3 Mental Health Myths

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Unlock the secrets of holistic health as Emily, a passionate massage therapist, challenge the myths surrounding mental health. Ever thought mental health issues stop at the brain? Think again. 

Join me to explore how the vagus nerve connects it all—the brain, heart, gut, and beyond—unveiling the powerful impact mental health has on the entire body. Discover how recognizing subtle stress signals like an increased heart rate and muscle tension can put you in control of your emotional well-being. Learn about my unique approach to integrating vagus nerve resets in massage therapy, offering a holistic path to relaxation for those grappling with stress and anxiety.

We'll journey through the interconnected realms of the brain, nervous system, hormones, and gut health, highlighting the gut's crucial role in serotonin production and its influence on mental wellness. Through personal anecdotes, I'll share how simple acts like humming or mindful breathing can stimulate the vagus nerve and soothe anxiety, encouraging you to embrace natural, non-medication strategies for mental peace. I believe that embracing sleep and routine can significantly enhance mental health, and I offer a free Vagus Nerve Reset video as your first step towards calmness. Wellness begins at Vagus, and I'm excited to walk this path with you.

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Episode Transcript

Emily (00:01):
What if I told you that your mental health wasn't just
in your head, that anxiety, thechronic stress and even how your
gut feels all are deeplyconnected to your nervous system
, specifically the vagus nerve,and today we are going to be
busting myths and uncovering thereal experiences behind mental

(00:22):
health and how you can takecontrol of your emotional
well-being from a massagetherapist's view, and that's me.
Hi, I'm Emily and I am a massagetherapist that works directly
with the nervous system.
Welcome to.
It Starts at Vagus, the podcastwhere holistic health meets
modern living.
I'm Emily, your guide tounlocking the power of the vagus

(00:45):
nerve, which is your body'sultimate key to calm, connection
and overall well-being.
Together, we'll explore simpleways to nourish your mind and
body with natural remedies,actionable tips and empowering
stories.
Whether you're here to reducestress, restore balance or take
charge of your health, you're inthe right place, because

(01:07):
wellness doesn't just happen.
It starts at Vagus.
Let's dive in.
In this episode, we will explorethree myths that I see in
relation to mental health.
Myth number one is that mentalhealth issues don't affect
physical health.
Myth number two mental healthis only about the brain.

(01:29):
And myth number threemedication is the only solution.
So let's get started.
Myth number one mental healthissues don't affect physical
health, and I do find that manypeople believe that mental
health struggles are all intheir head and it has nothing to
do with physical health.

(01:50):
But the truth is, your bodypays attention as a whole and it
looks for information to cometo a conclusion on how you
really feel.
So that vagus nerve connectsthe brain, the heart, the gut,
your lungs, your immune system,making an overall emotional
health, an entire body process.

(02:13):
So it's not just one, it's lotsof different things and they
are all connected.
When one starts going faster,it's going to increase the other
.
So if you start having a fasterheart rate, your breathing is
going to go faster and then yourmuscles are going to tense and
it takes on the whole body, notjust one section.
And so have you ever had thatgut feeling about something?

(02:36):
Well, that's your gut, brainaxis and the vagus nerve
communicating together.
Like I said, people can getphysically tense when their
stress doesn't have an outlet.
It just keeps building up overtime and it needs a place to go
when it's not addressed, andwhat we can do is support it

(03:00):
with healthy habits like talkingto a friend while you see him
and just work through whatyou're feeling with a trusted
friend so that it doesn't stickto you, because if the stress
isn't let out or calmed down itwill hide somewhere in your body
.
I see it every day and withsome of my massage clients.

(03:24):
Sometimes it helps if they talkto me about what's going on in
their life to make the most outof the therapy session.
Now I'm not a counselor, but Iam a considerate person who
doesn't mind listening to easethat burden.
And if a client tells me thatthey struggle with stress and

(03:45):
anxiety, I make a note of thatand do some vagus nerve resets
to help them relax easier.
So if you want to kind of testthat to see I'm not so sure if
that's true go ahead and listento episode number one to test it
yourself and you can feel howthose two are connected.
Test it yourself and you canfeel how those two are connected

(04:12):
.
Myth number two mental health isonly about the brain.
Some people feel that mentalhealth is just about brain
chemistry, that depression andanxiety stem from a simple
chemical imbalance like lowserotonin.
But as mentioned before, mentalhealth is a full body
experience which is regulated bythe nervous system, hormones,

(04:37):
gut, health and all of thesecomponents.
They have a role to support oneanother.
They have a role to support oneanother.
And so they communicate and say, hey, how do I react to the
situation that we are in?
And I've read that.
What is it?
Over 90% of serotonin, which isyour feel-good neurotransmitter

(05:00):
?
It is produced in the gut, notthe brain.
So you're thinking, well, ifI'm having troubles with my
thoughts, it's got to be there.
But actually it stems from thegut.
It really does impact oneanother because that's where
it's made.
So if it's not being made, thenit's going to affect the brain

(05:22):
and that vagus nerve.
That's the connection betweenthe gut brain to say, hey, how's
it going, both up and down, andsaying, yep, we're doing great
or not so much.
So one example of a real lifeexperience for the gut and brain
talking to each other One of mykiddos we're going to let's
just say we're going to name herAlex, because I have two

(05:45):
daughters and nobody's namedAlex, but this is kind of going
to keep their privacy.
But Alex came to me late in theevening saying that her anxiety
was keeping her from sleepingand that her tummy hurts.
Now I know as her mom, this isoften her pattern for anxiety.

(06:06):
So I took that moment and Ikind of figured out what would
be the easiest solution rightnow, because I'm tired, she's
tired, what can we do?
And so I thought you know what,let's hum.
So we hummed together, wehummed.
I think it was like Twinkle,twinkle Little Star, and so it

(06:26):
was a familiar song.
She didn't have to think aboutthe words or the lyrics, we just
kind of hummed it and it helpedus connect to each other and it
worked on toning the vagusnerve to help that.
Humming is an exercise that youcan do to help the vagus nerve

(06:47):
settle down.
And so afterwards she did feelbetter and she went from having
an anxious moment to nowconnecting with me, feeling like
she was supported, and then shekept her mind from those
anxious thoughts by, you know,humming that familiar song.

(07:08):
So in that moment I not onlyhelped her feel better but
taught her how to relax withinjust minutes.
And since then I have caughther a few times humming to
herself and I think, okay, she'sworking through something.
So as a mom I can later talk toher or I can just see how she

(07:32):
functions.
It's just my mental nodes ofseeing how well my kids are
handling life Now.
Without taking the time to dothat vagus nerve exercise with
her, she would have had a muchharder time getting to sleep,
staying asleep, which would havehad repercussions on the next

(07:52):
day like more cranky attitudesor even maybe her tummy would
still be upset.
She might feel a littlenauseous because it's still that
gut-wrenching feeling, but itwas just alleviated by simple
humming and it's such a nicefeeling knowing that I can give
my kids tools like that to helpthem through their day.

(08:14):
Now, myth number threemedication is the only solution
for mental health.
And that is the myth that ifsome people believe that if
they're struggling with mentalhealth, the only option is
medication and while medicationcan be helpful and sometimes
necessary, it's not the only wayto regulate your nervous system

(08:37):
we can support it in many, manyways.
So, like the vagus nervestimulation, movement, breath
work those are simple thingsthat we can do and that can help
you feel that weight of anxietyand stress.
Just lift off your shoulders.
So when I do movement, a visual, if I'm struggling and I just

(09:01):
feel like there's a lot ofthoughts in my head, I've got
this huge mental load.
I think of that artwork wherethe man is holding the whole
world on his shoulders and he'skind of hunched over and you can
just visualize like wigglingthat off because it feels
sometimes that the weight isjust so heavy and so by wiggling
, increasing that movement,getting some breath work,

(09:24):
getting more oxygen, all of asudden it feels a little lighter
and it's helpful.
And the polyvagal theorysuggests that engaging the vagus
nerve can shift the body fromthat fight or flight into a more
calm and connected statewithout a prescription needed.
I see it all the time, multipletimes throughout my week, and

(09:45):
so I know it's possible.
I know it's possible to helpcalm the mind down, calm the
body down, without medication,just 100% natural, just doing
simple little exercises.
And that's why I created thispodcast to let other people know
that these are just simplelittle things to help you feel

(10:06):
better.
And that is what my purpose forthis podcast is is to show
people all the little thingsthat make big impacts, just kind
of like that ripple effect,just something small, and then
all of a sudden you just feellike yourself and that is just

(10:26):
the greatest feeling.
Aside from humming like I didwith my kiddo, we can do
sunlight grounding.
That grounding is probably oneof my favorite things.
Come spring and summertimewhich is hopefully around the
corner, we can also get propersleep, which is hopefully around

(10:48):
the corner.
We can also get proper sleep,and that has been a struggle of
mine throughout the years.
I usually like to stay awakelater at night instead of
getting a good night's sleep,and I'll confess that.
But I'm getting better, andit's been, oh goodness, a few
years where I've really had tohone in on my sleeping habits,
to where now it comes so mucheasier and I crave it.

(11:08):
I want to go to bed earlier,which is just mind blowing to me
because I used to hate going tobed early, but I feel better
when I do, and so I make it anote of that and say, okay,
let's make this a priority.
A note of that and say, okay,let's make this a priority.
And by adding all these littleboosts to my life, it'll

(11:29):
increase the vagal tone, reducesymptoms of that anxiety and
stress, just naturally.
It's easy, it's free, it'slovely, and so now that you know
some of the myths associatedwith mental health, you can
create a path to make thosepositive and easy habits for
your mental and physical health,because mental health isn't

(11:52):
just about the brain We'vediscussed it.
It's a full body experience.
Your vagus nerve is the key toemotional resilience and stress
management is the key toemotional resilience and stress
management Because that mentalhealth it's not just in your
head, it's in your breath, it'sin your gut, it's in your

(12:13):
nervous system.
But you can take those smallsteps, those powerful steps to
support it.
You can start today.
It's easy, simple and pleaseshare this with a friend if you
have a friend who is strugglingwith this.
Also, because this is what thewhole podcast point is.
It's the whole mission of thisis to help others break free

(12:35):
from the tension and weight ofchronic stress.
Remember to breathe and dosomething that makes you happy.
Thanks for listening to.
It Starts at Vagus.
If you enjoyed this episode,subscribe so you don't miss
what's coming next.
And if you're ready to take thenext step toward calm, grab my
free Vagus Nerve Reset video inthe show notes.

(12:58):
It's quick and easy way tostart feeling better today and
until next time, remember,wellness starts at Vagus.