Imagine you’re on your first roller-coaster ride at the tender age of 10: The anticipatory thrill. The whoosh of air that sends your hair skywards as you swing round that first loop. It’s a rush like no other. But then … slam! Your cart collides with one in front of you that has malfunctioned and stopped in its tracks, throwing your body forward with a dodgem-like bang that breaks bones and permanently damages your heart.
“Statistically, the chance of being injured in a roller-coaster accident is only one in 24 million, so it’s shocking that it happened to me,” notes counsellor Anna Ferguson, author of The Vagus Nerve Reset (Penguin Random House, RRP $35), who says the trauma of that accident not only caused physical injury but also affected her nervous system, leading to years of mental health struggle.
“Your past experiences are held within your body, physiology and nervous system,” Anna believes. “Anxiety, brain fog and imposter syndrome as well as physical issues such as inflammation ... can be signs of a nervous system out of balance.”
While Anna’s physical trauma mostly healed in time, that pivotal accident changed the course of her life in other ways – it led her to study psychology, embarking on a journey to becoming an expert on the vagus nerve, our inner “electric superhighway”. It’s actually a pair of nerves that regulate everything from your heart rate, lungs, digestion and insulin release to your voice box and the muscles that control facial expression – a whopping 80 per cent of its communications are messages carried from your body to your brain.
“Your vagus nerve is busy 24/7 sending messages to let the brain know what’s going on throughout the body and in your organs,” says Anna. “Think of the phone alert that goes off when you receive a text. If you could hear the number of messages that your vagus nerve is pinging through to your brain it would be like white noise – truly gobsmacking.”
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
