The Vagus Nerve Part 1: Massage and the Vagus Nerve – A Surprising Connection

1. Every Day’s a Learning Day

As a massage therapist with 35 years of experience and more than 50,000 hours of hands-on treatments, you might be fooled into thinking that there cannot be much more to know about the world of massage, but nothing could be further from the truth.

I have spent my entire career in massage therapy trying to understand the basics of musculoskeletal anatomy. I have always believed that if you do not know where a muscle, ligament, or tendon originates and where it attaches, then how can you effectively treat it? Still, it’s not an easy task, given that we have approximately 900 ligaments, 600 skeletal muscles, 360 joints, and 208 bones, depending on how you count them.

2. What Makes the Body Work?

It does get a little more complex than that, as each muscle has an origin (where the muscle comes from) and an insertion (where the muscle goes to), as well as an agonist (a muscle that assists another), an antagonist (a muscle that opposes another), and a nerve innervation, which tells a muscle what to do. It all starts to become complicated!

Not that I am complaining, I love providing my clients with explanations about their pain and discomfort, and what we can do to help them, based on my knowledge of the above.

3. An Unexpected Epiphany

While speaking with a client, I was introduced to a book called *The Great Nerve* by Dr. Kevin J. Tracey. This book, which I now own, explains the history and medical insights related to the Vagus nerve. And I experienced what I can only describe as an epiphany —a sudden and striking realisation of how massage affects the Vagus nerve.

4. The Autonomic Nervous System Explained

You may recall that we have both a sympathetic and a parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for preparing the body for intense physical activity or “fight or flight” situations. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for rest, recuperation, and recovery. Both are part of your autonomic nervous system, and both work without any conscious input from you.

When one is operating, the other is not. The problem is that we spend far too much time with the sympathetic nervous system fully engaged and not enough time with it disengaged. We know that the situation is collectively referred to as stress, and in today’s society, it is increasing at an exponential rate.

5. Can You Really Switch on Calm?

My epiphany came when I understood that although you have no direct control over your sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous systems, your autonomic nervous system controls both. You can, however, learn to control and activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which will automatically shift you away from the fight-or-flight state.

6. Test this version for yourself

Try this elementary version for yourself.. The easiest version requires you to sit or stand still, close your eyes, and take six to eight deep breaths. You will activate your parasympathetic nervous system and begin to calm down.

I had never really understood why people in the know often say, “Calm down and take a few deep breaths” when trying to help those in distress. That very sage advice is well-founded in science.

7. Why This Matters for Massage

A relaxing massage also stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing the body to heal and calm down, providing a fantastic, drug-free solution to relaxation.

I hope to provide you with more fascinating facts about your Vagus nerve and, in particular, why you should know about how to develop better Vagus health in another article to follow this.

Take care,
John – Clinic Lead at Massage Matters