Nervous system health gets very little attention these days. It’s all about the heart, brain even the bones, but what about the nerves? Your nerves are like the phone line between your brain and the rest of your body, including your sex organs. Over time your nerves can become weak through viral infections, heavy metals in our water/food supply and excess cortisol that gets pumped through our body during times of stress. When your nerves weaken, you may become more sensitive to temperature and loud noises, you may become a “light sleeper” and experience insomnia. You also might experience a low sex drive. However, not all hope is lost here, there are ways to boost your nerves and get your sex drive back to where it should be. Here are the best tricks.
1. Diaphragmatic Breathing
Say what? Diaphragmatic breathing is the practice of breathing into your belly while your chest and shoulders remain relaxed. This helps in activating the “vagus nerve” which is the biggest nerve in the body. It runs from your brain, down in front of your ears, all the way to your genitals. It controls all your major organs including digestion. Try relaxing your vagus nerve right now, you might notice your heart rate slow down and your stomach start to gurgle. When we are tense or stressed, the vagus nerve can’t do it’s job like digest your food or give you an orgasm. All of that takes a back seat when you’re being chased by a tiger. Over time you may develop weak vagal tone. Your diaphragm becomes weak, you become a weak breather. You need to build that back up by practicing diaphragmatic breathing. Breath in for the count of seven as if you are snoring. Block the back of your throat a little but by lifting the base of your tongue up a little bit. After that, hold your breath for about 4 seconds and then gradually breathe out for seven. This time lift your whole tongue to the roof of your mouth and release through your nose and mouth simultaneously. Repeat this for as long as you’d like making sure to keep your chest and shoulders in neutral and focus on filling your belly with air. Another helpful way to practice this is to hug a pillow against your stomach and focus on pushing into it.
2. Cold Showers
You might have heard of hot/cold therapy or “cryotherapy” if you follow any fitness blogs. Taking a cold shower or even dunking your head into cold water gets your blood pumping and if you have a weak nervous system, you will most likely have weak blood circulation. Studies show that regular “cryo” or cold therapy sessions can actually repair the central nervous system if it has been damaged. The low temperature activates your parasympathetic nervous system, resulting in a calming sensation in your body. You are in a way “exercising your nerves” making them more responsive over time. You can simulate cold therapy by switching the tap to cold for about 30 seconds at the end of your shower. You will hate it but after those 30 seconds you will feel ALIVE. It’s no wonder Tony Robbins jumps into an ice cold pool every morning. That’s where he gets his zest and energy. Strong nerves directly relate to a strong sex drive, so do your nervous system workout everyday.
3. Supplements
There are a few supplements that will actually help rebuild the myelin sheath which is at the end of your nerves and keeps them protected. Unfortunately, sometimes these nerve protectors get damaged from viruses such as shingles, excess adrenaline, also known as stress and vitamin deficiencies. To build back your nerve power be sure to take an Omega 3 supplement everyday. Make sure that it is plant based and not fish-based. The fish oil is doing more harm than good because of all the heavy metals being released as factory waste into the oceans. Use an algae oil and you will get the same, if not more benefits as fish oil. Another excellent supplement is barley grass juice powder. Not only is it good for you all around, but it has the vitamins and minerals needed to repair and strengthen nerves. It’s also imperative that you get on a b12 methylcobalamin/adenosylcobalamin blend. Methylcobalamin feeds your organs, adenosylcobalamin feeds the nerves. There are some herbs that will calm your nerves but not necessarily fortify or strengthen them. These include: passionflower, hops, lemon balm and lavender. Try rubbing some lavender oil onto your temples before you go to sleep. Lemon balm and passionflower are readily available in tea form and hops can usually be found in a tincture. These herbs won’t heal your nerves, but they will make you a little more relaxed in order for healing to take place.
4. Heart Rate Monitors
Our nervous systems are constantly under attack. We live in a society that teaches our nervous system to be in a constant “fight or flight” mode. It’s low grade but over time can make us exhausted and perpetually nervous wrecks. You want to get into a “rest and digest” mode as often as possible. Just because you are “relaxing” doesn’t mean your parasympathetic nervous system is truly activated. One thing that can help with calming your nerves is a heart rate monitor. No, this isn’t just for old men anymore. Younger people are more stressed out than ever and these devices can show you when you are in fight or flight versus when you are calm and you may be surprised how often you think a tiger is chasing you. This gives you a measure of how you should be feeling most of the day. You might even be meditating and still stressing out. This could be seriously affecting your sex drive. Try it out and see what results you get, most people are shocked at what gets their heart racing and it’s usually for the silliest reasons. If you feel kind of strange hooking yourself up to a heart monitor, then try other ways to relax such as meditation, binaural beats or Epson salt baths. Give yourself the chance to unwind and forget your worries of the day.
