April 1, 2025 • 20 mins
Have you ever felt "fine" while your body was silently screaming for help? That was my reality – the calm, high-functioning massage therapist whose world came crashing down with a debilitating gallbladder attack on Thanksgiving Day.
Want to give a one-time donation as a thank you?
Cash App me at $ItStartsAtVagus
Thank you!! I really appreciate your support 💗
Click the link to learn how to reset your vagus nerve to decrease stress & anxiety 👉🏻 https://mailchi.mp/itstartsatvagus/vagusreset
Join our Facebook group 🤩 It Starts at Vagus
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Emily (00:00):
I was the calm one.
I thought I'm fine, I'mfunctioning and I'm happy.
So why did I end up in pain,feeling exhausted and sensitive
to foods that I liked to eat?
Today, I'm going to share withyou my personal story about why
I need and use Vagus NerveResets.
(00:21):
Welcome to it Starts at Vagus,where holistic health meets
modern living through the lensof a massage therapist and
that's me.
I'm Emily, and I am aneuromuscular massage therapist
who works directly with thenervous system to help people
relax their muscles and calmtheir minds.
I'm here to guide you inunlocking the philosophy of the
(00:43):
vagus nerve, the body's ultimatekey to calm, connection and
overall well-being.
If stress, anxiety or burnouthave you feeling stuck, you're
in the right place.
Before we start, if you coulddo me a huge favor and hit that
subscribe button.
It encourages me to continue tomake podcast episodes and I
(01:06):
can't tell you how much it helpswhen you hit that like and
subscribe button.
We currently have listeners inover 130 cities and as the show
gets bigger, we can expand thepodcast, bring in guests and
continue to support yourwellness, because I want this
podcast to continue to be worthlistening to and help people all
(01:28):
over the world get stress andanxiety relief, naturally.
Thank you to everyone who hasalready subscribed.
I truly appreciate it.
Now take a deep breath andlet's explore how we can use our
nervous system to support ourbodies.
Back in mid 2022, I scheduled aniridology appointment.
Now, iridology is just anon-invasive method to look at
(01:52):
your eyes to determine whetherthere are any health issues that
may exist.
And I know that some people area little skeptical or even feel
like it's nonsense.
But hear me out, our bodiesgives us signs and symptoms all
the time.
We often just don't know how toread them or what they mean.
For example, a symptom fordiabetes can be having a velvety
(02:17):
neck.
The back of your neck can kindof feel thick, the skin is or
bulging eyes are an example forhyperthyroidism.
So there are things that we canvisually see that helps say, oh
, this is a common sign orsymptom for this condition or
that one.
So with iridology, they don'tlook at just one thing and say,
(02:42):
oh, you've got it.
No, they do look at a varietyof things, and that's what my
appointment did.
She looked in my eyes and atthe end, she helped me determine
, based off of this, this andthis is what, what everything is
.
At the end, what it came down to, what it all was stemming from,
(03:02):
was stress and it just, it justdidn't make any sense.
I just I didn't understand howI could be so stressed out,
because I love my kids, myhusband and I were doing great.
We had homeschooling was justfine, and my job was great.
(03:24):
Like I am a massage therapist,I work in a calm room with
soothing music and dimmed lights.
It just it didn't add up to me.
I'm like I don't think it'sstress, I really didn't.
But then I took a moment and Ithought about it and I'm like
well, maybe you know, maybethat's true.
So a little bit of a backstoryBack in 2020, my family and I
(03:49):
moved from South Dakota down toArkansas and I didn't know
anybody.
I didn't have a single friendthat I knew down there and I was
starting a new business.
Well, it wasn't a new business.
I had been practicing massagetherapy for many years before
that, but it was a new businessin a new business.
Well, it wasn't a new business.
I had been practicing massagetherapy for many years before
that, but it was a new businessin a different state and states,
(04:11):
away from other people that Iknew.
So that was stressful, but Ienjoyed it.
My husband he was also startinghis own business, plus we
homeschooled.
I was with a variety ofbusiness groups and I had my
friends.
That eventually made.
But, needless to say, lookingback, I was busy, I was
(04:31):
consistently busy and I triedshoving all the things that I
loved in one day.
It was that I enjoyed all thethings that I was doing.
So it wasn't just one thing, oreven two things, that was
impacting my daily stress level.
(04:52):
It was a variety of things Withthat.
Because I was crammingeverything into one day, sleep
took a backseat.
It just wasn't a priority ofmine because I thought, well,
I'm fine, I'm functioning, I'mdoing okay, I'm happy and I feel
like, because I could dosomething, I did do it because
(05:16):
nothing was holding me back.
So it just it took its toll outof the time of the amount of
sleep I took.
Now, looking back, I had what'scalled revenge, bedtime
procrastination, and I feel likethis happens to a lot of moms,
especially because we are doingso many different things and we
(05:40):
get used to not having enoughsleep and still kind of
functioning and I do say kind offunctioning because we can do
better.
But I was a classic example ofrevenge bedtime, procrastination
.
And here are just those, justso that you can know about them.
It's staying up late doingthings that aren't urgent.
It's feeling a burst of energyor freedom once everybody else
(06:04):
is asleep, and regretting it inthe next morning, but doing it
again that very same night andthen telling myself it's just
one more hour or that I deservedthis quiet time and that I was
going to use it.
So that is the basic examplesof revenge bedtime, because I
(06:30):
was reclaiming that timethroughout the day, that I
didn't have time to pause and Ifelt like that time was stolen
from me during the day by eitherlike work or caregiving or just
the nonstop demands.
It just built up and I wouldthink.
I know I should sleep.
But this is my time, this is mytime to be alone and have the
(06:53):
peace or whatever I want to do.
So I would, I would scroll, Iwould watch TV or a movie and I
would just zone out.
For no reason, I would just sitthere and just enjoy that quiet
time at the expense of sleep.
And that, I think, was mybiggest stressor, because my
(07:16):
body didn't have time torejuvenate, it didn't have time
to process what had been goingon the day before and it would
just build up, build up, buildup, build up.
So I felt, quote, unquote, fine, but internally my body was
going like you need to rest.
But I would just push throughbecause I could and I thought,
because I could, I was fine.
(07:37):
Now let's jump to Thanksgivingof 2022.
This is when I had my firstgallbladder attack.
From what I believe was agallbladder attack, it yeah, it
was Thanksgiving.
I had made all of thisdelicious food and I started
eating it, as we do at aThanksgiving, and nope, it did
(08:00):
not stay down.
Nothing stayed down.
So I spent a good chunk of time.
Whenever I ate something, itwould just come right back up,
which was not fun.
I didn't feel well enough toeat anything for about a week.
So, as silly as it sounds, Iate just sauerkraut for almost
(08:21):
an entire week, because that issomething that did settle my
tummy down.
So that's what I just.
I just ate a variety ofsauerkraut for about a week, and
that's just how I survived theday of that attack.
So Thanksgiving day, I was justin a lot of pain and nothing
subsided it.
It was.
I took a hot bath.
(08:44):
I had a heating pack on me.
I stayed hydrated as well as Icould with water, but it just it
took a lot.
It took all day.
It took all day because we hadour Thanksgiving meal more of
around you know, like that 1112time, so it took all day.
It took all day because we hadour Thanksgiving meal more of
around you know, like that 11,12 time.
So it took the rest of the dayof me just feeling icky and
(09:05):
awful and it was just.
It was a terrible feeling, butI didn't.
You know, that's just.
I'm like, well, here I go, I'mjust going to go through this.
But because I realized that someof those foods would make me
vomit, I started looking intofoods that would make me feel
better, which is how I foundsauerkraut, and there were just
(09:27):
there were some that just didn'tmake sense to me because even
if they were nutrient dense,that didn't necessarily mean
that it would stay down and Iwas no longer able to eat some
foods that I would have often.
So, for example, there's apowder called butterfly pea
(09:49):
flower powder.
That's a tough word to say, butit is something that I would
make in my drinks because itmakes a really pretty blue drink
and it helps your hair and yournails and all that good stuff.
That was a triggering food.
Couldn't have it.
It was just the end of it.
I couldn't have chicken, orsometimes it was beef.
(10:09):
It really just it had no rhymeor reason and it was really
really frustrating.
So I'm like, okay, stress, wegot to get this down Because
remember the, the iridologyappointment told me, hey, you're
stressed out.
And I'm like, am I?
And then boom, bladder attack,gallbladder attack.
So like, okay, yes, there issomething to this.
So I started doing more.
(10:30):
I started getting more massagesfor myself, I started
rebounding to help withlymphatic drainage, and
rebounding is just a little minitrampoline.
I just started doing thatthroughout the day and then I
also started doing acupuncture.
That really did help.
That.
That helped get a lot of thingsworking better.
(10:56):
And going back to the food, Ialso looked into herbs.
I love herbs.
I think they're super flavorfuland nutrient dense in ways that
we don't necessarily get fromsupplements, in my opinion.
So that was startedincorporating more herbs, and my
son also likes herbs.
(11:17):
And there was this day where wegot a Chinese herb book and in
that book there were just liketwo pages, two or three pages
about the Chinese medicine formof helping people stay healthy
and I was like that's reallyinteresting Cause.
(11:37):
Then I started going into a deepdive of Chinese medicine.
I started making and so manyconnections it was really fun to
see because I was like, okay,because I work with so many
people, they tell me you knowall the things that are ailments
or that are hindering theirhealth.
A lot of the times the doctorsare like, nope, there's no
(11:59):
connection.
And with Chinese medicine I wasthinking of people that I was
like, oh, my goodness, thiswould make sense and this would
make sense and that makes sense.
And it's just started all justforming in my head.
I'm like, okay, this one seemssolid.
It's not talked about a lot, orat least in my circle, but it
really does seem to have theanswers on how to help people
(12:23):
feel better.
So I'm like, okay, we're goingto do that.
So I started including somemore of their herbs and again,
the Chinese also supportacupuncture and massage.
So I was like, yay, win, I'malready doing that.
And I started sometimes I forgetwhen I started doing something,
when, because again, it wasjust over a year and a half, two
(12:45):
years, of figuring all this outover a year and a half two
years of figuring all this out.
So there was a time where Istarted using castor oil packs
and I would just wear thatovernight.
But when I started usingessential oils to help certain
organs in myself, based off ofmy acupuncture readings or how I
(13:06):
was feeling, then I would usecertain essential oils on my
castor oil packs and that wasgreat.
I really did like that and Istill do.
Whenever I use the castor oilpacks with the essential oils, I
wear it overnight and I wake upin the morning feeling so good
(13:26):
and where I can visually seeinflammation leaving my body
Like if I knew that a certainarea was inflamed.
It was so much softer that nextmorning I'm like okay, that
works too, let's keep doing that.
So I was trying to incorporatethe Chinese medicine protocols
(13:47):
acupuncture massage but a bigone was again trying to fix my
sleep patterns, cause againremember before I had that
procrastination of going to bed.
So I'm like okay, I really knowI need to sleep and I didn't
want to.
I wanted to throw a fit like athree-year-old.
(14:09):
I just didn't want to go to bed.
I just it wasn't something Idesired.
But I'm like, okay, how can Ihelp myself prepare for bedtime?
As I read I really read that alot of morning sun helps change
your circadian rhythm to whereyou want to go to bed at the
appropriate times.
(14:29):
So I tried it and it worked forme.
It really did.
And I started to incorporatewaking up I don't know 15
minutes earlier, just so I couldgo outside and soak up the
morning sun, and I really didenjoy it, and I still do.
It is a great practice for me.
Sometimes my littlest kiddowill come out with me and we'll
(14:52):
just have our talk time.
I make a note not to bring outmy phone and that I just listen
to the birds and soak up thatsun on my warm face.
And it warms my face, I shouldsay.
And I just I just take momentsto be present in that morning
and I found it's a great way tostart a day.
(15:13):
It really does.
And guess what?
By the end of the night I wasfalling asleep in my chair.
That first week that I startedincorporating morning sun, it
really did work on my body.
I was going to bed, naturally,just I don't know, it was like
1030, 11 o'clock.
At the beginning it was sowonderful because I didn't have
(15:39):
that temper tantrum because Iwas already falling asleep.
Now there were also times whereI would incorporate certain
teas to help calm nerves down sothat I would get ready for bed.
It became part of my nighttimeroutine to tell my brain hey,
it's time we're doing ourbedtime routine, it's time to
(15:59):
sleep.
So a vagus nerve reset that Ilike to incorporate is gargling
After I brush my teeth, I garglesalt water and that helps
vibrate the vagus nerve to say,hey, it's safe enough to calm
down Again.
Just little, simple, simplethings.
And it might sound overwhelmingof all these things that I do,
(16:20):
but it's again, it's just spreadthroughout this this.
You know almost two yearstimeline that I started
implementing all these thingsand you just choose what you
want to start with.
You can just practice, like I'mgoing to choose this, see how
it goes, see how my body feelswith it, and decide if I want to
incorporate it into my dailylife, and that's all it is.
(16:42):
It's very simple, it's easy.
Is it a little work?
Yeah, at the beginning it isbecause you're discovering who
you are, and it's so much funwhen you start realizing what
your body likes and what youenjoy.
It's like discovering a pieceof yourself that you didn't know
was there and I loved it.
(17:04):
It starts becoming addicting tofiguring out what your body
likes and what it doesn't, andbecause of it, now I am able to
be more sensitive to when mybody gets overloaded with stress
, which is great.
You want to be able to recognizewhen your body is like oh, is
(17:25):
this just becoming too much?
You need to be able torecognize that, to say, okay,
how can I take care of my bodytoday so that I start feeling
better, so that the bad habitsdon't creep in?
We want to keep all the goodhabits, and paying attention to
how we feel is one way, how wecan keep those good habits going
(17:46):
.
And that's when I startedlooking into the vagus nerve.
I'm like holy cow.
There's a nerve that we canimpact again pain-free, easy,
super fast.
That keeps our body healthyfrom stress.
It keeps the anxiety away.
It makes me feel physicallybetter, emotionally better, I
(18:07):
can think clearer.
It was just like holy cow.
This is such a key to overallwellbeing and it's so, so simple
.
It's so simple.
So I'm like people need to knowabout this, because I couldn't
believe how fast stress snuck upon me Because, again, I liked
(18:28):
all my stress.
That wasn't the problem.
The problem was that I liked itand now I had to become
sensitive so that I cancounteract it, because stress is
always going to happen.
We are living, so there's goingto be good days, there's going
to be bad days, and we need tobe able to counteract that,
(18:49):
because stress should notcompromise our health.
It is a factor of life, but itshould not take our life, and
that is what I want to share.
I want to share it because eventhe ones who look like they've
got it all under control, like Ithought, I thought I had it all
under control, but I wasquietly burning out and it
(19:10):
started affecting me until Icouldn't avoid it any longer.
So that is what I wanted toshare with you is this is just
my journey.
It's going to be changingthroughout, how my body changes
and life.
One day my kids won't, you knowthey'll become adults and life
(19:32):
will change again and I'll beable to readjust because I'll
know what my body likes, andthat's all it is.
It's learning how to supportyourself.
Well, thank you for spendingyour time with me.
It's learning how to supportyourself.
Well, thank you for spendingyour time with me.
Breathe and start a habit thatmakes you feel better tomorrow.
So anything that makes iteasier so that you can have.
Thank you for spending yourtime with me.
(19:53):
Breathe and start a habit thatmakes tomorrow easier.
Thanks for listening to.
It Starts at Vagus.
New episodes are released everyTuesday.
If you liked this episode, goahead and give it a subscribe
button so that you getnotifications and don't miss out
on what's coming next.
If you'd like a step-by-stepvideo on how to do a pain-free
(20:17):
and easy vagus nerve exercise,grab my free vagus nerve reset
video in the show notes.
It's what I do when I feel likeI just not like myself.
Until next time, remember,wellness starts at vagus.
I was the calm one.
I thought I'm fine, I'mfunctioning and I'm happy.
So why did I end up in pain,feeling exhausted and sensitive
to foods that I liked to eat?
Today, I'm going to share withyou my personal story about why
I need and use Vagus NerveResets.
(00:21):
Welcome to it Starts at Vagus,where holistic health meets
modern living through the lensof a massage therapist and
that's me.
I'm Emily, and I am aneuromuscular massage therapist
who works directly with thenervous system to help people
relax their muscles and calmtheir minds.
I'm here to guide you inunlocking the philosophy of the
(00:43):
vagus nerve, the body's ultimatekey to calm, connection and
overall well-being.
If stress, anxiety or burnouthave you feeling stuck, you're
in the right place.
Before we start, if you coulddo me a huge favor and hit that
subscribe button.
It encourages me to continue tomake podcast episodes and I
(01:06):
can't tell you how much it helpswhen you hit that like and
subscribe button.
We currently have listeners inover 130 cities and as the show
gets bigger, we can expand thepodcast, bring in guests and
continue to support yourwellness, because I want this
podcast to continue to be worthlistening to and help people all
(01:28):
over the world get stress andanxiety relief, naturally.
Thank you to everyone who hasalready subscribed.
I truly appreciate it.
Now take a deep breath andlet's explore how we can use our
nervous system to support ourbodies.
Back in mid 2022, I scheduled aniridology appointment.
Now, iridology is just anon-invasive method to look at
(01:52):
your eyes to determine whetherthere are any health issues that
may exist.
And I know that some people area little skeptical or even feel
like it's nonsense.
But hear me out, our bodiesgives us signs and symptoms all
the time.
We often just don't know how toread them or what they mean.
For example, a symptom fordiabetes can be having a velvety
(02:17):
neck.
The back of your neck can kindof feel thick, the skin is or
bulging eyes are an example forhyperthyroidism.
So there are things that we canvisually see that helps say, oh
, this is a common sign orsymptom for this condition or
that one.
So with iridology, they don'tlook at just one thing and say,
(02:42):
oh, you've got it.
No, they do look at a varietyof things, and that's what my
appointment did.
She looked in my eyes and atthe end, she helped me determine
, based off of this, this andthis is what, what everything is
.
At the end, what it came down to, what it all was stemming from,
(03:02):
was stress and it just, it justdidn't make any sense.
I just I didn't understand howI could be so stressed out,
because I love my kids, myhusband and I were doing great.
We had homeschooling was justfine, and my job was great.
(03:24):
Like I am a massage therapist,I work in a calm room with
soothing music and dimmed lights.
It just it didn't add up to me.
I'm like I don't think it'sstress, I really didn't.
But then I took a moment and Ithought about it and I'm like
well, maybe you know, maybethat's true.
So a little bit of a backstoryBack in 2020, my family and I
(03:49):
moved from South Dakota down toArkansas and I didn't know
anybody.
I didn't have a single friendthat I knew down there and I was
starting a new business.
Well, it wasn't a new business.
I had been practicing massagetherapy for many years before
that, but it was a new businessin a new business.
Well, it wasn't a new business.
I had been practicing massagetherapy for many years before
that, but it was a new businessin a different state and states,
(04:11):
away from other people that Iknew.
So that was stressful, but Ienjoyed it.
My husband he was also startinghis own business, plus we
homeschooled.
I was with a variety ofbusiness groups and I had my
friends.
That eventually made.
But, needless to say, lookingback, I was busy, I was
(04:31):
consistently busy and I triedshoving all the things that I
loved in one day.
It was that I enjoyed all thethings that I was doing.
So it wasn't just one thing, oreven two things, that was
impacting my daily stress level.
(04:52):
It was a variety of things Withthat.
Because I was crammingeverything into one day, sleep
took a backseat.
It just wasn't a priority ofmine because I thought, well,
I'm fine, I'm functioning, I'mdoing okay, I'm happy and I feel
like, because I could dosomething, I did do it because
(05:16):
nothing was holding me back.
So it just it took its toll outof the time of the amount of
sleep I took.
Now, looking back, I had what'scalled revenge, bedtime
procrastination, and I feel likethis happens to a lot of moms,
especially because we are doingso many different things and we
(05:40):
get used to not having enoughsleep and still kind of
functioning and I do say kind offunctioning because we can do
better.
But I was a classic example ofrevenge bedtime, procrastination
.
And here are just those, justso that you can know about them.
It's staying up late doingthings that aren't urgent.
It's feeling a burst of energyor freedom once everybody else
(06:04):
is asleep, and regretting it inthe next morning, but doing it
again that very same night andthen telling myself it's just
one more hour or that I deservedthis quiet time and that I was
going to use it.
So that is the basic examplesof revenge bedtime, because I
(06:30):
was reclaiming that timethroughout the day, that I
didn't have time to pause and Ifelt like that time was stolen
from me during the day by eitherlike work or caregiving or just
the nonstop demands.
It just built up and I wouldthink.
I know I should sleep.
But this is my time, this is mytime to be alone and have the
(06:53):
peace or whatever I want to do.
So I would, I would scroll, Iwould watch TV or a movie and I
would just zone out.
For no reason, I would just sitthere and just enjoy that quiet
time at the expense of sleep.
And that, I think, was mybiggest stressor, because my
(07:16):
body didn't have time torejuvenate, it didn't have time
to process what had been goingon the day before and it would
just build up, build up, buildup, build up.
So I felt, quote, unquote, fine, but internally my body was
going like you need to rest.
But I would just push throughbecause I could and I thought,
because I could, I was fine.
(07:37):
Now let's jump to Thanksgivingof 2022.
This is when I had my firstgallbladder attack.
From what I believe was agallbladder attack, it yeah, it
was Thanksgiving.
I had made all of thisdelicious food and I started
eating it, as we do at aThanksgiving, and nope, it did
(08:00):
not stay down.
Nothing stayed down.
So I spent a good chunk of time.
Whenever I ate something, itwould just come right back up,
which was not fun.
I didn't feel well enough toeat anything for about a week.
So, as silly as it sounds, Iate just sauerkraut for almost
(08:21):
an entire week, because that issomething that did settle my
tummy down.
So that's what I just.
I just ate a variety ofsauerkraut for about a week, and
that's just how I survived theday of that attack.
So Thanksgiving day, I was justin a lot of pain and nothing
subsided it.
It was.
I took a hot bath.
(08:44):
I had a heating pack on me.
I stayed hydrated as well as Icould with water, but it just it
took a lot.
It took all day.
It took all day because we hadour Thanksgiving meal more of
around you know, like that 1112time, so it took all day.
It took all day because we hadour Thanksgiving meal more of
around you know, like that 11,12 time.
So it took the rest of the dayof me just feeling icky and
(09:05):
awful and it was just.
It was a terrible feeling, butI didn't.
You know, that's just.
I'm like, well, here I go, I'mjust going to go through this.
But because I realized that someof those foods would make me
vomit, I started looking intofoods that would make me feel
better, which is how I foundsauerkraut, and there were just
(09:27):
there were some that just didn'tmake sense to me because even
if they were nutrient dense,that didn't necessarily mean
that it would stay down and Iwas no longer able to eat some
foods that I would have often.
So, for example, there's apowder called butterfly pea
(09:49):
flower powder.
That's a tough word to say, butit is something that I would
make in my drinks because itmakes a really pretty blue drink
and it helps your hair and yournails and all that good stuff.
That was a triggering food.
Couldn't have it.
It was just the end of it.
I couldn't have chicken, orsometimes it was beef.
(10:09):
It really just it had no rhymeor reason and it was really
really frustrating.
So I'm like, okay, stress, wegot to get this down Because
remember the, the iridologyappointment told me, hey, you're
stressed out.
And I'm like, am I?
And then boom, bladder attack,gallbladder attack.
So like, okay, yes, there issomething to this.
So I started doing more.
(10:30):
I started getting more massagesfor myself, I started
rebounding to help withlymphatic drainage, and
rebounding is just a little minitrampoline.
I just started doing thatthroughout the day and then I
also started doing acupuncture.
That really did help.
That.
That helped get a lot of thingsworking better.
(10:56):
And going back to the food, Ialso looked into herbs.
I love herbs.
I think they're super flavorfuland nutrient dense in ways that
we don't necessarily get fromsupplements, in my opinion.
So that was startedincorporating more herbs, and my
son also likes herbs.
(11:17):
And there was this day where wegot a Chinese herb book and in
that book there were just liketwo pages, two or three pages
about the Chinese medicine formof helping people stay healthy
and I was like that's reallyinteresting Cause.
(11:37):
Then I started going into a deepdive of Chinese medicine.
I started making and so manyconnections it was really fun to
see because I was like, okay,because I work with so many
people, they tell me you knowall the things that are ailments
or that are hindering theirhealth.
A lot of the times the doctorsare like, nope, there's no
(11:59):
connection.
And with Chinese medicine I wasthinking of people that I was
like, oh, my goodness, thiswould make sense and this would
make sense and that makes sense.
And it's just started all justforming in my head.
I'm like, okay, this one seemssolid.
It's not talked about a lot, orat least in my circle, but it
really does seem to have theanswers on how to help people
(12:23):
feel better.
So I'm like, okay, we're goingto do that.
So I started including somemore of their herbs and again,
the Chinese also supportacupuncture and massage.
So I was like, yay, win, I'malready doing that.
And I started sometimes I forgetwhen I started doing something,
when, because again, it wasjust over a year and a half, two
(12:45):
years, of figuring all this outover a year and a half two
years of figuring all this out.
So there was a time where Istarted using castor oil packs
and I would just wear thatovernight.
But when I started usingessential oils to help certain
organs in myself, based off ofmy acupuncture readings or how I
(13:06):
was feeling, then I would usecertain essential oils on my
castor oil packs and that wasgreat.
I really did like that and Istill do.
Whenever I use the castor oilpacks with the essential oils, I
wear it overnight and I wake upin the morning feeling so good
(13:26):
and where I can visually seeinflammation leaving my body
Like if I knew that a certainarea was inflamed.
It was so much softer that nextmorning I'm like okay, that
works too, let's keep doing that.
So I was trying to incorporatethe Chinese medicine protocols
(13:47):
acupuncture massage but a bigone was again trying to fix my
sleep patterns, cause againremember before I had that
procrastination of going to bed.
So I'm like okay, I really knowI need to sleep and I didn't
want to.
I wanted to throw a fit like athree-year-old.
(14:09):
I just didn't want to go to bed.
I just it wasn't something Idesired.
But I'm like, okay, how can Ihelp myself prepare for bedtime?
As I read I really read that alot of morning sun helps change
your circadian rhythm to whereyou want to go to bed at the
appropriate times.
(14:29):
So I tried it and it worked forme.
It really did.
And I started to incorporatewaking up I don't know 15
minutes earlier, just so I couldgo outside and soak up the
morning sun, and I really didenjoy it, and I still do.
It is a great practice for me.
Sometimes my littlest kiddowill come out with me and we'll
(14:52):
just have our talk time.
I make a note not to bring outmy phone and that I just listen
to the birds and soak up thatsun on my warm face.
And it warms my face, I shouldsay.
And I just I just take momentsto be present in that morning
and I found it's a great way tostart a day.
(15:13):
It really does.
And guess what?
By the end of the night I wasfalling asleep in my chair.
That first week that I startedincorporating morning sun, it
really did work on my body.
I was going to bed, naturally,just I don't know, it was like
1030, 11 o'clock.
At the beginning it was sowonderful because I didn't have
(15:39):
that temper tantrum because Iwas already falling asleep.
Now there were also times whereI would incorporate certain
teas to help calm nerves down sothat I would get ready for bed.
It became part of my nighttimeroutine to tell my brain hey,
it's time we're doing ourbedtime routine, it's time to
(15:59):
sleep.
So a vagus nerve reset that Ilike to incorporate is gargling
After I brush my teeth, I garglesalt water and that helps
vibrate the vagus nerve to say,hey, it's safe enough to calm
down Again.
Just little, simple, simplethings.
And it might sound overwhelmingof all these things that I do,
(16:20):
but it's again, it's just spreadthroughout this this.
You know almost two yearstimeline that I started
implementing all these thingsand you just choose what you
want to start with.
You can just practice, like I'mgoing to choose this, see how
it goes, see how my body feelswith it, and decide if I want to
incorporate it into my dailylife, and that's all it is.
(16:42):
It's very simple, it's easy.
Is it a little work?
Yeah, at the beginning it isbecause you're discovering who
you are, and it's so much funwhen you start realizing what
your body likes and what youenjoy.
It's like discovering a pieceof yourself that you didn't know
was there and I loved it.
(17:04):
It starts becoming addicting tofiguring out what your body
likes and what it doesn't, andbecause of it, now I am able to
be more sensitive to when mybody gets overloaded with stress
, which is great.
You want to be able to recognizewhen your body is like oh, is
(17:25):
this just becoming too much?
You need to be able torecognize that, to say, okay,
how can I take care of my bodytoday so that I start feeling
better, so that the bad habitsdon't creep in?
We want to keep all the goodhabits, and paying attention to
how we feel is one way, how wecan keep those good habits going
(17:46):
.
And that's when I startedlooking into the vagus nerve.
I'm like holy cow.
There's a nerve that we canimpact again pain-free, easy,
super fast.
That keeps our body healthyfrom stress.
It keeps the anxiety away.
It makes me feel physicallybetter, emotionally better, I
(18:07):
can think clearer.
It was just like holy cow.
This is such a key to overallwellbeing and it's so, so simple
.
It's so simple.
So I'm like people need to knowabout this, because I couldn't
believe how fast stress snuck upon me Because, again, I liked
(18:28):
all my stress.
That wasn't the problem.
The problem was that I liked itand now I had to become
sensitive so that I cancounteract it, because stress is
always going to happen.
We are living, so there's goingto be good days, there's going
to be bad days, and we need tobe able to counteract that,
(18:49):
because stress should notcompromise our health.
It is a factor of life, but itshould not take our life, and
that is what I want to share.
I want to share it because eventhe ones who look like they've
got it all under control, like Ithought, I thought I had it all
under control, but I wasquietly burning out and it
(19:10):
started affecting me until Icouldn't avoid it any longer.
So that is what I wanted toshare with you is this is just
my journey.
It's going to be changingthroughout, how my body changes
and life.
One day my kids won't, you knowthey'll become adults and life
(19:32):
will change again and I'll beable to readjust because I'll
know what my body likes, andthat's all it is.
It's learning how to supportyourself.
Well, thank you for spendingyour time with me.
It's learning how to supportyourself.
Well, thank you for spendingyour time with me.
Breathe and start a habit thatmakes you feel better tomorrow.
So anything that makes iteasier so that you can have.
Thank you for spending yourtime with me.
(19:53):
Breathe and start a habit thatmakes tomorrow easier.
Thanks for listening to.
It Starts at Vagus.
New episodes are released everyTuesday.
If you liked this episode, goahead and give it a subscribe
button so that you getnotifications and don't miss out
on what's coming next.
If you'd like a step-by-stepvideo on how to do a pain-free
(20:17):
and easy vagus nerve exercise,grab my free vagus nerve reset
video in the show notes.
It's what I do when I feel likeI just not like myself.
Until next time, remember,wellness starts at vagus.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.