Encyclopedia of Body Language by Alan Elangovan

Author:Alan Elangovan [Elangovan, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781543757828
Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
Published: 2020-10-06T04:00:00+00:00

16.7. Massaging the Vagus Nerve

Generic Interpretations of the Concept

Let me first interpret the Latin word used in the title so as to rightly set the ground to take off. The word vagus means ‘wandering’ in Latin. This means it has to do with movement. Hence, the vagus nerve connects the brain to the vital organs of human body, the heart inclusive. When people are stressed, you may discover that they massage the side of their neck that is very close to the point we check our pulse. The reason for this is that when the vagus nerve is stimulated, it results in the release of acetylcholine. This is a neurotransmitter that sends signal to the heart in return. To be specific, it sends the signal to the antrioventricular node. This ensures that the heart rate goes down.

The nature of the vagus nerve painted above makes it very important, if not indispensable to human survival; it serves as the bridge between the brain and other parts of the body. So when the body is hot, massaging that portion of the brain can help in the stimulation of the nerve endings. This soothes the neck and calms us down. You may discover that people do it consistently. This is to show how stressed the person is. The person is rubbing vagus nerve so as to ensure that the important role it is playing in the body system is not impeded.

Scientific Explanations

Changing Minds (2019) states that rubbing the muscles at the side or back of the neck is used to indicate tension. Some other times, it may be a show of anxiety. When you see a person massaging their vagus nerve, be sure that they are experiencing something awful from within. This is expressed by the way in which they hold the neck and rub it. This tension stops them from thinking. If they were ruminating over a negative event, they would have touched the frontal part of the neck. Touching the sides means that they are really experiencing negative emotions and want to get a soothing relief from it.

Courtney Sperlazza (2019) speaks on how the vagus nerve can be strengthened for the sake of upgrading the whole body. According to her, the vagus nerve is a two-way network of communication between the brain and most major organs in your body. It regulates things like hunger, the immune response, feeling calm or anxious, and more.’ This gives us a broader picture of what we have been considering since the beginning of the section. So when a person is hungry, they may grab their vagus nerve to rub, this is why I have always submitted that instead of accusing people of showing signs of deception, we must first of all understand the context governing the interpretation. Hence, it is always safe to assume that they are showing feelings of stress and not deception. Further, the definition also covers emotional feeling that has to do with anxiety and calmness. Fear of unknown or being exposed to an unfavourable situation may lead to rubbing of the neck.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.