#41- How to get past the challenging days. The Vagus nerve and lymphatic flow

How do I get past the challenging days and stay motivated? Find out how in this episode.
How important is the Vagus nerve? What do you know about it?
What is the big 6 when it comes to our lymphatic system? Get that lymph moving!!

Check out these videos here:

Lymphatic Flow

What is the Vagus Nerve?

Stimulate the Vagus Nerve to decrease inflammation

XO- Jennie

Transcript

 Hello. Hello my friends. I am Jenny Lynn and this is my show. I am a wife and mom of two crazy kiddos. I have struggled many years with chronic illness and pain. I have a passion to find out as much as I can while navigating through life, not always feeling 100%. I have realized that having a positive mindset is a must in today's crazy.

You deserve to live this life showing up as your best self, and I can help you get there. If you've been feeling lost after becoming a mom, you're not alone. I know that incredible woman is still in there just begging to be found. I am here to create a safe, non-judgmental space for like-minded women.

Let's empower each other. I am so happy you're here. Now let's jump into the 1 23 Mom Squad podcast with. Jenny Lynn.



Hello, my beautiful, healthy friends. And welcome back to another episode of the 1, 2, 3 moms squad podcast. Today. I want to talk from the heart. I have been feeling a little bit, um, sick the past week or so just, you know, congested, sore throat. I've been going through some, some health things. If you've heard the past few episodes. 

With  just some abdominal pain and stuff that I'm going through.  So today I'm just going to talk from the heart and what might be on my mind. And , when I'm sick. I have a hard time. I find it very challenging for me to get back into the swing of things because I'm sitting on the couch with my dogs, rusting. 

And while I know that rest is crucial. And very, very important to our wellbeing and to staying in. Getting healthy. Um, it is very challenging. To get back to work. And especially where I live, it is extremely cold. Right now. There is no sunshine. It is snow and what, and today it was sleeting and just hailing. 

So there's nothing that gets me up to make me want to go outside or at least get some sunshine. Cause there isn't any. So there's a lot of things that prevent me from feeling motivated and I find that extremely challenging. So when I have days like this, I tell my myself, remember why you started. And that kind of gets my gears moving, whether it's my body, which is hard when I'm not feeling good. So. 

 I can still do things I can read. I can watch a YouTube video and I can still learn and educate myself. So this way I'm not just sitting there rotting my brain, watching Netflix and while a good Netflix series is good for the soul. It's not something that you want to do all the time. 

Because it can make you feel worse. And feel unproductive. And then that kind of holds you back and makes you feel even worse, you know, just mentally and emotionally. You're like, oh, I just wasted another whole day. So maybe you can say, Hey, listen, I'm going to take an hour and I'm going to watch a good flick or I'm going to, you know, find a new series. 

Oh, I'm going to just scroll my social media because yeah. You know what? It's okay to do that, but it's not okay to do it all the time or all day long. So you want to still be productive. Remember why you started, you want to make a difference. And that is me. I want to make a difference and I am here because I want to make a difference in your life. 

And I want to give you. Pointers. How and how you can make a difference in your life, because we all want to live our best lives. We all want to be the best versions of ourselves for us and for our family and for our loved ones, because we want to show up. The way that we were meant to, we don't want to just live our lives and go through the same mundane things over and over again. 

Life is not meant to be lived like that. Right. So when you find yourself on challenging days, Even if you are getting over an illness or you're just, you know, sick or whatever the case may be. If you can get out into the sun, if it's available to you, because that right away. I will boost your energy, boost your all your dopamine, everything it's going to make you feel good. 

Get out into the sunshine. I did mention this in one of, or a couple of my podcasts, I believe last season. Um, And in one of my newsletters, but I found a mood. I believe it's called like a mood light. I found it on Amazon. I think it was like $35. It helps to  simulate the sunshine so you can still get 

 That needed light that the sun gives off. So we can still go through our circadian rhythm and our bodies are still trying to function. As they were meant to in a 24 hour period, and you can set the brightness to it and it goes on for an hour. You don't want to look directly at it. You just want to have it on like in the room and it does help really. It does. Um, so I would suggest something like that. 

If you are living in a place that is colder and depressing during these long winter months, as I do. So you can try that. Um, Get out of just get out a plain piece of paper sometimes and a pencil. And you don't even have to write because sometimes if you're feeling blue and you just kind of blend. You, the last thing you want to do is write and thank because it literally hurts your brain. 

And I totally get that. So maybe you can just start scribbling, you can start doodling and that just kind of sets that creative part of your brain off. And you never know what may become of that piece of paper. So get those creative juices flowing and if anything, right down at the top of it, remember why I started, remember why you started. 

That phrase for me a few years ago. When I was kind of like doing like the beach body thing a 21 day fix, I put that on. My bathroom mirror. So I S I looked at it every single day. I looked at it when I got, you know, got ready in the morning and it really did kind of kickstart my day, like, yeah, you know what? This is why. 

I'm doing this because I want to feel. You know, I want to feel my best. I want to look my best. I want to perform my best and be at my best ability when I am capable to do so. On days that you are. Get going, get your button and gear and you can do this, even if it's not a, you know, you don't have to go full speed ahead. 

Do what you can do for the time that your body is feeling good. And again, it doesn't have to be something physical. You don't have to go to the gym and lift weights. If you can go outside and go take your dog for a walk. If you're stuck inside.  You can literally just walk around your house or if you have stairs utilized your stairs. 

You can get some cans from your pantry and you can lift weights. You can go on YouTube. There are tons of videos out there. You can do some stretching. There's so many different ways that you can still move your body. In a way that feels good that isn't going to injure yourself. There are lots of videos on chair yoga. 

Which is really good for those people that can't get onto the floor. So,  those are amazing. You can find anything on YouTube. And again for any, for anybody who doesn't really feel like doing anything physical when you're kind of, excuse me, feeling. You know, just feeling, um, just feeling sick. 

Pick a book up, pick a book up, even if you want to sit down and maybe. Um, watch a educational, YouTube video. Um, and how to stimulate your vagus nerve. You guys, the Vegas nerve, I've been learning so much more and I'm going to try and find somebody a professional who can come on the show to really talk about the Vegas nerve. 

So just YouTube it Google it. It is so crucial to keep this nerve.  Stimulated. It helps our body function from head to toe all day long. Um, Our lymphatic system, YouTube lymphatic flow, and the six big points. You have to do them in order to help your lymph float. So, um, I just watched a video on how maybe I'll try and fight it and put it in the show notes. If you guys are doing dry brushing, and this is something that I also did a podcast on, I believe it was like the second episode of my first season. 

Um, When you dry brush. As I had learned you dry brush from your, your bottom of your feet. Kind of in a slow circular motion moving up towards your heart. So you would start at like your ankle come up to your legs. And then you would go from like your wrists up to your shoulders and then your stomach up to your heart. And so on. 

However, now I have learned that doing it like that is actually not doing anything because if you, if you have a blocked live. In one of those areas that, that the other lymph isn't going to flow through it. So you have to clear the blockage in order. And then do the dry brushing. So there is actually something that you need to perform prior to doing your dry brushing. 

And it's like, you have to, it's a tapping. Rubbing motion and I'm going to, um, I'm hoping I don't, I don't get this wrong, but it's, it's, you're like you would do your neck by your collarbone and then it is, um, your jaw line. And then behind like the ear. And then your stomach. And then wait, not your stomach. I'm sorry.

Let's see it's collar. Jaw. Ear. Your, , Axillary. So your arm pits. Then your abdominal abdominals. Uh, your stomach and then the creases in between your legs, by your groin and then behind your knees. So you're going to tap and rub those areas. Open those lymphatic points up and then once those are open, then you would go ahead and perform your dry brushing. 

So I'm going to try and find a video. The one that I saw, and I will put that in the show notes. So you guys can see that. These are things that you can learn about. When you're just, you know, sitting on a couch or you're just feeling yucky. Learn. Educate yourself. , these are really important things that we all need to do to our bodies to help optimize our health. And so we can perform. 

Our best, even if we are struggling with the chronic illness and these are things we should and could be doing every single day and doing that, you are going to feel a ton difference because you won't, sometimes you're not going to physically see, like people think like, oh, if I have swollen lymph nodes, I'm going to see it. 

Or I'm going to feel it, or have lymphedema or swelling in my ankles. No, not necessarily. So I would encourage you to take a look at these videos. And start doing it, give it, you know, try it for a couple of weeks and just see how you feel and how your body feels. Hey, you never know. You're never going to feel any better or any different if you don't do anything different. 

Nothing is going to change. So if you want to see different results and you want to feel better, you have to do something different. Okay. So I'm going to keep this short because I don't feel so hot, but I wanted to get this information out there for you. And I will be back next week with another good episode. And, um, don't forget to check out my website. I have some cool new features on there. If you haven't had a chance to check out my children's book, the adventures of spiky and alien, you guys had so cute. 

And I know some of, you know, the story, but I created those characters when I was nine years old and I have been trying them ever since they have been such a big part of my life. And I knew that they needed to be in a book. Um, and you know, it's timing is just everything. And now my daughter was able to help me with the illustrations and the expressions on these characters. She's my little artist. She's my little. 

Helper with the illustrations and it was so great to have her join me in this process. So, yeah. And I'm currently working on the second book. And you can catch the book. You can grab a copy on Amazon or the publisher's website, which is, imagine we publishers.com. It is in the show notes as well. You can take a look at it. It's super fun. I've got some, some cool reviews up on my website and you can see them on Amazon or the publisher's website as well. 

I am starting a mentorship program too. You can send me an email. If you are interested in that some one on one support and how to live and love your best life despite your chronic illnesses. You guys, it is possible. It is possible for you. If it was possible for me. I got you. You know, we can do this together. Support is everything, especially when it comes from a person who has been in your shoes. 

So that is it. That is all I got for today. Keep going your rockstar.