Music striking the right chord with stress management

Music striking the right chord with stress management.
By Heidi Gray

Stress, negative thoughts and overwhelming emotions show no mercy and can strike at any time, especially out here in rural communities.

A couple of weeks ago I was found myself in a situation that activated my fight or flight system. This situation itself was to present a talk at a luncheon the following day. While this was no natural disaster, my palms were sweating and my heart was racing. I was driving between Inverell and Glen Innes at the time and for those of you who don’t know that highway, there is very little phone signal. There was no chance to call a friend or colleague to talk about my nervousness regarding my first public speaking appearance since school. Instead, I turned up the radio and heard the unmistakable chorus of “This Kiss” by Faith Hill. for the next 90 seconds I safely did a shoulder dance and sang at the top of my lungs. Afterwards I felt calm, the tingling under my skin had disappeared and my palms had somewhat dried up.

The reason for this story is that we all have a friend living within us called the Vagus Nerve which regulates our parasympathetic nervous system. This will be my first and last scientifically worded sentence – the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for soothing the body and retaining basic function after a stressful, traumatic or emotional body response (fight or flight). The Vagus Nerve runs from the brain to the lower body organs, right past the ear so when we listen to music, the vibrations move down our Vagus Nerve and can provide either a relaxing or positively stimulating effect on the brain and body.

When we listen to a song there is a stimulation effect on our brain which can trigger a memory that we associate with that song. Mine is always “Run to Paradise” by Choirboys. As soon as I hear it I am right back in the arms of my friends singing at the top of our lungs. I literally have goosebumps as I write this just thinking about it. So thank you, Vagus Nerve, I am grateful for you and your ability to help me feel grounded through music and sound when things get overwhelming.

Take a moment to get to know your own Vagus Nerve by thinking about what it likes. What can you learn about yourself based on its reactions in the past?

• Name : Las Vagus
• Occupation : Manager of Parasympathetic Nervous System of Heidi
• Age : 26 pushing 27
• Hometown : Central Nervous System of Heidi
• Likes : Aussie rock, folk music, country music, laughter, singing with friends
• Dislikes : Hearing Heidi’s voice over the music, nails on chalkboards, balloons popping
• Perfect Date : Rural Aid Banger’s Playlist by the water on a very sunny day, but not hot enough to get sunburnt and potentially moody and tired.