Our Gut Instinct

Our middle ear filters out background noises to make it easy to hear the human voice. The branch of the Vagus nerve connected to the middle ear takes sound frequencies to our stomach resulting in an instinctive gut response from our nervous system, even before the sounds are properly processed and sent to the brain by our inner ear.

Being the ‘wandering’ nerve (Vagus is Latin for wandering) the vagus nerve is connected to different parts of our body. So when the gut senses danger the vagus nerve evokes a parasympathetic response in our body via all the organs

Human response to Sound Frequencies

Positive aural cues therefore make a huge calming difference to our entire parasympathetic nervous system in addition to keeping the sympathetic nervous system at bay.

Sound waves in higher frequencies sent to our gut via the Vagus nerve tend to make us feel safer than ones in lower frequencies which flag up danger.

When we are calm we are more likely to engage the Social mode which is required for us to positively engage with the world.

How does SSP work?

The music we listen to during the SSP intervention is modified to remove low frequencies and keep high frequencies (you will tend to hear only female voices or high male voices). It also goes very quiet at times to exercise the ear muscles further.

When the tympanic membrane (eardrum) in our middle ear is taut, it is more attuned to pick up higher, happier frequencies. When we are in threatening situations the nervous system sends messages to the ear to slacken the tympanic membrane so it is more attuned to picking up lower threatening frequencies to prepare us for danger. The Vagus nerve then sends those negative frequencies back to the gut and reinforces the negative cycle.

When the membrane is slack we are more ready for danger and less likely to engage social mode. The purpose of SSP is to make the membrane taut, so more attuned to picking up happier frequencies, passing positive messages to the gut via the Vagus nerve (and back), reinforcing the positive cycle which has a compound effect over time.

The music is electronically modified to highlight parts of the sound spectrum that send messages of safety to the gut and back via the Vagus nerve. This feeling of safety and well-being stays with us for the duration of the therapy, by which time with the positive reinforcements the tympanic membrane gets tauter and picks up and sends more positive aural signals to the gut.

The gut then sends messages to the brain (and back to the ear via the Vagus) to relax and engage, keeping the tympanic membrane firm and reinforcing the positive results. This continues over the next 5-6 weeks and we see some of the best results from SSP at this time.

When we are in Social Engagement Mode we feel safe and are able to engage positively with the world thus able to cope far better with any challenges that would otherwise cause us to react to excessively

SSP is part of my mastermind and for my one to one clients as really helps tone the vagus nerve

As a Certified SSP practitioner, I am able to administer this amazing therapy. Having been through the programme myself, it is incredible how it massively down regulates your nervous system. 

So if you feel affected by noise and have a heightened startle response, know that it’s likely it’s your middle ear that’s been affected but you can tone that up to minimise that