I just love Gil Hedley, Ph.D., Director of Somanautics Workshops, Inc. and producer of the The Integral Anatomy Series, and am appreciating this video which illustrates and clarifies a concept brought to light by Dr. Stephen Porges -- from an anatomical perspective.
As a FSM Practitioner utilizing frequency medicine to support my clients' medulla oblongata, nervous system as a whole, and vagus nerves specifically in nearly every session, I have been exploring the polyvagal theory from a frequency perspective over the past four+ years. I have found that there is in fact a difference between treating the dorsal vagus (dorsal motor nucleus) with its optimal resonant frequency and the ventral vagus (nucleus ambiguous) with its distinct optimal resonant frequency, and to me the above video shows how this distinction is anatomically possible. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I discovered it!
DOING THE DEEP DIVE INTO THE VAGUS NERVE
When I first discovered the implications of the vagus, I did a deep dive into Dr. Porges' research and books, I read the more accessible work on polyvagal theory by Stanley Rosenburg and Deb Dana, I got certified and began offering the Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP) in the clinic so I could treat the auricular branch of the vagus for my patients, I took a training in Polyvagal-Informed Therapeutic Yoga, became a Certified Trauma-Sensitive HeartMath Practitioner, and attended numerous other presentations, workshops and trainings to ensure that I could most effectively and efficiently address and treat this most important aspect of the nervous system.
FREQUENCY SPECIFIC MICROCURRENT & THE VAGUS NERVE
Treating the vagus nerve with FSM as presented by Dr. Carol McMakin in her excellent webinar "Treating the Vagus Changes Everything" (a statement I have found to be absolutely true), which is available online for trained FSM practitioners, was a remarkable revelation for me, and my clinical results reflected the potency of treating the vagus nerve with frequencies and empowered me to be able to engage this influential aspect of the nervous system in a therapeutic way. In Dr. Carol's model, there is a single frequency for the vagus nerve and all of its branches.
Given the specificity of our known frequency paradigm, and as I more deeply explored Porges' polyvagal theory, this single frequency hypothesis was curious to me: why would there only be one frequency for the vagus, if there are potentially two players involved?
When treating with the frequency pair to upregulate the vagus neves, we can expect that the following will happen in the client:
pulse will lower
blood pressure will decrease
inflammation will reduce
patient will feel more relaxed
salivation, peristalsis will occur
However, some patients who already presented in a dorsal collapsed state (with a flat affect, low pulse, low blood pressure, unmotivated) did not need or respond to the dorsal vagal frequency; I also on occasion had some patients with paradoxical responses to upregulating the dorsal vagus frequency. Why would this be?
Shannon Goossen, AP, LMT, an FSM Practitioner who has also been tremendously influential in my learning, shared in a protocol she called "Vagus Dorsal Ventral," a frequency for the ventral vagus nerve which I began to explore in the clinic with appropriate cases. I soon found that utilizing this separate frequency for the ventral aspect appeared to do what it 'should' from the lens of polyvagal theory. Those who had paradoxical responses to the dorsal vagal protocol did very well with this alternative protocol that addressed the ventral vagus.
CASE EXAMPLE
Shortly after I completed my polyvagal training, I had a patient come into the clinic for a follow-up visit. I was surprised to see that he had gone from a high-strung, type A personality with anxiety and difficulty self-regulating to being in a state of complete collapse. Initially, we had been treating him for stress and anxiety, but he shared that he had very recently been displaced due to the local fires that swept across his community: his home had burned, he and his family moved into a hotel, and he couldn't bring himself to figure out next steps. His pulse was 48 BPM and he sat hunched over on the treatment table, not making eye contact as he shared the story. He was a very clear picture of someone in dorsal collapse.
In a case like his, it is contraindicated to increase dorsal vagal tone, which has the potential to drive his system deeper into collapse. We needed to bring the ventral vagus on board and even decrease dorsal inputs.
For his treatment, I ran Shannon's "Vagus Dorsal Ventral" protocol, which is programmed to down-regulate the dorsal vagus and up-regulate the ventral vagus. Throughout, I monitored his pulse and talked with him as I addressed his other physical therapy concerns. I was amazed that about 30 minutes later, his pulse had increased and stabilized at an optimal 60 BPM, he was making eye contact and even laughing, and appeared in a much more optimized state.
It couldn't have been a clearer illustration to me of the importance of discernment and the difference in the clinical presentations of a person in ventral dominance versus dorsal dominance. To me, this was the first validation of the possibility that there are two distinct frequencies for the dorsal and ventral vagus. I have since treated more people than I can count who present in either a sympathetic, ventral, or dorsal state and the hypothesis keeps being supported by my clinical FSM results.
The next question I have is: are there specific frequencies for the two ascending tracts (solitary tract and spinal trigeminal nuclei) as illustrated in Gil Hedley's video, and what are they ...?
FSM AT RESONANT FREQUENCY MEDICINE FOR VAGAL TONE
Clients who come for an appointment at Resonant Frequency Medicine will be screened for vagal tone (there are many ways we can do this -- stay tuned for a future post!), treated throughout the 90 minute session with frequency specific microcurrent, functional neuromyofascial techniques, heartmath and neural manipulation, and empowered with a home program to help resolve vagally-mediated dysregulation.
LEARN MORE
If you are interested in learning more about FSM for the vagus nerve, you can book a free consult with me on the booking page, take the Core & Advanced FSM Trainings with Dr. Carol McMakin, watch her webinar, and purchase the replay of my presentation on Testing & Treatment Strategies for the Vagus Nerve in the Advanced Compendium on Frequency Specific Microcurrent.
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