How To Access The Vagus Nerve With Cold Water
What is the Vagus Nerve?
The Vagus Nerve is the Tenth Cranial Nerve, and it interfaces with the parasympathetic nervous system by controlling all of our major organs and digestive system. It is also the longest nerve within the autonomic nervous system, and it holds some of the keys to better health and happiness.
One of the key functions of the Vagus Nerve is to trigger the opposite response to fight, flight and freeze. It is, therefore, able to move our body to a more comfortable and engaging perspective, free from stress and ready to focus. We can feel stressed continuously, consumed by negative thoughts in the modern world, which impacts confidence and performance. Most of us are desperate to find a way to quieten the noise, or even better, turn it off. Understanding how to stimulate the Vagus Nerve is a significant step towards quietening your mind and increasing your ability to focus.
I hold a Master’s in Mindfulness-Based Interventions from the prestigious School of Psychology at University College Dublin. I am currently completing a Master’s in Neuroscience at King’s College London, whilst I am also a Certified Investment Fund Director. Detail, research and rigour are at the core of my work.
Cold water therapy
I started experimenting with cold water in 2015 when I would go for a long run and ask my wife to fill the bath with cold water just before I returned to the house. Back then, we lived in a house in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland, and our water came straight from the spring in our garden. Initially, it was pretty shocking (I do not recommend this path), but I kept trying to slow my breath, stay focussed, and stay in the bath a little longer each time. Within a few weeks, I relaxed for 10-minutes in freezing water (it was winter too).
At the time, I was also practising meditation in the mornings, which also contributed to my body's success in accepting the extreme temperature change. We know that meditation, over time, teaches the body and mind to relax. It often means you can prolong the reaction times of the fight, flight, freeze response (sympathetic nervous response), meaning you are less 'triggered' by external stimuli in both work and personal life.
My meditation practice helped me acclimatise quicker, but it is just a case of training and gentle exposure even without meditation.
Cold water and the immune system
There have been numerous studies on the connection between cold water and enhancing the immune system. I can attest to the fact that my immune system improved within weeks of cold water exposures. Some incredible studies (Science Today) were carried out in conjunction with Wim Hoff (aka The Ice Man). Wim and a team of volunteers, whom he trained, carried out a series of experiments to show that they could control the autonomic nervous system. Until recently, it was believed that control of the autonomic system was impossible as we assumed the body regulated itself.
Masters of meditation and yogis have known that they can control the body's response to external stimuli, but it was not reviewed in conjunction with science until recently. Wim Hoff changed this approach. The immune system improves as the body learns to respond differently to cold water, which in turn teaches us to lessen our response to uncomfortable situations through simple breathing techniques.
Cold water exposure reduces inflammation
Researchers are also interested in the ability of cold water and breathing to reduce inflammation. We know most modern diseases are born out of some form of inflammation recurring in the body (including autoimmune diseases). Now consider this (remove the science for a second): if something is inflamed/swollen and you place it into cold water, the inflammation reduces. This is one of the most straightforward facts regular cold water swimmers notice. They feel an immediate high after the swim, but their general wellbeing in between dips also seems to improve - both mental and physical.
Higher levels of inflammation are also noted in those suffering from depression and anxiety in the realm of mental health, but it is also seen in those suffering from autoimmune diseases and arthritis. So cold water can improve the immune system over time, but it can also impact acute symptoms quite quickly. I have noted a significant improvement in my joint pain, arthritis, recovery times and general wellbeing from cold water. Since I started working with cold water, all arthritic pain has left.
How can cold water and the vagus nerve help me?
Here is the exciting part: we know that repeated exposure to cold water significantly reduces the defensive response from the body. The key is to stay in the water long enough to acclimatise, slowly building up your body’s responses. Avoid getting to the point where you start to shiver, exit just before this happens. Learn to control your breathing, so you don’t hyperventilate. Taking deep breaths and relaxing the body before you enter the water (be that either the shower or the sea) will start to send the signals to your body that you are in a rested state and that what is about to happen is ok. (Please remember to research and prepare in advance, if you have any underlying medical conditions seek medical guidance).
As you repeat your cold water exposures, your body prolongs the need to instigate your fight, flight and freeze response (sympathetic nervous response) and this approach is then brought into your daily life. You will start to notice that your response to normal stresses (running late, no phone signal, or screaming kids) also improves. This is precisely the way meditation works too. You are training your mind and body to learn that all of the stresses you encounter during your day do not need extreme responses. This can reduce anxiety, stress and improve the mood of those struggling with depression. Cold water is also a great leveller. If your mind is racing and you are overwhelmed, submerging in cold water with quickly shut it down, you will only then focus on your breathing and what is happening at that precise moment.
What next after cold water immersion and vagus nerve stimulation?
People who start to swim or shower in cold water will generally quickly move onto looking at other ways to enhance their wellbeing. When you begin to realise that your health has improved through cold water, you will want to seek more alternative therapies to enhance your sense of happiness and wellbeing. My routine is to swim 3-4 times a week in the cold Irish Sea, on the other days I take a cold shower. I exercise 4-5 days a week, and I meditate each morning. I also focus on my diet. I do not eat processed food, and I am plant-based for my food choices. That just means I focus on fruit and veg for all of my protein and vitamin needs. I have also developed a strict routine of key natural supplements that I add to my diet each day. I am a very fit and healthy male who can outpace most. I don’t drink alcohol either.
These steps came from my continued research into my own wellbeing, in addition to my work with some incredible health experts, physicians, yogis and Eastern masters. Sustained prosperity is a process and practice. Improved health is available to most people, but sadly many find it too challenging.
If you want to decrease your chances of disease and early death, then you need to increase the work on yourself - every action has an equal and opposite reaction. For those who work with me on a one-to-one basis, we build resilience, resolve limiting beliefs and establish practices that will allow you to rise to any challenge you set. My teachings are the bridge between Eastern philosophies and Western businesses principals.
It is worth noting that since healing myself by focussing on my Vagal Tone, I have cured the following:
PTSD
Anxiety
Adult Asthma
Leaky Gut
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Chronic Pain
Gout
Depression
Sinusitis
Headaches
Bloating
In addition, I lost 20 kilos (44 pounds). I have developed the Juka Academy™ to help others follow in my footsteps and understand the Vagus Nerve's hidden powers and of our bodies.
*While we are very much at the early stages of research into the therapeutic effects of cold water adaptation, the number of conditions associated with inflammation that may benefit from this intervention are huge. It may also find a role in ameliorating type-2 diabetes and even in reducing complications after surgery.