The Vagus Nerve: What is it, and why is everyone talking about it?

I don’t know about you, but lately I keep hearing about the VAGUS NERVE. 

So I decided to look more into it, and try to find out what all the hullabaloo is.

Basically the Vagus Nerve is referred to as the body’s superhighway, it brings information to the brain from the organs, and here’s the kicker, and why it is everywhere… more recently they discovered this highway goes in both directions, and the Vagus Nerve can also deliver info from the brain back to the organs, and actually change how they function!

You can stimulate the nerve (scroll down to see 3 free ways) and by doing so reduce stress, ease pain, and it is said even reduce inflammation!

Improving vagal tone is the goal, and doing things like deep belly breathing, singing, chanting, or taking a cold shower (or even splashing cold water on your face) can help.

By taking a few moments to stimulate your vagus nerve, you reduce stressors and if you are like me, one of the key spikes in my Lipedema symptoms is stress, so this all makes perfect sense to me. 

Do you have a favorite way to improve your vagal tone? Yoga, meditation, deep breathing? Laughing and singing are great options, and when I sing out loud I tend to laugh, too! Win win!

Lipedema Fitness: Finding Strength

When I needed to find strength, needed to start taking my life back, I looked for strength, not just of body, but of heart.

We find strength outward and we learn to bring it inward. 

What we see, what we hear, what we do, we become.

When I joined Instagram I sought out strength, specifically strong women - crossfit women, then I wanted to see strong big women, and slowly my feed became about strength. 

It is what I needed. It is what helped me, take back my life.

Since I started on the peloton journey, I started following trainers and coaches I enjoyed riding with. All for various reasons, but all with heart in what they said during class.

This is Christine D’ercole, her mantra “I am, I can, I will, I do”, she is a favorite Peloton trainer of mine for so many reasons, this post she shared is a perfect example…

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca3Je9qLZgj/?utm_medium=copy_link

Seek out what you need, maybe it is healing, maybe it is peace, maybe like me it is strength. Open your thoughts about what that means to you, maybe something someone said once, maybe a scene in a movie, dig into what you need and then start finding it, following it, listening to it, watching it, submerging  yourself into it until you absorb it, become it, for yourself ♥️ then share it.

March is Lymphedema Awareness Month - and March 6th was World Lymphedema Day. As part of the celebration, and to help spread awareness, I setup a #worldlymphedemaday tag on Peloton, and setup this recovery ride with Christine, it was perfect. Tapping in to deep breathing, flushing our legs, healing, etc. All things to make us stronger on the inside.