Search Articles
clear search termsThe Parasympathetic Nervous System and the Vagus Nerve: For Practitioners
Hi!
Although you may already be a savvy practitioner, I am certain you will learn something new in this video about The Parasympathetic Nervous System and the Vagus Nerve: For Practitioners. You’ll walk away with pages of notes and practical pearls you can use in your practice right away.
Here are some of the things we’ll be discussing:
- The X-factor for sympathetic/parasympathetic balance – and why it’s unfortunately almost always overlooked!
- Why the PNS and Vagus are even More important for practitioners embrace during the pandemic (and its aftermath). This one is key.
- The What and Why of Vagal Tone. Any why you Really need to Know! Plus the fun, simple hacks anyone can do to improve it.
- Parasympathetic good; Sympathetic bad. Right? Not really. You need to remember this important devil-in-the-detail.
- Surprising measures that can shed light on autonomic nervous system health.
- Easy but oh-so effective hacks for improving autonomic balance.
- How and why this area of physiology is intimately tied to digestion, detoxification, and immunity. Do You know the mechanisms?
- The Biggest practitioner mistakes when talking to patients about stress.
Done-for-you patient handouts that can be helpful in encouraging your patients to explore the effects of stress and making tangible steps in reducing its impact can be found here and here.
Thank you very much for joining in the fun and learning! Please share your thoughts (please be thorough) in the “Ask a Question” area below about what inspired you in this presentation! Include what type of practitioner you are, so that we can all see your unique perspective.
* No need to enter a comment more than once. Comments will not be published instantly; they will first be checked by the moderators before appearing below.
P.S. If you are passionate about transforming healthcare through the power of functional medicine, we encourage you to learn more about our training program here.
To receive clinical tips like this one right to your inbox, click here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Like us on Facebook to stay connected to our rich (free!) content and be notified of our popular, monthly Facebook Lives.
© 2017-2024, The School of Applied Functional Medicine | Company Values | Legal/Privacy | Partners & Affiliates | Contact
web development by: Gordon Multimedia
Everything in this video is so applicable for patients. It seems so elemental but people forget they have control over their breath and body! Those tools for belly breathing, box breathing and counting exhales are simple ways I tell my patients to reduce stress! I love the idea of eating hygiene similar to how people need to be reminded about sleep hygiene! So important! Controlling your thoughts and changing perspective so your body doesn’t always feel like it is fighting to survive! Also liked the break down of the different magnesium supplements! Thank you thank you!
I found it so useful to know the difference between effective gratitude expression vs. one that may not be Parasympathetic Nervous System activating. One that sinks deeper in emotion that provokes that comfy, warm feeling within. That’s really where the magic happens! 🙂 Thank you Tracey, learned so much from this and am excited to make this more of a priority with clients. Can’t wait to share that handout with them!
So much great information…I’m just in awe every time I listen to Tracy! Even with all the big concepts she brought up, I love the simple, but yet impactful, tip on how to write a gratitude journal post that would stimulate the para-sympathetic response.
A great practical roadmap to meet a patient where they are regarding their perspective on their life. I can’t wait to see the tip sheet handout for patients!
my favorite all-time Tracy Facebook Live! I will listen to this one over and over, and will use this in my own life & in my practice.
Could I please get the handout she mentioned? Thank you.
Both are linked in the description of the video and here they are for ease again:
https://schoolafm.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Mindful-Breathing-Client-Handout.pdf
https://schoolafm.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Stress-Matters-Patient-Handout.pdf
Thank you for this very valuable information! I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on discussing stress management with our clients and not leaving this up to a therapist. I also liked the ideas on how to physically stimulate our vagus nerve (through singing, gargling, etc) for those clients who struggle with mindfulness and awareness. I’m excited to have a document to share on the topic. So wonderful of you to offer that! Thank you!
This was my first time to get to be a part of one of the FB discussions. I could not watch it live, but appreciate being able to watch it later. I am a new NP, but was a RN for 20 years. I feel like I learned things that I can work in to caring for my patients that will help them improve their everyday lives. I am excited to get the sheet you all have that I can hand out. So many people are living stressed out lives & this made so much sense how it is affecting their health. Thank you for the great information.
I wasn’t present for the facebook deep dive. I am a sort of specialist in autonomic dysfunction/failure, dysautonomia, autonomic neuropathy, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. I have very few resources on functional/Integrative approaches to management of these complex conditions. I have referred patients for DNRS (Dynamic Neural Retraining Systems) training. I have all my patients start with foundational treatments such as use of adequate fluid intake either orally or parenterally, increased sodium intake, compression stockings and a graded exercise program. I would love to learn more about resources you may have in helping to augment standard therapy.
Thank you!
Shanna Geigle, NP
Hi, I’m Anirudha from India. A Certified Trainer and Health Coach. I have an adult group whom I’m currently coaching for physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices.
What resonated with me the most with today’s talk was that SNS activation has a cost attached to it, in terms of digestive and immune system downregulation and also tissue catabolism. So it absolutely makes sense not to spend more time than absolutely necessary in the SNS activated state, and take active efforts to switch into the PNS activated state. And that takes more than the standard “You got to reduced stress in your life” kind of advice. Thanks a lot!
Thanks so much for your talk I especially loved your reminder of beauty ….so many tips and suggestions that would make a gorgeous poster !! In my work as a Craniosacral therapist working with the vagal nerve is so key … and you are totally right that telling someone to ‘de-stress ‘ or even worse…’chill out” …just doesnt work!! A lot of the deep patterns in our nervous system are as you say on automatic pilot so we all need to find creative ways to slow down and calm.
As practitioners, trying to work out what will be the magic formula for our clients can be activating for us too.. Let’s all remember that positive calm human connection from the heart has a huge impact on our vagus and that of our clients.
Pragmatic advice. Thanks
I’m an RN studying to be a whole health educator, looking to get learn more about functional medicine and coaching. Thank you for this video, this was my first time attending. What a wealth of info you provide! I love how you presented the information with such detail, yet easy to understand and apply. You gave some excellent examples of stress reduction techniques that anyone can start to incorporate. Thank you for iou energy and dedication to this work. Your passion is inspiring!So many great gems in this video to share with patients. It is so important to understand the stress response system and most people have no idea what is going on! It is one of my favorite topics to educate my patients on.