WANDERING TOWARDS FLOW
Flow state can be achieved when balance between the parasympathetic nervous system (our rest and digest, connect and protect, tend and befriend instincts)and the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight instinct or in some cases of what is called “hysterical strength” lifting cars off people and other superhuman feats) are in balance. Adrenaline is like a gas pedal revving our engine up and acetylcholine, GABA, serotonin, and oxytocin are brakes slowing us down, flow is in between where our pursuits feel like we are on a smooth ride down a beautiful country road with scenery delighting us as we gaze in awe at the magnificence of nature. Flow is when we do our tasks with relaxed awareness as if we were a horse cantering along or a dolphin arcing out of the water. Whatever our task, hobby, job, or sport we are immersed, absorbed in it and at one with the activity losing ourselves in it to the point time passes without notice because we are in the now.
{Stimulating your vagal response just the right amount can shift you to flow but regular practice helps.}
In the morning to prep for potential flow first ramp up a sleepy body and shake off sluggish feelings represented by the blue “Apathy” in the lower left of the above slide) get a little adrenaline energy by circuit training, HIIT or a run followed by weightlifting or body weight exercise then bring the energy down by stimulating the vagus nerve with yoga and alternate nostril breathing or bramari breathing. That combination leaves me ready to focus bringing me to the Arousal state- pink triangle. Another super simple breath pattern is a four-count inhale and an eight-count exhale repeated for 10 minutes. All this preps me for flow potential during the day. Even if I don’t reach flow state I still feel better after my fusion workout.
All the above exercises and pranayama( the yogic Sanskrit word for breathing) helps stimulate and tone the vagus nerve. It is a long wandering, multi-branched nerve shown drawn in pen and ink in the first photo of this article, and it is a major player in calming the body down. The vagus nerve is a complex spread of nerves that travels from the rear cranium to the tympanic membrane, the face, the jugular vein and around the larynx, it branches out to the heart and various organs including our stomach which gives us our brain-gut axis and all the way down to the vagina and testicles. I have not even mentioned every organ it touches. Vagrant comes from the Latin word vagus and this long nerve is wandering vagrant meandering around from it’s origin in our brain to our core touching, penetrating, and wrapping like tree roots around organs. This nerve does so much from helping digestion, orgasms, heart rate and overall health.
Otto Loewi discovered the vagus nerve in a dream in 1921 when he woke up at one or two a.m. to immediately experiment on two frog hearts squirting acetylcholine on the vagus nerve attached to one of the hearts and cocaine on the second he observed the heartbeat immediately slowed from acetylcholine and sped up from the cocaine. This proved his theory that nerves communicate through neurochemicals in addition to electricity.
Heart rate is slowed by the vagus nerve naturally releasing acetylcholine from specific actions and activities and so is adrenaline which speeds it up. The signals go back and forth between our brains and organs via the vagus nerve. This dance between the two extremes causes Heart Rate Variability (HRV) which is the fluctuation in beat-to-beat intervals of a human’s heart rate. A healthy heart does not beat like a robotic metronome it is much more nuanced than that and very affected by the chemical soup flowing through our bodies.
Our reactions to our environment can trigger different rhythms. A stronger vagus nerve modulates and regulates those rhythms and in doing so lowers chronic stress levels, improves brain function and memory, raises testosterone levels, lowers cortisol, and gives us better overall health. If we find ourselves in a panicked fight or flight adrenaline rush knowing some quick solutions to stimulate our vagus nerve can help dial it down.
Great spiritual traditions of the world have long ago figured out how to increase vagal tone. As my yoga teacher, Rodney Yee, says “Science catches up to spirituality and yoga.” Thousands of years ago Yoga practitioners discovered many, many breathing patterns that help the vagus nerve in multiple ways: Anuloma Viloma (alternate nostril breathing), Ujjayi (victorious breath),Bhramari -humming bee breath(raises nitric oxide levels), shining skull breath (khapalabhati), and bhastrika breath (bellows breath). There are probably more I don’t know about. Their calming effect helps soothe and prepare the body for meditation.
In the West Benedictine monks got similar effects chanting and singing. These also tone the vagus nerve. Joining a choir could do wonders for your health, not only does singing require a lot of lung work, the voice box vibrates too and the combination of expanding alveoli and vibrations from the larynx send signals to the brain to calm down and say all is well.
More hacks:
1.Dip your face in cold water, take a cold shower or go for a swim.
2. Massage your feet with almond oil with oil of clove and lime essential oils.
3. Eat more slowly and chew thoroughly.
4.Get enough sleep
5. Inhale half as long as you exhale or do box breathing.
6. Watch comedy movies or better yet see live comedians.
7. Gargle with water or salt water.
8. Make sure you are getting enough magnesium and vitamin D.
9. Walk amongst beauty. Parks, art museums, pretty neighborhoods, and arboretums.
10. Eat fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, yogurt and parmesan cheese. The good bacteria will help increase gut health and the vagus nerve will send happy reports to your brain.
11. Do a loving kindness meditation.
12. Get enough sleep!
13. Eat sprouted rice it has GABA.
14. Eat lots of green vegetables for helping peristalsis.
All these hacks will help so much with life. Cortisol levels will retreat, inflammation will reduce or disappear and weight loss will become easier as the brain-gut axis comes into balance. Studies are underway on potential treatments for Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and rheumatoid arthritis by stimulating the vagus nerve. We have this wonderful system for communicating between the brain and the gut without words. Without words we could cure old traumas from hidden memories or pre-verbal times in our lives. If we help our vagal nerve get healthy our whole body will get healthy and our brain too then we can find our groove and FLOW!
