Good morning lovebug,

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Before you read the rest of this short email, take a quick minute assessment of yourself...

Is your jaw clenched? Are your shoulders raised? Are you sitting up straight or slouched? Do you feel foggy or energized? Is your back feeling tight or loose?

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Take a quick little assessment and then if you're feeling more "off" than you realized take another minute to do a quick deep breath and release that built up bullsh*t :)

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In today's email, I'm going to give you a few more helpful tips to release the B.S. and stimulate some good ass digestion.

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Have you ever heard of the vagus nerve?

I never had until I went back to school to learn more about gut health but I was shocked no one ever shared about this hidden gem inside our body that controls so much.

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The vagus nerve is a major part of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) - it sends the information back and forth between the gut and the brain. The PNS is what helps support "rest and digest" which we talk about often here at NSSC.

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The vagus nerve is the little guy that's telling your gut to have an IBS attack when your stressed... so he either works for you or against you.

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But he's a friend we want on our side because he can help with so much ("he" being the vagus nerve - don't know why I gave him a gender 🤷🏼‍♀️) like;

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Keeping our bowel movements regular...

Lowering our blood pressure...

Increasing acidity and gastric juices... (sounds bad but is actually a good thing!)

Can help with anxiety and depression...

Allows for proper absorption of nutrients...

Helps to regulate our moods...

Lowers inflammation...

Improve heart rate...

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I shared a post on Instagram from @balancemethod that talked more about this and she even has a gut health breathwork that sounds amazing - so worth checking that out!

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Natural simple ways to stimulate the vagus nerve include;

Breathwork... (exhaling longer than you inhale and slow belly breaths i.e. 4-7-8 breathing technique)

Adding seafood to your diet... (EPA & DHA found in seafood and fish oil stimulate the vagus nerve to support heart rate)

Humming & Singing... (no wonder you feel so good after belting your favorite song in the car)

Accupuncture...

Splashing cold water on your face or taking cold shower...

Massaging the vagus nerve... (can look up on youtube how to do this)

Chewing gum...

Laughing...

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When you increase your vagal tone you are decreasing your risk of; Anxiety, depression, aggression, brain fog, chronic inflammation, fatigue, heartburn, IBS, constipation and heart rate issues.

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Pretty cool, right?

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Take a second to practice a vagus nerve stimulation technique from the list above and take note of how you feel afterwards! *hit reply* and let me know how it went or what you thought!

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xx,

Ashleen

P.S. Want more strategies that help you to create a sustainable gut healing lifestyle so you can live energetically and anxious free? Get yourself on the waitlist for the Gut Calm Blueprint, it's everything you need to ditch the bloat, negative thoughts and IBS symptoms. Join the waitlist here and get first dibs on enrolling during the next round of GCB.

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