In EP 3602 of The Strong Life Project, Shaun O’Gorman breaks down the concept of vagal authority and why some people can walk into pressure, conflict, or chaos and instantly change the energy in the room. This is not charisma, status, or volume. It is nervous system regulation, the capacity to stay grounded and connected while your body wants to spike into fight, flight, or shut down.

Shaun explains what the vagus nerve does in plain language and why calm is not a personality trait, it is a trained physiological skill. The vagus nerve is a major two way communication pathway between brain and body that influences heart rate, breathing, digestion, and recovery.  When it is working well, it helps you downshift after stress, think clearly under load, and stay open to connection. Higher cardiac vagal activity and high frequency HRV are often linked with better self regulation and executive control.  When it is not, you might look fine on the outside but live wired, reactive, impatient, numb, or exhausted.

You will learn how vagal authority shows up in leadership, parenting, relationships, and high performance. The person with the most regulated nervous system often has the most influence, because people can feel safety or threat through tone, facial expression, pace, posture, and presence long before they hear your words.

This episode also challenges the trendy, oversimplified vagus hacks floating around online.  Shaun focuses on what actually builds capacity over time: consistent sleep and training, breath control, down regulation routines, emotional honesty, boundaries, and choosing behaviour over excuses.

If you have been stuck in high alert, snapping at people you love, or feeling flat and disconnected, this is your reset. Listen in, identify your patterns, and start building the kind of authority that makes people trust you without you having to demand it. At the end, Shaun gives a drill you can use in 60 seconds to rehearse regulation.

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