Thoughts on Vagal "Braking", Chronic Sympathetic Dominance, & Relation to Bodily Homeostasis
SOFCast Weekly Newsletter, 08th August 2022
Through my book and prior posts, I have tried to make clear the importance of being able to apply a brake. We are overstimulated, congested, and burned out. Thus for most people, our fundamental aim should be finding personal homeostasis. Homeostasis of autonomic function. Not favouring one or the other in the prevalent yet wrongful dichotomy of sympathetic or para-sympathetic.
This can be achieved through conscious manipulation of breath and blood flow. Homeostasis is loosely defined as:
"Homeostasis denotes the maintenance, or regulation, of vital internal variables in a state of relative constancy. Automatic cellular mechanisms, neural and endocrine controls, and behaviour all contribute importantly to homeostasis. Organisms that function in wider ranges of external environments tend to regulate more internal variables and to have more complex systems regulating important variables – for example, the adaptable mechanisms with which we mammals regulate body temperature allow us to function in a much wider range of external temperatures than reptiles. Most physiological homeostatic mechanisms rely on negative feedback; that is, signals related to the regulated variable are sensed and cause the system to react in a way that reduces the signals." - (Asian et al., 2012)
A core tenet of homeostasis and the introduction of negative feedback mechanisms includes the ability of us to self-regulate these biological feedback mechanisms.
This requires us to understand what the body needs to function maximally when in a state of relative rest or excitation. As complex beings with the complex internal reorientation mechanism known as self-consciousness.
Thus conscious or "wilful" action plays a vital role in providing a way in which our bodies can enact a diminution or counteraction of arising affects by its influence on the process giving rise to them. The process should be performing as it evolved and almost never does. Some of the reasons we believe this occurs:
Often, strange child-rearing practices and bodily patterns are induced or enforced whilst in developmental phases.
Simply no one knows what to do.
Our breathing is screwed anyway; nasal breathing, for example, needs to be retrained in many.
Our environments are hyper-stimulatory. Therefore we are sort of induced into specific postures with engagement with asinine past times like social media.
Culturally acceptable posture habits, such as those I discussed in my neurasthenia video.
It is imperative then to understand that our actions are essential to restructure our neuro-physiology and to find homeostasis.
In complex and hyper-stimulatory environments, we have the power to reorient our chronically out-of-whack systems.
We obviously need to understand the pillars of homeostasis and how they function optimally together.
Many spiritual traditions, I believe, aimed at this in some way - at least partially - and this is what I'm working so hard to distil without the commie gobbledegook.
The principles we have learned so far regarding proper breathing:
The proper cardio-pulmonary function is induced by correct breathing.
Proper breathing induces proper cardio-pulmonary function and thus true resonance and homeostasis of autonomic mechanisms.
This can be represented by healthy HRV measurements - indicative of the offloading of stress on the heart and vascular system by the thoracic pump. That is, the rhythmic and sufficient movement of the diaphragm and intercostal muscles to push blood through the heart and around the body.
The opposite is also the case; the ANS compensates for insufficient thoracic pressure and the accompanying venous return and blood wave throughout the vascular system. This results in poor HRV amplitudes.
If you have poor HRV, you can safely infer that your ANS is out of whack and you have a sympathetic bias.
Visuals can assist us in understanding how the breath is vital to venous return and arterial pressure, which sends waves of oxygenated blood around the vascular system:
(Elliot - 2012)
Of course, we have also assessed the opposite; shallow, asynchronous, rapid and arrhythmic breathing. Poor HRV resonance is induced because the thoracic cavity doesn't assist with blood movement throughout the vascular system. In this case, the heart is mainly burdened with this task; as mentioned, this creates all sorts of hypertension and stress-related issues in modern man. As well as attacks on HPTA balance.
To some degree, I assert that all of us suffer from sympathetic dominance. End of story. Most of us simply lack the intelligence of insight to notice it because we have known nothing different. Interestingly, many humans are quite aggressive or defensive regarding these matters; ironically, high-stress reactions to basic suggestions can also be seen as sympathetic-dominant reactions.
When this process becomes chronic this leads to a decrease in para-sympathetic function. This can also be understood, perhaps better, as an inability of the body to apply the brakes. The vagal brakes.
The theory, therefore, is that the Autonomic Nervous System requires the functionality of thoracic pressure to push blood through the human body.
I would describe this as homeostasis within the cardio-pulmonary system, leading to homeostasis within the autonomic functions. Balance.
This shouldn’t be seen as a para-sympathetic dominant aim. Instead, a desire for a balanced state. Many systems focus on the conditions of extreme relaxation, and while this is fine and necessary, our day-to-day living is not significantly impacted by it. Unless we bring that sense of balance into our minute-by-minute habits of breath and focus.
The exercises I'm working on may be seen as "para-sympathetic" or "vagal-braking" because we are sympathetic dominant. Our pedal is to the metal constantly, and any introduction of a balance will necessarily subjectively feel like significant relaxation. But this is not the aim. The aim is homeostasis.
Once we learn to breathe unconsciously with rhythm, depth and according to a precise tempo, we can maximise this cardio-pulmonary resonance and re-integrate the vagal brake into our system. It all once again becomes organic.
We need to learn diaphragmatic and intercostal function, to assist to push blood around the vascular system, offloading pressure onto the heart and vascular system.
When one engages in these exercises, they will immediately notice the pushing of additional blood to the extremities, which is evidence of this arterial wave. The efficiency of gaseous exchange improves, oxygenated blood is pushed to the furthest cells, and our muscular knots relax.
One is reminded of Ray Peat - for many Peaters, I think correct breathing is the foundational component missing, and many of the expensive supplements would not be necessary.
I've recently issued a prototype breathing metronome to some frens. They will use it over the next month or 2 - whilst I refine it sonically. Aside from this basic metronome, some very useful and creative metronomes are coming that will take full advantage of the vagal brake - our ability to hit that brake. Chimping out is not necessarily good; I would argue, almost never. This will let you restructure your system, so chimp-out reactions lessen in severity and regularity.
This includes the tools you will require to completely restructure your breathing patterns for homeostasis.
For those with an appetite, there will be some guided "physical" exercises, utilising areas of dual control with specific breathing work. To really go deep and apply the brakes.
Whilst there will be dual-control work to rewire our brains into good habits, to confuse things further, there will be non-dual pointing meditations offered with these metronomes. I believe for Buddhists, these will be fantastic tools.
After testing many preliminary exercises on myself, I can say the results are pretty astounding. After several decades it seems the code has been cracked.
Next week we will be talking non-self. That old chestnut. Honestly, the amount of vitriol you get with this topic is astounding.
“But I can see muhselfs. I wooked and I kan see muhselfs…Im wight dere mang…see…but where is da space for muh soul mang…” The list of complaints goes on and on. And as you try to impress on such people - it doesn’t matter. These are just concepts. This is about seeing what is the case about the processes of consciousness. It not a position to be argued with. The Buddha was objectively correct, in an empirical, scientific and experiential way, about this.
Some folks seem more intent on proving that somehow Hitl0r and the Buddha are related. Rather than practicing - yes practicing - basic Buddhist meditative investigations.
“Rejecting non-self” which is really an absurd thing to say, is really just you questioning one of the core tenets of Buddhism. In fact without it, none of the practice makes sense.
The rejection of one of the core tenants of Buddhist practice and the embrace of weird WW2/Buddhist aesthetics remains somewhat perplexing to me. Although, in a way, it doesn't.
It's a symptom of that main problem with most people: laziness.
No one wants to practice. Everyone wants a rub on the belly for appearing "based" with their new speshul, very naughty vocabulary and swastika Buddhist aesthetic pictures. Fine i guess?
As a teacher of mine once said, "Almost no one will put in the work, they’re fucking useless." And how right he was.
They'll read, theorise, and argue, but no one will work.
A shame for them, really. Non-self is one of the great jewels of the Buddha's teaching. It's staggering someone would reject the chance for this realisation, about the very nature of consciousness itself, for some entertaining though ultimately nonsense book by Miguel Serrano, for example. Or any book in buddhism for that matter. We’re not accountants, we need to practice.
I hope I can show that the notion of non-self can be understood intrallekshually and experientially - with relative ease in the case of the former.
Until next week,
-A