I just finished reading Dr. James Gordon (MD)’s phenomenal new book The Transformation- Discovering Wholeness and Healing After Trauma. He is a Harvard-educated psychiatrist along with many other lofty titles (that I won’t get into right now- you can read about him when you read this book!) and it is clear that this is his passion that he is deeply committed to. This feels like a window into his life’s work- what an honor to be a witness of this and be along for the journey!  At the time I crossed paths with him, he was the lead founder and director of the professional training program in Mind/Body/Medicine which was affiliated with the Mind/Body/Medicine institute out of Washington, D.C.. Reading this book, in fact,  brings back a flood of memories to me, from the year 2006,  when I did the professional training program in Mind/Body/Medicine in Berkeley, California.

That was such a gift to me and I will be forever grateful for that training which helps me in my own life consistently and helps my patients to this day (even though I did the training in 2006) in the way it has influenced my career. Reading this book is like going through that intensive training program again (which was like therapy for me at that time!) in a good way. At that time in my own life, I was diagnosed with MS in 2003 and at that time I had not really talked about what that was like. That training was just as much a benefit to me because it opened me up in such a beautifully profound way and allowed me to be vulnerable and feel safe to be vulnerable. Plus the training was so spot on; we were learning so much in every minute of the day. And I have since used the training to create a mind/body/medicine clinic for people that have MS in Calgary. I have been in stable remission and live in balance with MS in Calgary. But I digress, so back to the book!

This book offers detailed instructions on the key training points of that intensive program laced with personal stories that offer a glimpse into the soul of this type of medicine. I love learning these techniques all over again! It is so fitting at this time when personal empowerment is really front and center in the world and the reality is that you can play a massive role in your own journey of healing. This book is a guide book for anyone that has been through any type of trauma whether it be physical or psychological or anything in between. This book is about HEALING.  James Gordon, MD is your worthy, yet humble, ambassador that leads you by the hand and won’t desert you for a minute in this beautiful life changing book. His stories of dealing with trauma victims all over the world in every pocket of the globe make the book feel deeply personal and yet with all his education and titles galore, what captures me is how clearly his heart is in every page. This is a gifted man who has a heart to change lives and the experience of working with trauma so deep, so wide, so varied that you know, with utmost confidence that you can trust him to lead you down any dark corridor, you must traverse, in order to fine your own inner light again. You will learn a lot by reading this book. There so many personal stories here, that move the reader to tears, by bearing witness. He is so real and free of ego. Genuine is the word that comes to mind.

You will learn techniques like Soft Belly, using art therapy, in the form of using drawing to access the right brain’s intuitive wisdom, and physical tools like shaking and dancing as ways to connect and access emotional expression and process trauma. These techniques really free you up to be yourself as authentically as is possible and also bring up to your awareness whatever needs to be unearthed for your own conscious process in the higher goal of healing trauma. The powerful medium of music is used to facilitate healing along with meditation, guided imagery, breathwork, dialogue-ing with an illness to access your right brain wisdom, biofeedback therapy and many other effective proven techniques to work with trauma. It is all detailed in this book. I read it once and I will go out and buy myself a copy because it is a great reference text on Mind/Body/Medicine which is the new frontier of healing. Thank you James Gordon for such a profound book, Namaste’…

I wanted to provide some more information on Vagus Nerve activation for treating Anxiety. This talk was given by Navaz Habib- (go to navazhabib,ca for more info). The vagus nerve exits the cranium at the base of the skull and innervates most organs(lung, heart, stomach, intestines for starters). The vagus nerve  establishes the gut to brain pathway. There is talk between the gut and brain and the vagus nerve is believed to be a major part of this connection.

To evaluate the vagus nerve in terms of motor nerve activity, evaluate your bowel transit time. You can pick up some white sesame seeds and add a tsp to a glass of water. Don’t chew them. Look to when you have a bowel movement after ingesting. Count the hours since you have swallowed the sesame seeds- optimal time is 12-20 hours. You have to look at your poop to do this test!

Stimulating the vagus nerve can help promote the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. This is also called the rest and digest part of the nervous system. When you are most relaxed, you can optimally digest and utilize the nutrients in your food. You feel calm about your life. This also reduces sympathetic nervous system activity which is the fight or flight aspect of health most associated with the stress response. Vagus nerve stimulation can help alleviate depression. Information flowing through the vagus nerve can promote GABA (the anti-anxiety neurotransmitter). The vagus nerve’s cholinergic aspect acetylcholine is the brakes for inflammation. So stimulation of the vagus nerve can help reduce inflammation.

In some cases, if you have a chronic cough, you are dealing with a vagus nerve issue. The vagus nerve feeds the larynx and throat. If you have a monotonous voice, you may be dealing with a vagus nerve dysfunction. Sunlight and sleep support optimal vagus nerve function. I would aim for 7-8 hours of sleep. Treating insulin resistance and supporting liver detoxification will support your vagus nerve. Come in to see me for a consult if you want to know how to do this.

There are ways in which you can start to stimulate your vagus nerve. End your shower with cold water for 30 seconds. Cold exposure has been shown to stimulate vagus nerve activity. It stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which has calming activity on your mind/body/soul.

Deep breathing is another way. Take 20 deep breaths twice daily where you have slow deep inhalations from your abdomen and a long slow exhalation through your nose. Counting out six long seconds for inhalation and six long seconds for exhalation can help. This triggers your parasympathetic nervous system which helps your whole system relax. Make time in your day and do breathing exercises twice daily. Your lungs and breathing in general is an overlooked aspect of detoxification. You are breathing out carbon dioxide which is a major waste product. 

Other ways to stimulate the vagus nerve include gargling with a little warm salt water (1/4 tsp salt plus 1/4 cup warm water which will also get rid of biofilms and mouth bacteria) for 3-5 minutes.

Singing and chanting are other wonderful ways to stimulate vagus nerve function.

Meditation helps activate the vagus nerve as well and promotes good feeling neurotransmitters. Meditation calms the brain down. It increases vagal nerve tone and helps with bi-directional communication between the gut and brain.  I recommend doing a 20 minute meditation twice daily to manage your stress levels.

Being social stimulates your vagus nerve. Get together with people that you love and hang out!

Do one positive action step I have blogged about; add it to your health care routine daily to help your overall health thrive. To book a consult, call Parallel Wellness at 4032321283. Be well! Dr. Robin Vinge, N.D.

After listening to most of the lectures from the anti-anxiety summit, I just wanted to add a few more pieces of information. I wanted to talk about spore producing bacteria as Microbiome Labs (Kiran Krishman) did a talk on these organisms. These are organisms that coat themselves with armor in the deeper intestines where they can function as a probiotic. They are able to make it through the digestive tract and colonize deep in the intestine. These are ubiquitous organisms in nature. These spore producing bacteria stimulate EC cells in the gut to produce serotonin. Bacillus coagulans spores produce serotonin which can be found in some strains which decreases depression and decreases IBS. Spore producing bacteria increase dopamine and decrease anxiety.

Foods that we bring into our body from the outside world can expose us to toxins. For instance, food that we eat can be contaminated by microbes such as campylobacter jejunum and this pathogen has been linked to anxiety and panic attacks. Medications that we take can harm our microbiome. For instance, common antibiotics (fluoroquinolones) have been linked with potentiation of side effects of benzodiazopenines. As, the gut produces 90% of your serotonin, it is important to understand that what you take in to your gut such as food or medication is influencing your state of brain health. Just having awareness of that and understanding that the state of your gut health has a major impact on brain health and neurotransmitters is key.  

In the gut microbiome, diversity is paramount to health. Spores increase the diversity of the microbiome. In 3 weeks you can start to change the diversity taking spore based probiotics. I am doing an experiment by taking Megaspore Microbiome labs probiotic which I ordered from Florida. It has the strains Bacillus indicus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus licheniformins, and Bacillus clausii which are strains I have not taken before. It is only 4 billion C.F.U. but that is all that is needed to go in and change the diversity because spores are so strong in their action. It is recommended to start at even 1/2 capsule a day because there can be a die off reaction as these spores kill other pathogens in the gut. Die off reactions may include cramping, bloating and a rash. I have not add any side effects so I have started taking one capsule every other day with food for the first week. Spore based organisms are universal colonizers. If I have positive results after the next month of taking these spore based organisms, I may start stocking some at Parallel Wellness. They are expensive but they have extensive research backing their use. For more information on spore based probiotics and how they can influence serotonin and GABA as well as produce anti-oxidants,  go to www.microbiomelabs.com