Essential oils help bring energy to specific organ systems and cells to temporarily stimulate or increase the activity of the organ system.
For example, topically applied essential oils can help stimulate your vagus nerve and reboot your system, manually overriding impaired function and resetting the autonomic nervous system.
The fat-soluble essential oils are able to pass through your skin to directly and immediately access your vagus nerve in a way that other supplements or remedies cannot.
Your vagus nerve is the most influential nerve in your parasympathetic nervous system. It functions like your body’s natural reset button.
Regulating Your Nervous System
Nervous system regulation is the key to improving brain function and your physical and emotional health.
You simply CANNOT properly address health issues—like gut, immune system, or brain disorders— WITHOUT regulating your nervous system!
Your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) runs all of the involuntary mechanisms in your body that keep you healthy, including your heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, respiration, detoxification, immune function and ability to calm inflammation.
Just as your car has a gas pedal and brakes, your nervous system has two speeds:
• Sympathetic: Serves as the “gas pedal” to mobilize your body and brain into your “fight or flight”, helping you accelerate and avoid danger or provides a burst of energy to combat perceived dangers
• Parasympathetic: Serves as the “brake pedal” that initiates a “rest-digest-and-heal” relaxation response which calms you and allows for recovery and repair after the danger has passed.
The gearshift between these two states is your vagus nerve.
It facilitates the state of balance between your sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, serving as the on-off switch between the two.
These two-speed states cannot exist at the same time, so when one fires, it inhibits the other. There is a constant calibration between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic systems with one or the other playing a more active role at any given time. Together they ensure that we have enough resources, in the right places, at the right time.
All processes of your healing and health maintenance — including digestion, detoxification, immune activities, tissue regeneration, and being aroused — happen in the healing parasympathetic state.
Almost all disease and dysfunction result from not being able to drop into the Parasympathetic state.
Vagus Nerve
Your vagus nerve is the primary channel of communication between your brain and your body.
Derived from the Latin word vagus, which means “wandering,” your vagus nerve wanders through the body, connecting your brain with almost every organ.
It facilitates two-way communication—carrying messages from your gut, heart, immune system, and other major organs to your brain. In response to these incoming messages, your brain releases the appropriate chemical messengers, like hormones and neurotransmitters, that regulate and control all of the unconscious processes in your body, including your heart rate, digestion, appetite, mood, pain threshold, sleep, memory, cognitive function, and immune response.
When your vagus nerve is working optimally, you are likely to recover more quickly after stress, injury, or illness.
If your vagus nerve does not properly communicate these signals, or if the signals misfire, your body cannot stay in a state of balance. You may experience feelings of pain, fatigue, brain fog, stress, anxiety, or depression, as well as a number of neurological and even autoimmune issues
The measure of vagus nerve health is vagal tone.
The healthy functioning of your vagus nerve promotes the healthy functioning of the organs, including:
• brain, helping to control anxiety and relieve depression.
• tongue, helping to improve taste and saliva production, swallowing, and speech.
• ears, helping to ease tinnitus.
• eyes, helping the pupils shrink to improve focus and make eye contact.
• stomach, helping to stimulate stomach acid for healthy digestion.
• intestines, allowing for nutrient absorption and triggering the muscle contractions to allow food and waste to move through the digestive tract.
• lungs, allowing airways to expand and contract.
• pancreas, triggering the production and release of enzymes that aid in digestion.
• liver, triggering detoxification and supporting blood sugar functions.
• gallbladder, triggering the release of bile that rids the body of toxins and breaks down fat (critical for most paleo and keto diets).
• heart, helping to control heart rate and blood pressure.
• spleen, inhibiting inflammation by calming the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (substances secreted by inflammatory cells that affect other cells).
• bladder, allowing for bladder retention to prevent frequent urination.
• reproductive organs and genitals, supporting fertility and sexual arousal.
• immune system, regulating inflammation, switching off the production of proteins that fuel the inflammatory immune response.
Promoting Healthy Vagal Tone
The tone of your vagus nerve is significant to the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Vagal tone is measured through changes in heart rate that occur with the breath, called heart rate variability (HRV). Healthy vagal tone involves a slight increase in heart rate when you inhale and a decrease in heart rate when you exhale.
The higher your vagal tone, the greater the difference between your inhalation heart-rate and your exhalation heart-rate. The higher the tone, the more efficient you are at activating your parasympathetic nervous system.
Strong vagal tone means that signals from your brain and body are better received, allowing you to relax and recover more quickly. This state correlates with greater resilience to stress, shorter recovery times, and better mental and emotional health, including better concentration, memory, and mood.
A strong vagal tone enables your body to better regulate blood glucose levels, calm inflammation, and prevent brain degeneration.
Low vagal tone means this regulation is less effective—there is less balance and less resilience—and this can lead to excessive inflammation and disease.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
Stimulating the vagus nerve improves vagal tone.
Stimulating the vagus nerve stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turns reduces our neurophysiological experience of stress. It reduces our heart rate and blood pressure. It influences the limbic system in our brain, where emotions are processed. It stimulates digestion and creates an increased feeling of well-being.
You might think of it like muscle tone. If you don’t use your muscle, it atrophies. Stress, toxins, and trauma keep your vagal switch stuck in the off mode.
A key strategy for toning your vagus nerve is to stimulate it. Stimulation activates communication between your body and your brain that triggers the release of different chemical messengers, like neurotransmitters, which improve communication between all the organ systems connected to your vagus nerve.
Essential Oils for Vagus Nerve Stimulation
Essential Oils, like Parasympathetic blend, can be used to stimulate the vagus nerve.
Your vagus nerve travels down your neck near the carotid artery and jugular vein. Neurologists in the nineteenth century noticed that applying pressure on the carotid artery in the neck could stop seizures. This prompted significant research trials, resulting in the development of a battery-powered device, similar to a pacemaker, that is surgically implanted under the skin to stimulate the vagus nerve which has been approved by the FDA for treatment of epilepsy, migraines and depression.
Acupuncture points behind the ear and around the neck are the most effective points for stimulating the vagus nerve. A neural anatomy study on acupuncture points showed the vagus nerve is most accessible for stimulation via the lower half of the back of the ear. Research on acupuncture and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has found that acupuncture points produce clinical benefits through the stimulation of the vagus nerve and/or its branches in the head and neck region that are anatomically proximate to vagus nerve pathways, where the VNS electrode is surgically implanted.
Topically applying stimulatory essential oils behind the earlobe on the mastoid bone is an incredibly easy, natural, non-invasive remedy
for accessing and stimulating the vagus nerve. In his book Activate Your Vagus Nerve, Dr. Navaz Habib details how the skin around your ear can be stimulated to allow optimal signaling to your body and brain. This is the most accessible point on the skin to stimulate your vagus nerve.
Essential oils have both olfactory (smell) and transdermal (topical application) qualities. For example, inhaling essential oils such as lavender or bergamot has been shown to improve HRV, indicating the strengthening of vagal tone.
What’s more, topically applied essential oils can cross the bloodbrain barrier to stimulate communication of the vagus nerve and improve cognition. You can also activate any of the parts of the body that are enervated by the vagus nerve, including your throat, facial muscles, heart, lungs, and gallbladder. Any practices that stimulate the actions of these areas of the body can influence the functioning of the vagus nerve through the mind-body feedback loop. For example, the vagus nerve runs through the diaphragm and is stimulated with every inhale and exhale.
What Can Compromise Vagus Nerve Function?
Any damage or congestion in your vagus nerve can both compromise communication between the brain and the organs and impede drainage of toxins from the brain.
Such damage or congestion will simultaneously affect all downstream functions of various systems in your body.
This dysfunction, which is also called toxicity, may be the most common undiagnosed issue with chronic illness. Clinicians consistently find compromised vagus nerve function in as many as 95 percent of their chronically ill patients.
A poorly functioning vagus nerve does not activate the parasympathetic nervous system to calm chronic inflammation.
Lymph and Vagus Nerve
Lymph congestion impedes vagus nerve signaling and communication between the body and the brain.
Toxins are drained from the brain down the lymph channels on the side on the neck.
If lymph flow is congested, these toxins — including environmental toxins, heavy metals, infections or pathogens — can linger near the vagus nerve and infect or poison the nerve, impacting the whole enteric nervous system.
Heavy metals and sulfur toxins have a high affinity to nerves and can contaminate the vagus nerve. Because of the immense networking of sensory nerves and the nerves of the autonomic nervous system, toxins can be quickly absorbed in massive amounts.
If congested lymph blocks vagus nerve signaling, your organs cannot get what they need from your brain, and your brain cannot get what it needs from your organs, contributing to symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, and physical pain.
Vagus Nerve Toxicity Impedes Health
A toxic vagus nerve can impede all downstream function of the digestive system, leading to malabsorption, constipation or leaky gut. Malabsorption can then contribute to the accumulation of large-molecular matter in the lymph which can further trigger allergic immune responses and intolerances. As the vagus nerve controls moltity in the digestive process, a toxic vagus nerve can lead to poor or misregulated intestinal motility, contributing not only to constipation, but also to imbalances in the gut microbiome, that can contribute to SIBO, IBS and candida overgrowth.
Similarly, since the vagus nerve signals the release of acetylcholine to slow down heart rate, a toxic vagus nerve can lead to cardiac issues. Root canals are often correlated with heart attacks for this very reason. The communication from the gut to the nervous system and the brain is also compromised, impairing the immune system and contributing to autoimmune reactions.
Your vagus nerve serves as the primary communicator between your brain, cardio-vascular, immune, respiratory, endocrine and digestive systems, conveying information to the major organs in your body including your stomach, gut, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, lungs, throat, and heart.
As such, your Vagus Nerve controls nearly every major function in the body – including hormones, digestion, sleep, energy, stress, relaxation, sexual function, heart rate and blood pressure. Most importantly, it activates the parasympathetic “rest and digest” branch of your nervous system and calms your sympathetic “fight or flight” response to danger.
Any interference in the vagus nerve’s ability to communicate or drop into the healing parasympathetic state — from infection, inflammation, physical compression or psychological stress — can contribute to physical and mental health consequences that present as vagus nerve dysfunction.
How to Detoxify the Vagus Nerve
Stimulating the vagus nerve with topically applied essential oils (behind the ear lobe on the mastoid bone) can help manually override impaired function. The lipid soluable essential oils are able to directly and immediately access the nerve in a way that other supplements or remedies cannot. The following essential oil blends are best considered to support vagus nerve toxicity.
Parasympathetic™
To stimulate the vagus nerve and trigger the parasympathetic response, topically apply Parasympathetic™ blend on the vagal nerve behind the earlobe on the neck can help manually override the infection and help reset the autonomic nervous system.
Facilitating an increase of the activity of the vagus nerve and the corresponding neurotransmitters and hormones help return the body to balance. When these systems are working optimally, the body will likely start to move and release heavy metals and toxins stored in the nerve, so it is important to support the detoxification pathways below:
Lymph™
The lymphatic system needs to be functioning optimally in order for toxins to be removed from the neck and the brain. If you think of the body like a hydraulics system where congested tissue downstream prevents optimal flow upstream, congested lymphatic vessels in the neck will impede drainage of toxins from the brain. To enhance lymphatic flow and drainage, generously apply Lymph™ around the sides of the neck to relieve congestion, improve drainage and reduce brain inflammation.
Role of Fascia in Vagus Nerve Dysfunction
Fascia is the largest sensory organ in your body as it houses 250 million nerve endings, with 3 times as many sensory neurons than motor neurons.
As such, fascia serves a key role in communicating information that’s happening in your body to your brain. The vagus nerve helps communicate changes in the fascia to your brain. Both fascia and the vagus nerve are impacted by danger and trauma.
When you experienced a physical injury or emotional trauma, you may go into shock which restricts movement — including movement in the tissues of the fascia — to ensure your survival.
Fascia can become tough and plastic-like or sticky in response to stress, causing the sheath around nerves to become taut and less resilient or causing the fascial sheath surrounding nerves to stick to nearby structures such as muscle tissue, bone, joints and skin. The role of fascia as it wraps nerves is to provide a fluid, moveable, and protective shield around the nerves. It is the fascial coat around the nerves that allows nerves to be able to slide as the body moves.
Since the vagus nerve is enclosed in a protective coat of fascia and is therefore subject to adhesions that may twist and compress the fascia surrounding the vagus nerve and in turn impact and inhibit the normal movement of the nerve and interfere with the healthy function of the nerve.
Instead of being able to expand and contract, your fascia and vagus nerve can shift into either freeze (tonic immobility) or faint (collapsed immobility) responses.
If this trauma response doesn’t resolve you can feel stuck in having too much tone in the body or too little. You may lose connection to your bodily sensations, making you more likely to feel disconnected or even dissociated.
Introducing the Vagus Nerve Kit
Releasing the vagus nerve and fascia can support physical and emotional healing by helping to restore your relationship to your body.
The Vagus Nerve Kit™ — compromised of Parasympathetic®, Lymph™ and Fascia Release™ — helps gently release fascia adhesions that compromise vagus nerve function.
Parasympathetic® to Support Healthy Vagus Nerve
Your vagus nerve starts at the base of the brain and travel down the neck on both sides of the body. Infections in that vicinity — like heavy metals, pathogens, infections, viruses or environmental toxins that drain from the mouth along your trigeminal nerve and intersect with the vagus nerve in the neck — can contribute to congestion in the vagus nerve.
Topically applying Parasympathetic® blend on the vagal nerve behind the on the neck can help clear congestion for optimal drainage from the brain.
READ THIS NEXT: Stimulate the Vagus Neve with Essential Oils
Lymph™ to Improve Lymphatic Flow
Your lymphatic system works in concert with your fascia alongside your vagus nerve. If there is congestion in the lymphatic system in the neck or downstream in the body, it will impact the fascia and vagus nerve. If you think of the body like a hydraulics system where congested tissue downstream prevents optimal flow upstream, congested lymphatic vessels in the neck will impede drainage of toxins from the brain.
Unfortunately, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump and lymphatic fluid can accumulate and stagnate (learn more about the Lymphatic System here). This stagnation can be due to an overload of acidity, animal protein, gluten, infection, toxins or adhesions of the connective tissue, such as scars. To enhance lymphatic flow and drainage, generously apply Lymph™ around the sides of the neck to relieve congestion, improve drainage and reduce brain inflammation.
READ THIS NEXT: Why Brain Detoxification Fails
Fascia Release™ to Support Vagus Nerve Health
The Fascia Release™ blend helps support lymph drainage by helping to stimulate the lymphatic system, release adhesions and fascial restriction, increase circulation, decrease swelling in the tissue. By supporting the fluid dynamics of the fascial system, this blend may help ease a congested lymphatic system and decrease swelling.
As you know, fascia lies just below the skin so topically applying essential oils onto the skin allows for easy and immediate access to the fascia. The skin is your largest organ and is relatively permeable to fat-soluble substances like essential oils which easily penetrate layers of restricted fascia, creating warmth to break up congestion, increasing circulation, lymphatic drainage and mobilizing adhered tissue.
The essential oils in the Fascia Release™ blend are uniquely formulated to unravel deeply held tensions, constrictions and energetic blockages in your tissues to reduce pain, improve blood and lymphatic circulation and release fear, repressed emotions, and tension held in the body (organs, muscles, tendons, bones and joints) or the mind.
To release fascia and support vagus nerve health, liberally apply Fascia Release™ around the jaw/neck/face, the shoulders/heart, the diaphragm/lungs, the stomach/ gut, low back /hips, the ankles, or anywhere that tension presents.
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activating your parasympathetic nervous system to TURN ON your body’s ability to heal!
Your vagus nerve serves as the “on/off” switch to activate your parasympathetic nervous system.
As you may know, your vagus nerve is a sensory nerve that starts at the base of the brain and travels down both sides of your neck through your stomach and intestines, enervating your heart and lungs, and connecting your throat, neck, ear and facial muscles.
The parasympathetic state activates your ability to heal. It brings your nervous system into balance and affects EVERY aspect of your well-being!
Simply put: you cannot heal outside of the parasympathetic state. You should optimally be in a parasympathetic state 80 percent of the time, but many people struggle to be in this state at any point during their day. Almost all disease and dysfunction result from not being able to drop into the parasympathetic state.
Once you stimulate the vagus nerve with essential oils to shift into the parasympathetic state, your body shifts into balance, improving many functions from digestion to cognition.
