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Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve
- Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Autism
- Narrated by: Derek Botten
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
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Summary
The best-selling book on the topic — now in 13 languages.
This practical guide to understanding the cranial nerves as the key to our psychological and physical well-being builds on Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal Theory - one of the most important recent developments in human neurobiology. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience as a craniosacral therapist and Rolfer, Stanley Rosenberg explores the crucial role that the vagus nerve plays in determining our psychological and emotional states and explains that a myriad of common psychological and physical symptoms - from anxiety and depression to migraines and back pain - indicates a lack of proper functioning in the vagus nerve.
Through a series of easy self-help exercises, the book illustrates the simple ways we can regulate the vagus nerve in order to initiate deep relaxation, improve sleep, and recover from injury and trauma. Additionally, by exploring the link between a well-regulated vagus nerve and social functioning, Rosenberg’s findings and methods offer new hope that by improving social behavior it is possible to alleviate some of the symptoms at the core of many cases of autism spectrum disorders.
Useful for psychotherapists, doctors, bodyworkers, and caregivers, as well as anyone who experiences the symptoms of chronic stress and depression, this book shows how we can optimize autonomic functioning in ourselves and others, and bring the body into the state of safety that activates its innate capacity to heal.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
“Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve is Stanley Rosenberg’s personal expression of his insight into and appreciation of the role that vagal pathways play in the healing process by calming the body and enabling the body to welcome touch. By intuitively understanding this integrated process, Stanley has developed a system of manipulations that promote states of safety, allowing the body to retune the nervous system, thus optimizing behavior, mental health, and physiological homeostasis.... His powerful insights, metaphors, and treatment models are beautifully conveyed and archived.” (From the foreword by Stephen W. Porges, PhD, Distinguished University Scientist, Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, and professor of psychiatry, University of North Carolina)
“Stanley Rosenberg has put his encyclopedic clinical knowledge to work through the lens of the Polyvagal Theory, illuminating the path away from the underlying cause of so much of today’s disease: anxiety. A tour de force.” (Tom Myers, author of Anatomy Trains)
“An excellent and most valuable resource, written by one of the true masters in the field.” (Dr. Robert Schleip, director of the Fascia Research Group)
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- Nick
- 30-04-19
Fantastic but no PDF!?
There really needs to be a PDF with this audiobook. How else are you to learn the techniques taught in this book?
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58 people found this helpful
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- paula thompson
- 06-05-19
Very intresting
I cant belive there is no pdf, its essential, I have to Google medical names to know which body part is in the exercise. It's also read as though referencing images in the book. For example, the reader asks you to take a look at the migraine patterns and choose the one that most resembles your migraines then to follow the instructions for this one.
Exersizes in Part 2 is referenced throughout the book and is actually chapter 12. I had a long wait to find out what they were.
I recommend listern to chapter 12 1st then you know what hes talking about.
The info is very intresting and I've learnt loads. I will continue to look into polly vagus theory.
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38 people found this helpful
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- angela
- 02-06-19
Material missing!
The book is really interesting, almostvtoo good to be true in terms of the expeced results. The point is, for many of the hands on techniques and descriptions, there’s reference to pictures that do not come with
the book (most audiobooks of this kind do bring extra-material). Therefore, it is like buying half a book
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35 people found this helpful
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- flux
- 24-08-19
This should not be sold as an audiobook
I've been trying to persevere with the audiobook because I think the content is interesting. But I wouldn't have bought it if I'd realised that there was no way of accessing the illustrations online. The narrator makes several references to images. In my opinion the text should have been adapted for an audiobook or alternatively the images should be made available in PDF format.
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24 people found this helpful
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- Clare Smith
- 12-09-19
Great content missing PDF !
The poly vagul theory is enlightening and I would love to be able to practice the methods explained in the book. The audio comes without diagrams to follow so it gets an overall 1 star for this oversight, ...
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15 people found this helpful
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- Christie
- 13-10-19
Unreliable Narrator
I decided to return this book and buy the Kindle edition instead after losing confidence in the narrator. The book is quite technical and the narrator mispronounced several quite basic anatomical terms. As others have stated there are many referrals to the appendix which is not included as a pdf. The appendix comprises anatomical drawings which are necessary to make sense of the text.
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12 people found this helpful
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- taliesin
- 10-09-19
Incomplete
This book is incomplete. The practical exercises are contained in chapter 12. These really requires a pdf file to fully understand how to practice them . This is not provided.I feel more than a little ripped off.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Vanessa Ornella dos Santos
- 31-07-19
Extremely enlightening
I picked this book from the self-help shelf but was happily surprised with the science it contains, unlike most self-help books. I was even more happily surprised to see how easily it explains so many of the principles of craniosacral therapy without skipping the mandatory basic fundaments of anatomy and physiology of the autonomous nervous system and cranial nerves. I have been living with depression and many of the signs mentioned in the head of the hydra inventory and I have high expectations that the tips on this book will help me out antidepressants and other medications I have chronically used. The exercises worked like magic for me, at least in the short run.
This audioble is most likely a teaser for most readers to buy the paperback version of this book. I ended up buying a printed copy, as the full understanding of exercises obviously demand the visual aid of the pictures included in part two and annexes.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Emmazonian
- 16-04-19
****
Great book - I have now purchased the hard copy as well. I will be trying out the exercises
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6 people found this helpful
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- sam
- 22-12-19
absolutely fascinating
I have learned so much from this book . I am a therapist and reflexologist and rosenburgs teaching is priceless if you sincerely want to meet your clients where they are and help them
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4 people found this helpful
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- Change
- 17-01-20
Not useful as an audio book, not useful at all.
First of all, get a narrator with basic knowledge of how to pronounce medical and anatomical words. It's hard to give credence to a book when you are hearing so many words being so badly mispronounced.
Second, the entire first EIGHT hours are just a brochure/commercial for the last hour. It is not appropriate to refer to "Part 2" so many times in a book where you can not flip around to actually find that section. You have to sit through eight hours of useless stories/anecdotes, a little basic anatomical information and a huge build up to "the basic exercise." It's a 7:59:10 if you want to bother.
We also learn, about six hours in that the "real" exercises are too difficult to teach in a book, rather than an in person class, so what we are going to get, if we can bear another two hours of useless fluff, is a watered down, not nearly as successful exercise that was created for the book. Why spend 8 hours hyping up something that isn't even going to be provided?
The author is a massage therapist practicing in Europe, so perhaps is not aware that the advice he is giving massage therapists on how to asses and advise patients is illegal in the USA, would be considered practicing beyond their scope and would result in loss of license and possible criminal prosecution.
Glad audible has a return/refund feature.
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91 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 14-11-19
No PDF of Exercises
The PDF that accompanies this book does NOT include the exercises, as somebody else had stated on a review that does. It would be helpful to have them listed somewhere and perhaps even pictures to review. If I had to do it again, I would not get the audio version, just for that reason.
Besides that the information seems okay to me as a layperson, but a lot of it is anecdotal.
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49 people found this helpful
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- Elan Sun Star
- 12-09-18
Superb!!
Best book I’ve ever read in the arena of healing and hands-on therapy I never thought such a book could be so interesting and yet it appears that the central nervous system of all activities in the body and the brain in the emotions are related to the cranial sacral area and certain key functions. The fact that this book has self-help exercises so we don’t always have to go to an osteopath or cranial sacral specialist makes it exceptionally Thank you so much for this incredible book and all that it offers to balanced healing for mind body and spirit
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38 people found this helpful
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- Phil
- 08-09-18
Must have information for any therapist
Stanley Rosenberg explains Steven Porgeus' polyvagal nerve theory very well. He gives practical exercises to effectively, quickly and easily restore ventral vagal function. You may not understand anything that I've written so far.
I've been a chiropractor for 40 years. I think the concept in this book is invaluable for any practitioner and for every person.
The book has a large amount of time on individuals that Rosenberg has worked with. This part is not useful for most people. Chapter two and the last section of the exercises is incredibly useful and revelatory. I wish I had this knowledge when I was young; for my own sake and for all of the people that I've worked with for decades.
The narrator is very good, though he doesn't correctly pronounce some of the anatomical words.
If you want to understand human nature in a completely new way and improve your social functioning and ease, this book will provide new understanding to live more comfortably. Peter Levine, who established Somatic Experiencing, could not have established his work without understanding the polyvagal nerve theory.
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37 people found this helpful
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- rebekah higgins
- 25-10-19
Okay
Lots of good information, actually information overload. Light on exercises and self-help.
Kinda fed up reading and hearing all the issues low vagus nerve tone can cause with very little in terms of treatment or self-help. I am not sure why this and other authors feel the need to write a tome and provide a few exercises at the end.
All self-help exercises are in the last chapter and there are no chapter name headings, only numbers. This can be done on audible but most producers seem to be too lazy to do this...this is not the author's fault...but if an audiobook has exercise or meditations etc it would be good to be able to easily find them.
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30 people found this helpful
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- Robert B. Davis
- 15-02-19
Great explanation of the polyvagal theory
I really appreciated the information shared. It would have much more helpful to have an accompanying PDF showing the exercises described.
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26 people found this helpful
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- Larry Hotchkiss
- 11-03-20
only half a book
As noted by others elsewhere the pdf accompanying this audiobook does not contain what I feel is the main reason to acquire this title. There is a lot of good information in this title BUT you are not given any way to put it into action. Had this included the chapters on the exercises in the pdf it would have garnered a much higher rating but without them you are basically forced to buy a printed version of the book for this to be of any real value. Save your audible credit for another title and just buy the written version of this book.
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18 people found this helpful
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- Cinderbell17
- 16-01-19
Painfully Long Read
This book was recommended to me, by a colleague. The reader's performance was okay. The book content was long and boring. It was a serious struggle for me to finish this book. I understand that the writer has to present his finding in detail, however it just seemed really dragged out. The exercises provided in the last part of the book are interesting. I don't know that I would recommend this book.
After finishing the book, I learned that the person who recommended this book didn't actually finish it because he thought it was boring. To be fair, he did make use of the exercises at the end of the book and use them with his patients and he does see some success with applying some of the exercises.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Robert C. Sussuma
- 23-09-18
Astounded!
I have never heard one person mispronounce more words in my entire life. If found it quite distracting. Otherwise, I enjoyed the book. Especially the 1st 1/3. As a Feldenkrais Practitioner, I find the exercises simplistic and lacking, but I found some of the information interesting/useful.
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15 people found this helpful
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- Mgud
- 24-08-19
Fascinating. Makes me want more!
The first half of this book introduces and explains nerve functions excellently. I couldn't wait for the second half to which the author made multiple reference, building expectations. The second half, however, focused mainly on cosmetic changes to the face, which interested me little. Hopefully, another book is coming that will explain practical applications of the concepts over a wider scope.
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8 people found this helpful