In the early part of her career, Melanie Weller saw mostly patients who'd gone through several other treatment systems without symptom relief. Treating this population put her in a position to consider vagus nerve symptoms as a means for addressing a road block of sorts in their body. In this podcast, she discusses

• Common manifestations of vagus nerve pain and the connection with our horizontal system,
• Behavioral connections to vagus nerve problems such as an increase in our "flight and fight" reactivity, and
• Therapeutic methods and treatments for vagus nerve anatomy.

Melanie Weller has been a physical therapist for about 25 years. She tells listeners about her gradual discovery of vagus nerve importance and how it even lends itself to stress management. When she began her career treating people who had not had success elsewhere, there was so much to address that she would start with one or two things she could do that would clear a large segment of issues, such as range of motion. She found her work with the vagus nerve produced dramatic results.

She explains that the vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve, coming out of the brain stem and progressing all the way down the spinal cord. It enervates our vocal cord, heart, digestive system, and sweat glands. She adds that it is our "grace under pressure" system as well and is dialed down when we experience "fight and flight" reactions. Therefore, she discusses the emotional crossover with this system. Treating the vagus nerve effectively can therefore lend itself to elevated stress management techniques. These days, she is mainly seeing clients through online formats and is still able to offer effective treatment. She says that there's nothing better than helping someone get rid of pain and limitations they've been dealing with a long time. She's currently looking for research partners and working on a book.

See her website for more: melanieweller.com. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK