Call it what you want

How Jim taight me about the Vagus Nerve

Jim loves being hosed on the underside of the neck.
Last year at the local Ag show - his first bigger show one night rubbed skin off the underside of his neck.
First I worried it was due to stress but I just down played it and convinced myself it must have been an irritation somehow.
But looking back I understand it was a stress response and he was calming himself the best way he knew how.
Rubbing the underside of his neck back and forward.
So like a mother that would gently rock her child to  sleep or a crazy person would rock themselves in a corner to calm them selves.
Two very different scenarios but the same principle.
To sloth the nervous system.
So that's what Jim did that night.
It was the same show where he showed me the chewing on the chair like the previous chapter about jaw relaxation.
But this time he was showing me a different self soothing process.
He was directly stimulating his vagus never.

It look a long time to make this connection.
I came across a post from a equine body worker that sparked my interest. Tami E posted a video about the vagus nerve and the puzzle pieces started to fall into place and before I know I had information everywhere about the vagus nerve.
So I listened to a fantastic auto book by Dr Navaz Habib.
Then I came across a video of warrick Schiller talking about the vagus nerve.
And more information kept coming up.
So by having different breathing and humming or singing techniques and some massage techniques at specific locations anyone and everyone can stimulate their vagus nerve.
I then realised that is what my bloody horse was doing!!!!
He can't read books! But he knew how to reduce his stress levels naturally.
But he does share the same nervous system as I do.
Horses solve problems differently. Humans can think logically about a situation and make a decision.
Now that is a different kind of intelligence and that's what fascinates me about my horses and spending time with them.
I learn so much from them by just being around them.
Then I am able to think back out different horses and different situations and relay the information I'm learning into understanding them better.

So in the above video you can see I'm just the one on the end of the hose.
Being hosed has its own therapeutic benefits which I briefly have spoken about it a previous chapter - Water Therapy- energy goes where focus flows.
But Jim was the one making the decision where the water was going. He has loved being hosed here since the day I met him.

So in this video it wasn't long before he started to show so big signs relaxation, such as yawning and even they way he gently steps back. He was relaxed in the hind end and then gave me more space because he started to feel safe in his own company.
He can be a very in your face kind of horse and that is simply because he is scared.
Think of the little kid in a new crowd, usually they are clinging to your leg and hand. You don't yell at them and rip them off your arm telling them to be brave. You hold them and comfort them until they find their brace to go running off with the other kids playing in the sand castle.

So that leads me to talk about the flow in effect from relaxation- relaxation brings confidence.
No different to the example I just gave about a scared child and being nurtured turning into a brave kid running off to ply with strangers.

In this video I was just being the relaxed person enjoying my time playing with the hose. I'm personally love playing in the water. It relaxes me. It relaxed Jim. And the flow on effect is limitless.

So who was teaching who
Who was relaxing who