The Role of the Vagus Nerve in the Mind-Body Connection

Transformational life coach Peter Winslow possesses more than 15 years of experience in helping people make radical life changes. Since launching his Scottsdale, Arizona-based life-coaching company, GoldMind, LLC, Peter Winslow has raised awareness of the mind-body connection and its impact on healing, pain management, and emotional well-being. 

The vagus nerve, a cranial nerve that runs from the base of the brain to the digestive system, is a crucial part of the mind-body connection. The nerve is involved in processing tactile sensations and managing muscle movements and heart rate. 

Taking deep breaths causes the vagus nerve to release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is vital for the body’s relaxation response. However, if the myelin sheath that wraps around the vagus nerve is weakened, it can slow signals between the brain and the rest of the body. 

This weakening of the myelin sheath can be a result of several factors, including diet and sleep quality. A weak or impaired vagus nerve has been linked to depression and low stress tolerance. Eating a balanced diet and practicing deep breathing are thought by some experts to strengthen the vagus nerve.

Differences Between Qi Gong and Tai Chi

An accomplished author and life coach in Scottsdale, Arizona, Peter Winslow stands out as the author of four books about health and personal development. In his personal life, life coach Peter Winslow maintains his own sense of wellness by practicing tai chi and qi gong.

Two of the most popular spiritual and physical practices to emerge from ancient China, both tai chi and qi gong focus on manipulating “qi,” which is the Chinese term for the essential life energy that flows through all living things. Though historians debate the precise origins of the disciplines, most scholars agree that qi gong is the older of the two practices, dating back to the 8th century BC.

Though the two practices are similar in origin and intent, tai chi and qi gong have several differences. Perhaps the biggest of these differences lies in the complexity of motion. While tai chi involves a series of fairly complex movements, qi gong focuses on simplicity and precision. Additionally, tai chi’s movements are more akin to those found in combative martial arts.

Furthermore, tai chi’s complex motions are given form through choreography and specific progressions, which again suggests the practice’s more martial in nature. Qi gong, on the other hand, is less prescriptive, with practitioners focusing more on the meditative aspects of the movements than a specific progression or structure.

Luck of the Draw?

Hello I’m Peter Winslow, a life coach in private practice. In my practice as a life coach I often encounter people eager to maintain that “luck” is the most powerful indicator for personal outcomes regarding an individual’s health and wellness.

It’s all due, they say, to the environment into which we’re born into. It’s the luck of winning or losing the genetic lottery; the fortune of whom we meet and who comes into our lives on a personal level; the grace of which tax bracket we fall into; on and on it goes.

Still others will tell me there's no such thing as luck—yet they’ll agree it sure feels like an apt descriptor of the conditions and situations they find themselves in.

As for outcomes, it is readily apparent that people look to the future from the perspective of their previous experiences and current circumstances. When being unhappy, the future is dim and `challenging; when joyous and elated, triumph is all but carved in stone.

The difference is found in our own personal biases which determine how we feel about whatever actually occurs. Knowing this, it becomes obvious that we tend to attract what we expect and therefore focus on. The upshot here? The days to come will be great for those who create greatness within themselves.

As such, nothing happens to you, until it happens through you. You are the filter through which your current experiences pass from perception into reality. The wise have often written that we always stand at a fork in the road; we choose our path and can only experience the result of that choice.

Which path will you choose?

 –Peter Winslow

Part 3: Can My Thoughts Really Affect My Health?

I’m life coach Peter Winslow. Throughout my years in practice I’ve worked with many people who believe that what they think about has little if anything to do with their physical health. If you agree, buckle your seat belt because you’re about to discover a whole new reality.

Consider this: thoughts in the mind create changes in the body, many of which we can easily observe. For instance, if you see or hear something that you find embarrassing, you might "blush" and your face turn red. That's a good example of a chemical change that happens in the body in response to your thoughts.

Our thoughts produce physical reactions, many with predictable results. Sexual thoughts can create responses in the anatomy that are easy to observe; creepy thoughts will make your skin crawl and your hair stand on end. Scary and stressful thoughts cause us to secrete catecholamines, the stress hormones including cortisol and adrenalin that must be burned off regularly to prevent ongoing tissue damage.

Conditions like hypertension, stroke, ulcerative colitis, heart disease and many other health challenges are clearly impacted by mental stress, establishing the fact that there's a link between our thoughts and the internal chemical reactions that affect how we feel and how we heal. This is called the "mind-body connection."

Every day we feel our bodies respond to our thoughts and subconscious beliefs. Unfortunately, attitudes like anger, jealousy, resentment and guilt are stressors that can create grave consequences for our health and well-being. These emotions deplete a lot of the energy we need to maintain healthy immune function.

Emotional stress is a problem which worsens the pain and symptoms of chronic illness. Now researchers are discovering that we can reverse chronic illnesses through changing our beliefs and behaviors, which are the central factor in our own health outcomes. The good news is that your body is designed to heal itself naturally and keep you healthy. Your job is to get your mind on board to help it succeed.

-Peter Winslow, Life Coach, Counselor and Trainer

Part Two: Can My Thoughts Really Affect My Health?

I’m life coach Peter Winslow. When I look back to my days with Ankylosing Spondylitis, I realize that deep and heavy emotional stress was constantly with me, which weakened my immune system and made my body more susceptible to chronic illness.

By releasing the deep-seated toxic emotions and buried stress I carried, I helped my body do what it is originally designed to do—repair itself.

Only now, years after recovering from the symptoms of Ankylosing Spondylitis, do I truly understand the role that toxic, stressful emotions play in creating and sustaining chronic conditions.
You might think the daily challenges of your life are stressful, but how you respond to those challenges is what counts. What we refer to as “distress” is the type of stress universally recognized as a primary cause of illness.

Distress is often an emotional response that affects the body. As the body becomes so stressed that it begins to break down, the immune system can no longer repair the damage.
This is because under stress, the cells in your body don't take in proper amounts of oxygen, water or nutrients. They don't release wastes and toxins, and they don't communicate to other cells with messages intended to help keep your body healthy.

However, stop fomenting the distress and you assist your cells to move out of their defensive mode and into normal growth mode. Your immune system then works to rid you of illnesses and protect your from creating new ones.

Your body is designed as a perfect healing machine, but only when it is not forced into the defensive position brought on by mental and emotional stress. How to stop that defensiveness is something you really should know about.

–Peter Winslow

Part One - Can My Thoughts Really Affect My Health?

I’m Peter Winslow. As a life coach I’ve worked with all types of people seeking solutions, but here’s an example of one who really surprised me. I was completely taken aback when she claimed, "I know exactly why I got cancer!"

She went on to explain how she realized that the stressful issues in her marriage had compromised her health and helped to create her illness.

My surprise came from the fact that this particular woman describes herself as an atheist, and  strongly believes that illness happens strictly at random.

As for the notion that "our thoughts influence our reality" she still considers it to be a steaming load of excrement, although now she is beginning to examine her own internal biases.

She's not alone; many people believe their thoughts and feelings have absolutely nothing to do  with their health, how they feel, or their healing outcomes.

When I suggested to her that we all can learn to think in a way that helps us be healthier, she  responded with vehement anger that I certainly don't know what it's like to be ill.

Well, I do in fact know exactly what it's like.

When I look back to my days with Ankylosing Spondylitis, I remember the anger, resentment, guilt, depression and other suppressed emotions I held. I didn't really understand what caused these feelings at the time because I was in the midst of living them, and coping with the constant, chronic pain of a cruel and punishing autoimmune disorder.

If someone had told me then that I was in any way responsible for my own condition, they wouldn't have wanted to stick around for my reply. But there is a wonderful silver lining to the story. If you’d like to know what it is, stick around for the next segment.

–Peter Winslow

Breaking Up

I’m life coach and counselor Peter Winslow, and the subject of my last entry was breaking up with a significant other. In that post we saw that our break-ups can signify a new beginning and lead to a stronger and clearer relationship with the most important person in your life—you.

To focus on the bright side of any breakup, use these helpful tips:

- Clean and organize your personal space

This helps you feel refreshed and prepared for new things to come. A messy environment can be stifling and depressing, and can increase mental stress. Keep yourself moving by organizing your space, which will enable you to focus and keep you from recycling past pain. As simple as this sounds, it really does help you feel better about things.

- Remove memory triggers

We are surrounded by "triggers" that can push our buttons without us even knowing it. As you clean and organize your space, be sure to remove everything that may possibly trigger a headache or heartache. If you have keepsakes which remind you of the good aspects of your relationship, there's nothing wrong with keeping them, but put them away for later when you've had enough time to release the negative or painful feelings.

- Hold a symbolic ceremony

As you clean out your personal space, gather everything that reminds you of your last relationship and have a ceremony of closure. You can throw away the items, burn them (safely, please) or donate them to a deserving charity. As you do, give a eulogy to the relationship and express it out loud. You'll soon find that as you clear your space of things from the past, you create brand new space to receive what you truly want and deserve.

 –Peter Winslow

Say What?

I’m life coach Peter Winslow. Lately we’ve been talking about powerful strategies and deep philosophies that can and do make a huge impact in your life. And now for something completely different. If you’re ready for a little humor, try this on:

In the spirit of levity, here's what I wrote to an emailer who asked me (somewhat sarcastically) about Eckhart Tolle and the power of the “now” moment. If the time is always “now" she asked, then why would we plan to meet for your class this weekend or for that matter—why plan anything at all?

I recognized this as a playful attempt to “stump the chump” and thus responded:

“One may believe we actually plan ahead but in essence we are swept along by great winds of chance, not unlike tidal currents born of the relational circumstances presently sensed and beseeching non-emotively nor resistently to be carried on them and verily, to add our knowledge and strength to the dervish sirocco rather than endeavor in the ineffectual and nugatory vanity of navigating against such forces whilst occasioning to observe the natural processes of ‘what is’ by modeling our outward activities upon the summoning of knowledge not simply of when and how to interpret, but also when not to act, presume, assume, or subsume said actions and their consequences in a grand primeval plan of hindsight and the banality of blissful innocence used to confine the self in an orchestration of reverse inertia intent to tackle whatever positively insists on ‘now’ being dealt with.”

To which she responded: "I see..."

'Nuff said. Should the winds of chance ever sweep you into our community, I look forward to conversing with you as well.

 –Peter Winslow

This is Only a Test

Hello I’m life coach Peter Winslow. The following is a test conceived by Charles Schultz, the creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip. As a life coach I often give this test to my clients as a tool to empower their self-image and self-esteem. Are you ready?

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4. Name six people who have won the Nobel Prize.

5. Name the last five Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

How did you do?

The point here is that none of us really remember the headliners of yesterday. Yet these are no second-rate achievers; they are the best in their fields. But the applause eventually dies, awards tarnish, achievements are forgotten, and accolades and certificates get buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name one friend who helped you through a difficult time.

3. Think of five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Name three people who made you feel appreciated.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

That’s because the people who make a major difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones who most care.

The lesson? Don’t look back at the accolades you thought you should have gotten or the awards you should have won. Don’t even look back at the compliments you deserved to receive. Invest instead in a new tool for unlocking your potential and breaking through previous limitations. That tool is your ability to care, and to share it with someone who has never realized what for them is truly possible.

–Peter Winslow

Absolutely Remarkable Mind-Body Scientific Studies

I’m Peter Winslow, a life coach based in Scottsdale AZ. Whether you believe it or not, no matter what condition you are in, it turns out that every individual has the ability to improve their health by tapping into the body’s built-in healing resources.

I’d like to share some recent scientific studies that corroborate this statement. Here are just a few:

1. Through the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, eighty-two high school students in Kosovo participated in a randomized-controlled study which concluded that “…all students had experienced post-traumatic stress, flashbacks, nightmares, and symptoms of withdrawal and numbing in the war-torn area of Kosovo where 90% of the homes were burned and bombed and 20% of the children lost one or both parents.”

The small group settings used healing techniques including meditation, guided imagery, breathing exercises and biofeedback as well as self-expression through words, drawings, and movement. Following the program, the number of students having symptoms indicating post-traumatic stress disorder was significantly reduced from 18% to 100%.

2. Johns Hopkins Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (“CAM”) reported in a survey the following statistics relating to the use of complementary and alternative therapies (referred to as “CAM”):

• 40% of Americans use some form of complimentary or alternative therapy for chronic conditions

• CAM was most frequently used for pain control, and nearly 50% reported using CAM because their prescribed medications were ineffective

• More than half of these patients used dietary supplements or herbal therapies, and almost two-thirds of the patients found CAM to be helpful

• 30% to 70% of cancer patients who are inadequately treated by their physicians turn to CAM in the hope of curing or alleviating their pain

3. The Johns Hopkins Medicine and Digestive Center reports the following excerpts from a summary of integrative psychotherapy:

“We know that our minds can quickly jump to worst-case scenarios, worry, and self-defeating behaviors. We can feel overwhelmed… these thought patterns can lead to illness … as patients come to understand what triggers their pain, anxiousness… old patterns lose their hold… enabling changes… to move beyond prior limitations of thought and attitude.”

Also supporting the use of complementary and alternative therapies is a study of 23,000 adults by the National Institute of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

4. A study on Aging by Harvard Psychologist Ellen Langer concluded that thoughts about how old you are affect how old or young you feel and how your body responds, as reported in Newsweek. Subjects were put into an environment to simulate living 20 years ago; the participants actually felt as if their age had been turned back two decades. Outside observers noted that the subjects appeared to be younger and healthier than they were before the experiment.

I trust you find these conclusions to have relevance in your own life, and give you confidence that no matter what your condition, you really can improve the situation. 

–Peter Winslow, life coach

Three Helpful Steps for Developing Wealth Consciousness

As a life coach, Peter Winslow is known for driving results. Peter Winslow helps individuals remove the obstacles blocking them from their goals and gain better perspectives on their lives. One of the topics that he sometimes addresses is wealth consciousness. Because modern life often has people in survival mode, they tend to develop a poverty consciousness that is focused on living in scarcity. By developing a wealth consciousness, they can begin to live in abundance.

The first step in developing a wealth consciousness is to let go of the past stories that we use to convince ourselves we are not worthy of abundance. By letting go of the past, individuals become more aware of the present and the fact that they have a birthright to abundance.

Secondly, individuals need to take responsibility for their finances. Too often, people assume that they have money in their account without actually tracking its ebbs and flows. Knowledge is power and individuals begin to feel empowered when they take charge of their financial lives.

Thirdly, people should work on the relationships they have with their future selves. Individuals can imagine their future selves, who have already developed a wealth consciousness, and have a conversation with that person as motivation to keep working toward goals. Over time, we start to become those future selves we imagined.

Hello, I’m Peter Winslow. I’m a life coach in Scottsdale Arizona, and today I have a transformational message for you about your personal well-being.

You've heard the old saying before, which goes like this: use it, or lose it. This timeless advice is true on every level of your being.

In fact, you may not even know that physical exercise is necessary for keeping your brain sharp. It may sound odd, but neuroscientists tell us that physical exercise is absolutely critical for preventing Alzheimer's disease and dementia, enhancing stress reduction, and maintaining emotional well-being.

There are many types of exercise and movement. Interestingly, all share a rare and common outcome: exercise creates a state of inner balance and harmony by connecting your body, mind and spirit.

Hatha Yoga is well known for developing balance and harmony between body and mind. Posture, body mechanics, and correct breathing are the fundamental aspects, and Yoga is often cited as the optimal practice for spiritual healing. It incorporates mental flexibility with physical education and the laws of natural divinity.

Tai Chi and Qi Gung are Eastern movement practices that incorporate a series of gentle movements and soothing flow, making these techniques a good choice at any age. Many studies have proven that these simple practices produce a number of benefits for health and longevity, including pain control, self-empowerment and increased self-esteem, self-confidence and self-worth.

Weight bearing exercises are essential for bone density and muscle tone. Examples include dancing, gardening, and other hobbies which are also excellent choices for cardio-vascular health and emotional balance, as well as being effective strategies for long-term pain relief.

Recent research has shown that walking 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week may be the best exercise of all. Just taking a walk can benefit you in many ways, and lead to positive transformation in mind and body.

The key is to find the activities you like, and stick with them. Be sure to consult your doctor before you begin any exercise program.

- Peter Winslow

The Right Life Coach Makes a Big Difference

Hi, I’m Peter Winslow and I’ve been a life coach for many years. In that time I have met a lot of people who have no idea what a life coach does, let alone why anybody would choose to work with one. I'd like to take this opportunity to clear up any confusion you my have about personal life coaching.

If you experience problems in your life which you cannot fix—like a broken relationship, poor health issues, or uncertainty in your career and income—a life coach may be your best and fastest option for positive results.

You should know that the relationship between you and your coach is different than that of a client and therapist. Therapy entails seeking what has gone wrong, analyzing why it happened, understanding who did what to whom, and so on.

Coaching usually has no need for all that. We simply move from this moment forward with very little analysis or scrutiny of the past.

The therapeutic skills of psychologists or psychiatrists who are specially trained to treat neurosis and psychosis are not necessary for everyone. There is a growing number of people who simply need to slow down, "hear themselves think" and get the guidance they need to successfully identify and achieve their personal goals, as quickly as possible.

Effective coaches can develop a general overview of the client's disposition, well-being and overall quality of life in an hour or so. They become personal guides who offer positive motivation and support for replacing old or harmful habits with new and productive patterns for success.

Many coaches focus on emotional, social, educational, financial, and health-related concerns. This often includes training for self-empowerment, self-worth, self-esteem, stress reduction, emotional well-being, and spiritual healing.

Coaches and mentors:

*Are supportive and non-judgmental of the client, their beliefs and lifestyle.

*Help the client set realistic and appropriate goals.

*Facilitate the needs, motivations, desires, and skills that help the client make real and lasting changes.

*Utilize specific techniques to fit the client's personal needs.

*Observe, listen, ask questions and offer positive feeback.

*Supply the tools and techniques for personal success.

*Encourage a commitment to action for personal growth.

*Encourage and help clients develop their inborn talents and abilities.

*Possess qualifications and experience in the areas that their coaching is offered.