The Vagus nerve, in short 'Vagus', is a nerve that plays a major role in how your body relaxes and releases stress. It runs from your head through your neck to heart, lungs and abdomen and controls your heartbeat, breathing and digestion, among other things. If the vagus works well, your body can easily switch between being active and relaxing.
With stress, the vagus is less able to do its job, so you stay tense, sleep worse or get bothered by your stomach. So it's nice to give that vagus some extra attention.
You may have seen it pass by on social media: the vagus and relaxation. Yes, it's a trend, but massage is more than a hype. Massage can really influence your vagus and helps your body to become calmer.
Massage stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, the Vagus of which is an important part. Through touch and soft pressure on, for example, neck, shoulders and face, your body starts to produce fewer stress hormones, your heartbeat will fall and you will get into relaxation more easily.
A relaxation massage is ideal, but also targeted attention to neck and neck stimulates the vagus. Massaging deeper is often not necessary; It is precisely the soft touch that does its job.
There is evidence that massage activates the parasympathetic system, and that this indirectly stimulates your vagus. This way your heart rate drops and you get less stressed. Massage does not immediately activate the vagus as special medical devices do, but works through the entire relaxation system of your body.
In short: massage is not a magical button, but a nice, natural way to find peace, to let go of stress and support your vagus.
Do you really want to relax? Come by for a massage at Manibus massage practice and feel the difference.
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Scientific sources:
1. Field, T. (2014). *Massage Therapy Research Review*. Complementary therapies in Clinical Practice, 20 (4), 224–229.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2014.07.002
2. Breit, S., et al. (2018). *Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain - Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders*. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 44.
Https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018,00044
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