The Vagus Nerve: Your Built-In Stress Recovery System
🌿 About Event
When you're running on fumes, your body has a pathway back to regulation—the vagus nerve.
This hands-on workshop is an invitation to befriend your nervous system. Together, we'll explore the intricate anatomy of the vagus nerve (the longest cranial nerve in your body, weaving from brainstem to heart to gut) and learn practical tools to help it do what it does best: signal safety, end the stress cycle, and open the door to healing.
Through breath, sound, and functional neurology exercises, you'll practice techniques designed to shift your system out of survival mode and build resilience before burnout takes hold. We'll dive into the science of why bodies get stuck in high alert, trace the vagus nerve's pathway through your own body, and leave with a simple daily practice you can take home.
This is embodied learning: experiential, accessible, and grounded in both detailed anatomy and the wisdom of your own felt sense.
🕰 Flow / Schedule
5:00 - 5:15 Opening & Embodied Introduction
5:15 - 5:40 Anatomy of the Vagus Nerve
5:40 - 6:10 The Stress Response & Getting Stuck
6:10 - 6:15 Break
6:15 - 6:40 Eye Movements & Functional Neurology
6:40 - 7:00 Sound, Voice & Vagal Toning
7:00 - 7:20 Building Your Daily Practice
7:20 - 7:30 Integration & Closing
👥 Facilitator
Dr. Myles O'Donnell, DC (they/them) is a Somatic Chiropractor in Oakland who uses precise somatic listening and gentle attuned touch to help people untangle webs of trauma stored within the body's tissues. Their practice specializes in somatic trauma work, Bio-Geometric Integration, visceral manipulation, craniosacral therapy, and osteopathic manual therapy. They are passionate about helping people reconnect with their bodies and discover their innate capacity for healing.
🌐 somaconnectionchiro.com
🐦 @DrMylesDC
💫 Who This Is For
Anyone navigating high-stress work or recovering from burnout
Folks curious about embodiment and nervous system regulation
People seeking practical, science-based tools for daily stress management
Those who want to understand the "why" behind their body's stress responses
Anyone ready to shift from surviving to thriving
No prior experience with anatomy, bodywork, or nervous system work required.
🎒 What to Bring
Just yourself. We'll provide everything else.
💛 Suggested Donation / Exchange
$10 for SF Commons members
$30 for the public
🏛 About The Commons
The Commons is a community-based "Fourth Place" that catalyzes each member's path to authenticity, full self-expression, and aliveness, rooted in the belief that community is essential to that journey. Located in the heart of San Francisco, we are redefining what it means to gather, work, and connect. By day, we're a playful co-working space; by night, a vibrant community meeting house.
🚪 Arrival Info
The Commons
550 Laguna St, San Francisco
(corner of Hayes & Laguna)
Enter via the stairway under The Commons sign at the basement level.