Vagus Nerve stress & anxiety

3. Exercises

dvbAdd these facial massage techniques to your morning and evening skincare routine. 

Facelift Technique 1

The surface of the facial skin is innervated by branches of the fifth cranial nerve. Lightly touchning the skin of your face stimulates these nerve endings. With a very light contact, brush the surface of the skin at acupuncture point LI 20. Then let your fingertips melt together ith the skin. Slide the skin up and down to find which direction presents greater resistance. Stop. Hold at that point, and wait to feel it relase. 
Slide the skin inward toward the midline of the face and out toward the side to find the direction of greater resistance. Stop there, and push lightly. Hold and wait for the release. 

The muscles of the face are innervated by branches of the seventh cranial nerve (VII). There are two layers of facial muscles just below the skin. Let your fingertip sink gently into te muscle layers beneath the skin at te same point. Let the first muscle layer adher to your fingertip as if it were Velcro. If you are careful not to push too hard and if you feel what is happening under your fingertips, you can slide these layers of muscles; first slide one layer on top of the other, making a small circle As you go around the circle, you may notice that there is more resistance to sliding the skin in one direction. Keep pushing lightly in that direction, and hold until there is a relase in the form of a sigh of a swallow. 

Next, push slightly deeper. Now the deeper layer of musles stick together with the top muscle layer and the skin. You can slide both layers together over the surface of the bone. As y ou go around the circle, you may notice that there is more resistance to sliding the skin in one direction. Keep pushing lightly in that direction, and hold until ther is a release in the form of a sigh or a swallow 

All bones have a connective-tissue covering called a periosteum (peri means around and osteum means bone). This tissue is very rich in nerve endings from spinal nerves or, in this case, cranial nerves. Let your fingertip sink even deeper into the face until your rest lightly on the surface of the bone. Massage on the surface of the periosteum has a profound effect on the autonomic nervouw system. Press lightly but hard enough to reach the surface of the bone at large intestine acupunture meridian. Let your fingertip move from sice to sice on the surfacee of the bone then hold a light pressure on the bone and wait until you get a release.

Face-Lift technique 2

The surface of the facial skin is innervated  by branches of the fifth cranial nerve. Lightly touching the skin of your face stimulates these nerve endings. With a very light contact, brush the surface of the skin at acupuncture point LI 20. Then let your fingertips melt together with the skin. Slide the skin up and down to find which direction presents greater resistance. Push lightly into that resistance. Stop. Hold at that point, and wait te feel it release. Slide the skin inward toward the midline of the face and out toward the side to find the direction of greater resistance. Stop there and push lightly. Hold and wait for the release. 

The muscles of the face are innervated by branches of the seventh cranial nerve (VII). There are two layers of facial muscles just below the skin. Let your fingertip sink genthly into the muscle layers beneath the skin at the same point. Let the first muscle layer adhere to your fingertip as if it were Velcro. If you are careful not too hard and if feel what is happening under your fingertips, you can slide these layers of muscles; first slide one layer on top of the other, making a small circle. As you go around the circle, you may notice that there is more resistance to sliding the skin in one direction. Keep pushing lightly in that direction, and hold until there is a release in the form of a sigh or a swallow. 

Next, push slightly deeper. Now the deeper layer of muscles sticks together with the top muscle layer and the skin. You can slide both layers together over the surface of the bone. As you go around the circle, you may notice that there is more resistance to sliding the skin in one direction. Keep pushing lightly in that direction and hold until there is a release in the form of a sigh of swallow. 

All bones have a connective-tissue vovering called a periosteum (peri means around and osteum means bone). This tissue is very rich in nerve endings from spinal nerves or in this case cranial nerves. Let your fingertip sink even deeper into the face until you rest lightly on the surface of the bone. Massage on the surface of the periosteum has a profound effect on the autonomic nervous system. Press lightly but hard enough to reach the surface of the bone at large intestine acupuncture meridian. Let your fingertip move from side to side on the surface of the bone, then hold a light pressure on the bone and wait until you get a release. 

Facelift Technique Part II

Part 1 is focused on LI20, an acupunture point on the large intestine meridian at the side of the nostril. Stimulating this point improves the balance and tone of the muscles of the lower face around the mouth and the nose. Part 2, in furn, focuses on the eyes. 

The actual technique is similar in many ways to the first face-lifting technique that your did at large intestine 20. You will find acupuncture point B2 on the inside corner of the eyebrow. People often rub this point naturally, without thinking about it, when they are tired. Massaging the skin and muscles of the face her is often self-soothing. 

The eyes are sometimes called the mirror of the soul. Before we work on B2 , the muscle might be too tight, leaving the eyes somewhat closed, or it might be leaving the eyes too open. When we finish, there will be an improved balance between looking outward and looking in. 

You will see another person more clearly, and this person, in turn, will have an easier time making eye contact with you and will experience seeing your differently. At a deeper level, this acupuncture point is at the edge of a tiny facial bone called the lacrimal bone. The word lacrimal refers to tears. Sometimes a person's eyes can be dry and appear lifeless. Someone can also experience an annoying flow of tears. 

By touching this bone at B2 and holding your contact on the lacrimal bone, you will balance the flow of moisture to the eyes and leave them bright and sparkling. The goal of the face-lifting massage is to leave a smile on yuor lips and a twinkle in your eyes. 

Find the place at the inner corner of the eyebrow that is more sensitive than the surrounding areas. First use your fingertip to brush the skin lightly a few times. Let your fingertip rest lightly on the skin at point B2 (see above) and hold that contact with the surface of the skin until you get a release in the form of sigh or a swallow. Next, press gently down to to layer of the facial muscles. This is where the flat, round orbicularis oculi muscle, which goes around the eye, attaches to the bones of the face Let the skin stick to your finger and make a small circle, sliding the skin lightly and searching for the direction where ther is resistance. 

Hold your finger on that resistance until you get a release in the form of a sigh or a swallow. Then go even deeper until you feel the surface of the bone, Rub that a few times. Then hold the contact with the bone, and wait for a release. If the orbicularis oculi muscle is too tight, closing the eyelids into a squint, this should open the eye more normally. If the eye was too wide-open, this technique should firm it down a bit but still leave it open. 














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