Nervines & Nervous System Support | Traditional Ways to Calm the Body and Mind

Maggie (00:03.03)
Now are those like the same areas where they do like the acupuncture?

Meara (00:09.24)
Similarly, I believe researchers aren't sure why these this helps with some people, but studies suggest that it may help reduce the feelings of stress.

They are similar to points used in acupressure and traditional Chinese medicine, but I don't think that they are the actual pressure points used in Chinese medicine. so that's something I'm gonna have to do do more research on, but it does definitely take my mind away from from from what I'm doing. That's for sure. So that's

Maggie (00:46.4)
I also think that that movement is is very helpful. you know, it's I I say to my kids all the time, I'm like, just just shake it out if you like, you know, when they get upset or, you know, something's just going wrong. I'm like, just shake it out. Just shake it out of yourself. But it's true if you know it's like, you know, maybe it's the same kind of idea as, you know, the shock of the

Meara (00:53.014)
It does.

Maggie (01:13.624)
cold or, you know, the tapping. It's just getting your your mind to move in the world. Yeah. And it's all I did.

Meara (01:15.373)
Yeah.

Meara (01:19.276)
Rewiring your brain. Mm-hmm. Have you ever wondered why it is. Have you ever wondered why women have been humming for centuries? Like it naturally slows your breath and it

Maggie (01:33.704)
All of them do have, don't they?

Meara (01:38.944)
And it lengthens your exhale. researchers think that the vibration may stimulate parts of the vagus nerve, which is involved in calming the body's stress response. But honestly, when my house is chaotic, I'm not thinking about my vagus nerve. I'm just trying not to lose my patience. So if I'm standing there and my kids are just constantly screaming and yelling, I will just like if I'm doing the dishes, like you just said, movement. Sometimes I'll move and I'll just hum, but not the hmm, hmm. It's a hmm, like a

louder hum, you know, to just kinda distract myself, but it is my breath that is exhaling. it's just kinda natural. because you know my house isn't quiet. And

Maggie (02:09.409)
Right. Yeah.

Maggie (02:16.631)
I wonder too if that has anything to do with, you know, vibrations also. I'm not sure what kind of vibration our our humming really but yeah, that's that's interesting.

Meara (02:24.494)
Mm-hmm. I'm sure.

Meara (02:29.334)
It does. I'm almost for certain it does. I'm almost for certain it does.

Maggie (02:33.333)
I mean, just thinking back I I can remember, you know, women that I that I would spend time around, my mom and my grandma and my neighbor and they all hum.

Meara (02:46.604)
Yeah, we were doing this long before anybody called it the central nervous system regulation. So it was already in place. It's just that nowadays we come up with names for, cool, this is new, nervous system regulation. No, it's always been nervous system regulation. It's just hasn't been that much sound in the background, you know?

Maggie (03:06.613)
It feels nice too when you do it. I I don't hum.

Meara (03:10.914)
I hum. I I

Maggie (03:12.737)
But I I just kinda just did it a little bit and it is it is nice and I'll have to start start doing that.

Meara (03:21.272)
Humming and breath. Breath is probably has a l I feel like breath would have the most research back behind it. slow breathing has can

Maggie (03:27.805)
I learned this. I was listening to a podcast on there's a there's a facility in Virginia that is based on the teachings of Edgar Casey. I'm not sure if

Meara (03:40.502)
My mom goes to that in Chesapeake Bay.

Maggie (03:44.876)
I don't know. I just know it's in Virginia. It's near Virginia Beach.

Meara (03:46.86)
Virginia Beach. Yes, my mom went there. Every time we would go there. Swear to God. She would always leave. Yes. He has

Maggie (03:50.472)
He's out of town. Edgar Casey is like my gosh. The just do do some research on Ed Edgar Casey because the the things that he could do and wow and castor oil big into that as well. but I was listening to a c podcast and a woman that worked there, she was actually being interviewed. The podcast is run through the same facility, but they were interviewing

Meara (04:05.314)
Yes.

Meara (04:19.264)
Okay. Wow.

Maggie (04:20.245)
that that works at the facility. And she was talking about breath work and there was this exercise where she said where when you breathe in, start with your stomach and then move it to the base of your ribs, or I mean I'm sorry, the base of your lungs, and then up to the top of your lungs. And then when you exhale you you bring it down the same way from the top of your lungs

to the base of your lungs and then into your stomach. And wow, it it does a lot. And you know, she was also talking about movement, how I forget I forget what the term is, but no, it's there's a term for this. But because we move our bodies all the time, but we don't think about it. So if you sit there and you're still, you know, raise your left arm.

Meara (04:57.241)
my gosh.

Meara (05:02.926)
Do you go back like this?

Maggie (05:19.883)
And you're just feeling it. You're feeling everything that's working on raising your arm and putting it down. And like being conscious of that. And it's wow, but this breath, I've been doing this breath a lot and it's really helping me. You kind of have to think about it at first, but then all of a sudden it it becomes more natural.

Meara (05:28.95)
Yeah, self aware.

Meara (05:37.024)
My gosh, my

Yeah.

Yeah, she would go to some of their work that they would do at their center and then they had like this beautiful they have this beautiful garden center outside. She would sit and meditate in because she's big on meditation. Every morning she meditates. But she always h held this candle and have the candle turned on and set her intention and she would breathe.

Maggie (05:47.775)
I can't believe that.

Meara (06:03.17)
Just how you were saying? And I was always wondering what she was doing. Till date I didn't know, but I'm guessing that that's what she was doing. But she would always move back when she was breathing in and then kind of like move forward back into position. And I thought, that that was just so weird looking to me. But now it all starting to make sense. That is wild. it is.

Maggie (06:20.737)
That is so wild. It's so wild, Mira, that we grew up

Meara (06:27.976)
One street over.

Maggie (06:29.023)
So close to one another and and we knew each other. And I mean I I've I met your parents, you know, a handful of times, but how were we not like super best? I mean, obviously our creator has he like you said, he is the best of planners and we would not be where we're at today. We would not have the babies that we have today. But just think

Meara (06:36.258)
We're on the soccer team together. Yeah.

Connect in.

Meara (06:49.74)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Maggie (06:59.433)
If we grew up together and everything that your you know, your mom was into and had information on, wow. It's just it's crazy. It's crazy.

Meara (07:11.0)
That is pretty wild. And I'm naturally a shallow breather. and when I'm stressed I know it gets worse. because you know my jaw starts to get tight and I'm I just I always find myself like

crippled up like like this and then it's just like okay sometimes when I'm driving I'm like man my shoulders hurt and I'm just like just relax your face let your face go let your shoulders drop and then I try to breathe lower into my belly and my ribs. And you know I think because I had those kids back to back so many times I became even more of a shallow breather because I couldn't use my stomach to breathe. I was pregnant with them. So I I do that box breathing. I'll inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four and just repeat it until I can like start feeling

Maggie (07:43.754)
Okay.

Meara (07:52.32)
my heart slowing down and my shoulders relaxing and and that's usually enough to help me. And like these you can do these in the car. just breathing. And I'm not saying sit there and like if if you need concentrate on driving please but you can sit there and count and breathe in deep and hold it and then you know release it and

Maggie (08:05.8)
Yes.

Maggie (08:11.745)
Well that's where I was in the car when I was listening to that. I was I was on the way to to my doctor's office. and and that's when I I started doing it. I was just like, Wow, like this is amazing. And it was a great drive.

Meara (08:25.198)
It's amazing. Breath is amazing. Breath work is amazing. Yeah. It really helps.

That's wild. You know, I also want to say this as a nurse because I think it's important. so even I've had recent moments where I've experienced chest tightness, where I kind of get confused, like, is this heart? Am I having heart like, you know, heart problems or I've always had heart palpitations, but I've noticed them getting worse, and a bit anxious, feeling like something wasn't always right. So

Even as a nurse, I wasn't sure. So don't automatically assume that everything is stress related. You need to get checked out. This is where doctors come in and why I respect them so much. Know your blood pressure. Know your labs and know your baseline. And talk with your healthcare provider about it. As we age, things change. But if we have a baseline with where to start, if something does happen, at least you'll say, Well, this is my baseline. Where do we go from here?

Because if everything comes back normal, then that's helpful information. Now you know. But if something isn't normal, then you've caught it early. And I really believe that natural support and modest modern medicine to a point can work together. you know, it it's just it's a it's a fine line, but

I'm one of both, trying to move away from clinical. But use the T, use the grounding, use the tapping, breath work, but also don't be scared to use your doctor and use your voice. so you now have these tools that are available to you. And again, I think that's what our conversation comes down to is just paying attention, noticing your body and where you're carrying more stress than we realize we're carrying. Notice when we're rushing through every part of your day.

Maggie (10:01.176)
Yeah. Yeah.

Meara (10:19.312)
just start thinking about these things when you catch a moment. I'm so stressed and then think to yourself, Well, this happened today and this happened today and just kinda relax and be in the moment. Give yourself permission. You have permission to slow down for a minute. A minute. A cup of tea.

Maggie (10:19.863)
Mm.

Maggie (10:34.666)
Yes, you do. Yes. And you do as much as it doesn't feel like you don't have the time, you have the time. You do. And I do wanna to make a a point to say don't forget about those essential oils too. And this is where a lot of my my beloved fragrant not fragrances, but oils, you know, shine.

Meara (10:41.922)
You do. Yeah. Small things.

Meara (10:51.214)
Mm-hmm.

Meara (10:56.12)
Ha ha ha.

Maggie (11:01.036)
your frankincense and sandalwood, myrrh, vetiver, patchouli. I I don't typically use patchouli because it's I use it at home, but I don't like wear it on myself because I just it's associated so much with like the seventies and hippies and that sort of thing and I just feel like it's kind of a cliche for me to me to use it, but

My husband will wear it every once in a while and it's just it's so lovely. And he wears cedar wood and cedar wood's another great one too. And you just they they can help a lot. So don't forget those essential oils.

Meara (11:35.04)
I love that one. That smells so good.

Meara (11:44.95)
Yes, so keep in mind the small things and sometimes that's all we ex exactly what we really need. And if you'd like to learn more about any of the herbs or practices we talked about today, be sure to check out the links and resources that we've included below.

We've gathered some research behind Tulsi, chamomile, passion flyer, pla passion flower, tapping, grounding, and other topics that we've covered in today's conversation. And if you know another woman who's been caring a lot lately, please share this episode with a fellow woman folk. These conversations grow because we pass them along to other women. And if you're enjoying what we're building here at Women Folk Revival, we'd love for you to follow the podcast so you don't miss future episodes. And next week is a special one.

We're talking about our ancestors, where we came from, and the path that eventually led us to here at Women Folk Revival. The stories, the roots, and the things that keep us calling back. So until then.

Maggie (12:43.65)
Stay rooted and stay wild.

Meara (12:46.762)
Stay wild.