Brain & Mental Health: Part 2

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Unlock the secrets to nurturing your brain through the power of social connections, movement, and sunlight. 

Join me, Emily, as we uncover how these elements activate the vagus nerve, fostering a state of calm and enhancing cognitive resilience. Discover why spending time with people you love not only uplifts your mood but also boosts oxytocin levels and reduces stress, promoting a healthier mind. We'll share insights on the critical role neuroplasticity plays in our mental well-being and how to harness it through engaging activities and continuous learning.

In this eye-opening episode, we'll also explore the significance of movement—not just exercise—in keeping the brain vibrant. Get practical tips on easy movement techniques, like walking or cleaning, that improve blood flow and stimulate neuron growth, supporting lifelong adaptability. We'll discuss ways to stimulate the vagus nerve through simple acts like humming or singing, which can help you overcome stress and enhance your cognitive flexibility. Rounding out our journey, we'll shine a light on how sunlight regulates circadian rhythms and boosts serotonin, promoting better sleep and overall brain function. Whether you're looking to enhance mental clarity or simply live a healthier life, this episode is packed with empowering advice and heartfelt stories.

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Episode Transcript

Emily (00:01):
Welcome back everyone.
Today is part two of thetwo-part series for brain health
and how it affects with thevagus nerve and goes back and
forth.
Last episode we talked aboutsleep, screen time and noise and
how that affects brain health.
Today we are going to betalking about social engagement,

(00:24):
movement and sunlight.
Welcome to It Starts at Vagus,the podcast where holistic
health meets modern living.
I'm Emily, your guide tounlocking the power of the vagus
nerve, which is your body'sultimate key to calm, connection
and overall well-being.
Together, we'll explore simpleways to nourish your mind and

(00:46):
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.
Let's start with the power ofsocial engagement.
What social engagement is isjust interacting with people,

(01:07):
and when the vagus nerve is inthat rest and digest state, your
brain says great, let's gosocialize.
So it is the opposite of socialisolation.
So when you are in that fightor flight mode, it says let's
back up, let's go isolateourselves because we're not sure

(01:28):
, but we want to be in thatsocial engagement.
We're like, yeah, people, let'sgo.
And this is both for introvertsand extroverts, and we all do
it a little differently, but youshould want to be around the
people that you like to be with,and connecting with others
directly leads to brain health.

(01:49):
Not only do we get to enjoyspending time and making
memories, it also createsoxytocin.
It reduces our stress levelswhen we're around people that we
like to be with and increasesour cognitive function, and so
you even feel that you can thinkclearer when you're around

(02:13):
people that you like and trust.
And, as mentioned with thevagus nerve, when it's calm, it
has that social engagementactivated where you can be more
expressive and your voice toneis more upbeat versus melancholy

(02:34):
.
You can see people's eyes lightup.
It's amazing and you startfeeling connected.
It's all of that that embodiesthat good time and your brain
goes yes, I like it, let's keepgoing.
And so those socialinteractions can activate the
vagus nerve and reduce thatstress and activate the vagus

(02:57):
nerve, as in the rest and digeststate date.
So the main part of that is isjust prioritizing the quality of
your relationships and knowingthe people that really lift you
up, that are there supportingyou and rooting you on and

(03:18):
helping you through troubledtimes and celebrating all of
your wins.
They're the people that you canmake eye contact with that,
want to listen and interact withyou, while you can have empathy
or they can have empathy withwhat's going on in your life.
All of those things helpsupport your brain and saying,

(03:42):
okay, I trust these people, wecan calm down because they are
not going to attack me, whichthen helps that vagus nerve say
okay, rest and digest time,which is perfect.
The second part that we'retalking about today includes
like movement as medicine forthe brain.
Now, obviously it's notmedicine as in prescription, but

(04:07):
it's medicine as in.
It makes it do better, feelbetter and there are big
benefits to your brain when yourbody moves.
First off, I do want to kind ofdo on a little tangent, saying
exercise and movement aren'treally the same.
Exercise is where you focus ondoing particular movements and

(04:28):
it can kind of be interchangedwith exercise and movement to
that degree.
But movement can just be notgetting stuck on the couch all
day.
Movement can be raising yourarms or bending over to pick
something up.
Movement can be wigglingthrough a doorway, which I
really encourage a lot of peopleto do because it's a lot of fun

(04:49):
.
Again, it creates thatcreativity and movement, in my
opinion, is more beneficial thanexercise, because it's better
to move throughout the day thanjust take one hour of movement
exercise.
So we do want to do just randomdifferent movements high, low,

(05:10):
and kind of just like at thatneutral zone, and just all
different kinds of ways.
So that's the differencebetween movement and exercise.
But movement in itself doescreate blood flow.
It creates the lymph flow forlymph drainage, it helps your
mental health.
And this next one that we'regoing to talk about is

(05:33):
neuroplasticity, andneuroplasticity is a brain's
ability to adapt and change withwhat's going on in life.
Obviously it's a big deal wejust need to talk about.
So neuroplasticity is alsocalled brain plasticity, and I'm
sorry that's just like a tonguetwister to me.

(05:54):
It refers to the brain'sability to rewire and adapt and
change to the function that'sgoing on around you, whether
you're learning something new,experiencing something new or
just what's going on in yourenvironment in general.
Think of it as your brain's wayto stay flexible and resilient.

(06:21):
Resiliency is a big thing, soit's just like we want to move
for our muscles and strengthenthem and grow with consistent
use.
We need to do that with ourbrain also.
They work together.
It's your whole body we want todo best for your brain, your
mental clarity, mental healthand your physical health.

(06:43):
So how neuroplasticity works isit helps form new connections.
So every time you learnsomething new or have a new
skill, your brain creates and itstrengthens those neural
pathways.
So it's that connection betweenthe brain cells or your neurons
in your nervous, and the moreyou repeat an activity, the

(07:09):
stronger the connections become,making that new activity easier
and easier as time goes.
Kind of like when you learn toride a bike.
The beginning you're like notso sure and you've got your
physical body, but you also havethe mental cognition and your

(07:29):
body is learning lots ofdifferent things at the same
time, and so your brain goesokay, do we have the capability
of learning these new skills?
And the more you teach yourbrain how to learn a new skill,
the faster it's going to pick upon that because it's using it
and the brain strengthens theconnections that you use, but it

(07:54):
also trims things that youdon't.
It's the use it or lose it typeof mentality and that process is
called synaptic pruning and ithelps the brain work efficiently
.
It wants to say what are wegoing to use and what are we not
going to use and it kind ofprunes the ones that we don't

(08:18):
but strengthens the ones that wedo.
So, when it comes toneuroplasticity and movement, it
literally fuels for braingrowth and so that movement

(08:42):
increases blood flow to thebrain, which delivers oxygen and
nutrients that help build andrepair all those neural
connections, and it releases aprotein, the brain derived
neurotrophic factor.
So that's a protein thatsupports the brain, the growth
of new neurons, and itstrengthens existing neurons.
So it's like how, like that one, two pack punch where it's like

(09:06):
, yay, we want to promote therelease of these proteins and we
want to help grow the brain, wewant to promote the release of
these proteins and we want tohelp grow the brain and we want
to strengthen it all the goodones.
But when it comes to stress,neuroplasticity becomes hindered
because now it's like, oh,we're stressed out, we don't

(09:29):
have time to prune the stuff wedon't need, we don't have time
to learn the new things.
And if we do learn the newthings, it's going to be harder
to retain Because the brain goes, we're stressed out and we're
in that fight or flight mode andnow I don't know what to do
other than protect you.
So that's where that stresspart hinders the brain health.

(09:52):
So as we do a vagus nerve resetor we start humming or we start
singing, that is going to lowerthe stress and allow your brain
to increase that resilience andthat cognitive resilience to

(10:13):
where you can think clearer, youcan feel better, and that
neuroplasticity allows the brainto adapt to new challenges.
While you learn a new skill orrecover from an injury or a
trauma that you're trying towork through, it allows that
space to happen.
That also helps improve yourmemory and your learning and the

(10:38):
brain becomes better atlearning and retaining that new
information when you stimulateit with movement.
Now we have again the moreblood flow, more oxygen, more
nutrients, and it allows forthat problem solving and the
social engagement that we talkedabout beforehand.
And with that regular movementand engagement it helps maintain

(11:00):
that neuroplasticity as we ageand that reduces the risk of
cognitive decline like dementia.
So all in all, it's a reallygood thing to do and movement is
so easy and it can be reallyenjoyable.
That's why I like to do thewiggling stuff, because it's
just simple, it's a littlechildish, you can kind of laugh

(11:22):
at yourself, but all of thatreally helps build your
emotional, mental and your brainhealth.
So try to remember to move inways that you enjoy doing,
whether it is just a walk aroundthe block or, like I said, even

(11:44):
cleaning your house to pull abox out from the closet.
So that's using like highmovement and low movement and
that's going to get lots ofcirculation going and lots of
range of motion and thatphysical movement with the

(12:11):
mental process of cleaning out acloset, it's going to help that
mind-body connection becauseyou're doing things and you can
do things like Tai Chi or othermovements that can pair that
mind-body connection, which willhelp with focus and mindfulness
and have a powerful impact onthat neuroplasticity.

(12:32):
I've heard that even like pingpong is a movement slash
exercise that helps with brainhealth and physical health
because you're moving whileyou're also using the different
parts of your brain to play pingpong and you've got the

(12:53):
hand-eye coordination.
All in all, ping pong is areally good movement exercise
with low impact.
So as you incorporate movementthroughout your daily life,
you're not just strengtheningyour muscles and using your
muscles, you're also helpingyour brain build up for better

(13:16):
learning, adaptability andresilience.
All of those things aresomething that we should do
throughout our lifetime.
We should always be learning sothat we can continue growing as
a person.
It creates who you are and youget to self-reflect and find out

(13:38):
what you really like doing, andthat helps stress.
When you know what you lookforward to, you can figure out
how you want to decrease thatstress, increase the movement.
So let's say you're in astressful situation and you're
like, okay, freaking out alittle bit, and you're like, but

(14:00):
I know movement is helpful,just do that.
Breathing to stimulate yourvagus nerve, to help it calm
down.
Simple breathing again willbring oxygen to your brain, help
it feel better and calm downthat tension.
So breathing is also a veryeasy step towards vagus tone

(14:27):
health and your brain health,and again, that oxygen is going
to go throughout your entirebody.
So that is a win also.
The third step that we're goingto talk about well, it's not
step section that we're going totalk about is sunlight.
Sunlight is nature's brainbooster.
It helps regulate our circadianrhythm and boost serotonin,

(14:53):
which sounds kind ofcounteractive, because if you
get morning sun, it helps withsleep at night.
So even though you're doingsomething in the morning, it
really does help in the eveningand I for one have tested and
tried and used it and it is agame changer.

(15:13):
Not only do you get the vitaminD from the sunlight, but now
you're going to be able to sleepbetter, which is what we talked
about in our last episode howsleep is a foundation to overall
wellness.
We need sleep, and sunlight isa powerful tool, a powerful free

(15:37):
tool that we all can have, andit's linked to better moods and
a better cognition so that wecan think easier, so that
natural light from the sun helpsbalance out your nervous system
and supports your overallcalmness state.

(15:59):
So if you just spend like 10minutes of sunlight in the
morning, preferably before nineand I know it's kind of hard
because it's winter timecurrently, but in the summer
it's addictive Like I love thesun and I find sun like a cat in

(16:19):
the morning, we're going tofind it, we're going to sit in
it and just enjoy.
That's when I like to think,that's when I do that.
My day just goes so much betterthat I do my best to include

(16:42):
sunshine in the morning as oftenas I can.
So daily is my favorite regimen.
Obviously, there's days whereyou've got clouds or it's
raining or something like that.
There's days where you've gotclouds or it's raining or
something like that.
But we really do need to takethose sunny days and just bank

(17:02):
them, just make them a priorityand you will feel how calm that
sunshine can help.
And if it's a nice day outside,then you can listen to the
birds and the sounds around you.
And again, last episode wetalked about how noise
stimulation can affect our brainhealth, and nature has some

(17:25):
very positive sounds.
It's very calming to listen tothe birds sing in the morning,
so it's one of my favoriteroutines because I get so much
out of it.
So I do make it a priority whenthe sun is out to get some
morning sun because it really isenjoyable.

(17:47):
So, just as a recap for today'sepisode, we want the social
engagement to strengthen ouremotional and brain health.
We want to include movementdaily to fuel our mental clarity
and support that vagus nerveand last that sunlight is
essential for mood and thecircadian rhythm which will then

(18:11):
help our sleep at night.
So hopefully you can find someways to move throughout the day,
because most likely the morningsun has gone.
But if you're listening to thisbright and early, go grab some
sunshine and a cup of tea andjust soak it up.
So thank you for sharing aportion of your day with me.
Remember to breathe and takethose small, consistent steps

(18:35):
for your brain health.
Thanks for listening to.
It Starts at Vagus.
If you enjoyed this episode,subscribe so you don't miss
what's coming next.
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It's a quick and easy way tostart feeling better today.
And until next time, remember,wellness starts at Vagus.