerve damage?
Well, that’s one of those questions with the answer of, “It depends”.
It depends on how severe the damage to the nerve is, how long it has been left untreated and what caused the damage. This also mirrors how effective nerve toning is. For some, the pain and symptoms can go away entirely, for others with more severe damage, you can drastically improve, but it might not ever go away.
The Vagus Nerve
It is the main group of nerves of your parasympathetic nervous system. This system controls digestion, heart rate, immune function, mood, speech, taste, etc.
It runs from your brain to your large intestine.
Sounding more familiar as to why you might be experiencing other issues aside from digestion?
So, keeping all of that in mind, currently in the Thrive with Gastroparesis Program, I teach 6 methods of nerve toning. These different methods span throughout the Vagus nerve, because your damage could be anywhere along it and we don’t really know where. So, we work on the whole nerve to see if we can feel the stimulation from different techniques.
A great image showing how the Vagus Nerve runs through your whole body and all of the organs and systems it interacts with. Picture from Morningside Acupuncture.
I’d like to give you 2 bonus ones right now that you can literally do THIS MOMENT, or really any time.
Humming!
Yup, something that simple can help stimulate and tone your Vagus nerve. Humming for about 5 minutes will awaken the nerve and stimulate it. At first, you might not feel anything, but if you do start to feel faint or anxious, then you know you might have overstimulated it.
This is not a problem. It’s actually a good thing! It means your nerve is responding! Keep going, but maybe knock it down to 4 minutes. And then keep testing from there.
Cold Water Stimulation.
This one follows along the lines of ice baths, but not so extreme. Splashing very cold water on your face can help stimulate your nervous system, but not necessarily the actual vagus nerve. However, awakening the system and then humming can be very effective.
What are some results from nerve toning?
Some responses from my personal experience and clients who experience the nerve stimulation:
crying from out of nowhere after or in the middle of a nerve toning exercise
a wave of fatigue washing over them
faster heart rate
feeling tingling in the face or hands
feeling the need to nap
feeling the vibration in different areas of the digestive system
having to poop very soon after
These are all due to the stimulation of the nerve and awakening the whole system. It just depends on where and how severe the damage is.
And if you don’t feel anything, you keep trying multiple toning techniques until the right one hits.
If you would like to learn more about how to incorporate Nerve Toning into your routine and how we use it while working together, I would love to talk further with you. Just click here and fill out the form to have a free consult call.
I hope this was helpful for you and that you immediately start trying some of these techniques.
Until next time,
Keep it Fresh. Keep it Simple. Keep it Real.
Aubrey