The Vegas Nerve: Bodily Emotion

        Last week, we talked about the vegas nerve, or "wanderer" nerve. It touches all the internal organs, and is the link between emotions and our internal organs. It is the reason for the "gut reaction/ feeling" and "heart hurt." For me, this brought up a lot of thoughts about my own gut reaction, and my stress response. I feel like I have a fairly astute gut reaction. It may not be 100% right, but I always know when something is a little off. I didn't know previously, that this was a reaction that was controlled by the brain. I always thought it was intuition.

       There is a particular person, that I lived with last summer, that really hurt me. I struggled through the summer, on high stress. I felt constantly on edge, and this lead to anxiety. When he moved out, I immediately felt the difference in my body. Now, when I see him, I can feel that initial stress response. However, I also feel it in my stomach. Its that fight or flight feeling. It's the same feeling that I get when I see someone walking down the street towards me at night. I know that I am physically safe around him, but I have a hard time feeling emotionally safe, and this triggers a strong, bodily reaction. I think my body is extremely effected by my emotions. Learning about the vegas nerve helps me to understand why my body feels a certain way, even though sometimes I can't mentally put a finger on what I am feeling. I want to try to learn to listen to my body better, and through that understand my emotions.