Pilates Nausea?

Why am I experiencing nausea during my pilates roll down?

While we know to expect some additional soreness in previously undiscovered places, becoming nauseous can be a real turn-off to attacking that little muffin top at the top of your yoga pants.

Sometimes nausea can be an indication of some underlying medical condition requiring a consultation with your physician, but more often the Vagus nerve, or Cranial Nerve X, is the one to blame! The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve, and has many branches to many parts of the body.

It is responsible for relaying a vast amount of sensory information from the thoracic and abdominal organs. There are many direct and indirect connections from the vagus nerve to and from the brain.

The diaphragm is supplied with nerves from a branch of the vagus nerve called the celiac plexus, AKA solar plexus. The vagus nerve makes us feel nauseous because it is categorized as a parasympathetic nerve, and that is its role. When activating the diaphragm in a sudden contraction, a person may feel nauseous (activation of the vagus nerve). After the stimulus subsides, the nerve recovers and the nauseous effect goes away.

So, next time you start your pilates roll down and get a little queasy, take a deep breath, have a sip of water and look down again at that muffin top to firm up your resolve.

Really feel bad? Here is a 1 minute video to show you an accupressure technique to help

https://youtu.be/KcZs6BYFyTo