Reclaiming Energy: The E.A.S.E. Method for Nervous System Healing

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Persistent fatigue despite doing everything "right" often stems from an overtaxed nervous system rather than physical exhaustion. 

The vagus nerve, focused solely on survival, diverts energy to keeping us alive when it perceives even subtle threats in our environment.

Listen to methods that help put the vagus nerve back into "rest and restore" mode. 

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Episode Transcript

Emily Feist (00:00):
I was taking the supplements, sleeping most of
the night, and still by 2 pm Iwas crashing hard, not sleepy,
tired hard, but like that soultired hard where you just can't
shake it off.
This, literally, has happenedto me before and it just didn't
make sense.
Turns out, I didn't need morecaffeine.

(00:22):
I needed to reset the onesystem that nobody was talking
about the nervous system.
Welcome to it.
Starts at Vagus, where modernhealth meets modern day, living
through the eyes of a massagetherapist and that's me.
I'm Emily, and I am aneuromuscular massage therapist
that helps people relax theirmind and their muscles, and I'm

(00:45):
here to guide you through thephilosophy of the vagus nerve.
It's the body's ultimate key tocalm, connection and overall
well-being.
So if you have stress, anxietyand have that burnout, feeling
that you're just stuck, you'rein the right place.
Take a deep breath in, settledown and let's explore how we

(01:06):
can use our nervous system tosupport our bodies.
Let's dive in.
So let's get real.
Yes, sleep and nutrition matter, but if you're doing the right
things and you're still dragging, we need to look a little
deeper, because fatigue isn'talways physical.
Sometimes it's emotional ormental or wait for it nervous

(01:33):
system based.
Here's what I mean.
Your nervous system, especiallyyour vagus nerve, has one job
to keep you alive, not thriving,not crushing it, just alive.
So if your system thinks thatthe world is a little unsafe,
even if it's just caused byjuggling your three kids, two

(01:55):
deadlines and one anxiety spiral, it will quietly reroute your
energy into survival mode.
So no wonder you're tired.
This also means that yourbeautiful creative brain, your
digestion, your motivation, evenyour pleasure, all of it gets

(02:16):
benched and put in the back seatbecause it's not the first
priority.
So let's talk about a few ofthose reasons, how that just
creeps in subtly and just a fewlittle things do drain our
energy.
So let me talk about some ofthese sound familiar to you.
You've got the constant decisionmaking, so you kind of have
like that mental ping pong,talking yourself out of those

(02:40):
spiraling thoughts, most of theFeeling like you're on all the
time.
You're on at work, at home,even if you're alone, holding
back tears because you don'thave the time to fall apart, or
smiling through burnout becauseeveryone counts on you.
Now, taking those possibilities, we multiply them by 365.

(03:05):
Because that's how often we canhave these thoughts.
We don't take a break.
It's just that constant feeling, day after day after day, and
if you're lucky, some of thatmight come off during a getaway
vacation.
But even then you're stillpooped out.
That is not just exhaustion,that's an emotional suppression,

(03:31):
chronic vigilance and even yournervous system waving that
white flag saying I am giving up.
Now what to do?
If you're wondering how to getyour energy to come back for the
long term without guiltingyourself into doing that 5 and
workout routine and otherextremes, try this ease method

(03:52):
that is E-A-S-E Ease method.
Let's start with the first E,and that is exhale intentionally
.
Breath is your reset button.
A long, slow exhale activatesyour vagus nerve, shifting you
out of that fight or flight modeand into that rest and restore

(04:14):
mode.
And if you only take one thingaway from today, it's this your
exhale is your secret portal tocalm.
It tells your vagus nerve, hey,we're safe now, and safety
that's what allows energy toreturn back.
So let's talk about some toolsfor this Humming or singing that
will directly help your vagusnerve to relax and restore.

(04:38):
We can inhale for four secondsand exhale for eight seconds,
and we can even include somethings.
So we can include some gentlerocking.
So if you have like a rockingchair and then do that while
you're breathing in for fourseconds and out seconds.
You can combine these two tofigure out your perfect way, how

(04:59):
you like to relax and reset.
So let's go ahead and practicethis.
Let's go ahead and take a bigbreath in and let that sigh.
That sigh feels really good.
Right, it's the exhale part.
It's allowing us to breatheeverything out so it doesn't
stay stuck inside.

(05:20):
Now on to the A.
We want to acknowledge the openthat mental clutter causes
energy links.
And keeping open tabs all day,from adding radishes to the
grocery store to trying toremember where you parked All of

(05:40):
that drains our cognitiveresources.
And your brain isn't meant tohold in everything.
It's meant to process andprioritize.
But when you feel likeeverything is urgent, nothing
gets done and you stay in thatfoggy, stuck state.
To help with this, you can do amorning brain dump All those

(06:01):
first thoughts that you get intoyour head when you first wake
up.
Just jot them out.
My favorite way is also to do avoice note, when I can just
talk into my phone and it justrecords everything for me.
That way I can just let all ofit out without worrying about
writing it down fast enough.
You can also do the two minutetask rule.

(06:22):
So if it takes two minutes orless, do it now.
Just cross it off and be donewith it.
Now on to S.
S is soothe your inner critic.
Mental exhaustion often stemsfrom what's going on, all those
thoughts inside your head, notjust what's happening in your
life, but that processing it andchronic self-judgment triggers

(06:44):
anxiety and perfectionism and itjust creates that loop keeping
the nervous system in survivalmode and you can't heal in a
space where you're constantlyberated and your energy won't
return if it thinks that you'lluse it to criticize yourself.
Here's how to overcome that.
Do some inner voice check-ins,Think about would I say this to

(07:08):
a close friend of mine.
If not, it shouldn't be stuckin your head.
You can also rewrite the script.
So instead of thinking I'm sofar behind, just think I'm
allowed to slow down to do this.
Well, you can even talk toyourself.
You can tell yourself thank youfor keeping me safe, we are
safe, we're fine and now we canmove on.
And it'll help train your brainwhen everything is just fine,

(07:32):
instead of being on and scanningeverything.
Now.
The last E emotion needs tomove.
Suppressed emotions are energyhoarders to move.
Suppressed emotions are energyhoarders.
When we suppress our sadness,anger, fear, we use up massive

(07:54):
energy just to keep that lid on.
But when we include movementand expression and release that
and make space for life toreturn, your emotions aren't the
problem.
The problem is when we let itbottle up inside and we don't
let it out.
So think of tears, shaking,laughter, journaling, if you
like to write it all out.
All of that eases up thepressure release valves in our

(08:17):
emotions and it keeps us frombreaking down.
So the next time you need tomove to get out some emotions,
you can literally just shake itout, move, dance in your kitchen
.
I love dancing in my kitchen.
Got the songs on makes my kidslaugh, I laugh and it just
allows me to use up that energy.
You can also cry in a safespace.

(08:38):
Crying is very healthy and soif you need to release that
emotion, just go find yourfavorite spot and let it all out
.
Don't worry about what you looklike, just grab some Kleenexes
and let it go.
Now here's what I do when I amin that 2 pm slump.
First, I reset my nervoussystem.

(09:00):
I know that if I just take afew moments to relax my nervous
system.
Everything goes better.
It is the foundation to moveforward.
So, as previously stated, Ilike to move, I like to wiggle,
I like to sing.
All of those help me reset itand if I feel really stuck I

(09:21):
will do a vagus nerve exercise.
Next I dump my mental tabs.
I like to use the voice noteson my phone.
It helps me a lot.
It helps me be able to speakall the thoughts instead of
writing them down.
It's just what works best forme.
And then later I also usesticky notes.

(09:47):
I use many, many sticky notes.
I really like them.
They just really help me likejot that idea down, set it,
forget it, come back to it later.
After doing that mental dump, Idrink water.
I know that water helpseverything.
It helps everything in the body, whether it's helping me think
clearer or nourishing my muscles, my nervous system, your fascia

(10:11):
, your lymph.
Everything works better whenyou're hydrated.
So I figure, if I am having ahard time, I might as well grab
a glass of water.
Last but not least, to get meout of that 2pm slump, I like to
do something fun.
Every Sunday last year I spentmoments doing an art craft.

(10:32):
I was trying to teach myselfhow to draw or paint.
It was just something that Iwanted myself to grow, because I
had never really exploredcreativity that well in that way
, and so that is one way that Ido try to do something that is
fun, because art can be doneanywhere.

(10:53):
It can be fast, it can be aquick doodle, or it can be slow
and take your time and justexplore the different colors.
So that is one way that I liketo use fun to get me out of that
slump.
It's energizing for me.
Here's what I want you toremember today you're not
failing.
Your energy is wise and it'strying to protect you, but now

(11:16):
it's your time to reclaim it.
Thank you for spending part ofyour day with me.
Remember to soothe your nervoussystem and reclaim who you are.
Thanks for listening to.
It Starts at Vagus.
New episodes are released everyTuesday.
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(11:38):
can then know that you areinterested in these topics about
the Vegas nerve.
Until next time, rememberwellness starts at Vagus.