Calm is a Superpower

This is such a highly emotional time, with many people experiencing strong emotions such as fear, sadness, and anger.

Heart centered women with high empathy tend to feel emotions deeply, both our own and those of everyone around us and in the larger society.

Being able to calm ourselves and stay emotionally balanced supports our immune systems and helps us think clearly, both of which are so important right now.

When we are calm and clear minded, we also are more able to help our loved ones and communities.

There are many ways to help calm our nervous system such as connecting with nature (even if it’s just our pets or a bit of nature on our daily walk), social connection, and doing things that lift our spirits and comfort us.

We also can increase our sense of calm by doing things to intentionally activate our vagus nerve, which runs from our brain to our heart, lungs, stomach, and other vital organs.

Here’s a description of the role of the vagus nerve in helping us stay calm:

The vagus nerve is essentially the queen of the parasympathetic nervous system — a.k.a. the “rest and digest,” or the “chill out” one — so the more we do things that “stimulate” or activate it, like deep breathing, the more we banish the effects of the sympathetic nervous system — a.k.a. the “fight or flight,” or the “do something!” stress-releasing adrenaline/cortisol one.” (https://www.thecut.com/2019/05/i-now-suspect-the-vagus-nerve-is-the-key-to-well-being.html)

Research has shown that we can activate the vagus nerve and thereby increase our sense of calm by a wide variety of activities including deep breathing, singing, humming, yoga, acupuncture, splashing our face with cold water, and laughter.

Which of these sounds easiest/most fun? Try it today and see how you feel.

If you’re interested in learning more, there are many articles about the vagus nerve online, as well as several books. More is being discovered about this vital part of our physiology all the time.

As we navigate these challenging times, whatever we can do to increase our emotional balance will help us ride the waves of change rather than be swamped by them.

Which vagus nerve activation technique are you going to try? Email me at liz@happybrainlife.com and let me know.

Please take good care of your precious self. Our world needs you!

Love,

Liz