The Vagus Nerve Podcast
The Vagus Nerve Podcast
We created this because the world needs to know what the Vagus Nerve is really about.
Consider this an outlet that will give you the latest information and actionable insights into how the Vagus Nerve really works — pulled from years of working directly with clients, building stimulation technology, and digging through the primary research that most popular articles never cite.
This is information that you won't find in textbooks, or even in most corners of the internet. Not even many of the so-called experts on the Vagus Nerve will know the information contained within this Podcast. We don't say that lightly. The medical world tends to engage with the vagus nerve through the narrow lens of implanted devices for treatment-resistant depression and epilepsy, while the wellness world tends to flatten it into "do some breathing." The reality, in our view, sits somewhere far more interesting than either.
Big claims! They are accurate! Find out for yourself — and listen to the episodes below:
WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR
This show is for the person who has already done the basic reading on the vagus nerve and now wants the next layer down. If you've watched the YouTube explainers, tried a few breathing apps, and you're sitting there thinking "okay but what is this thing actually doing and how do I get serious about it" — this is for you.
It's also for practitioners — coaches, therapists, somatic workers, integrative MDs — who want a more nuanced model of the vagus nerve than what's available in mainstream training. Several of the episodes below intentionally challenge frameworks that are popular right now in the trauma and somatic worlds.
Episode 6 — Evicting Intruders From Your Vagus Nerve
Why a "calm nervous system" isn't enough — and how chronic infections, internalized voices, and unresolved relational dynamics quietly hijack vagal tone.
In this episode we talk about the surprisingly common experience of doing all the right things — breathwork, cold exposure, supplements, sleep — and still feeling like something inside the system is "off." We argue that the vagus nerve is unusually susceptible to a class of disruptors that we casually call "intruders": low-grade infections (especially in the gut and oral cavity), unresolved interpersonal stress that the body keeps replaying, and even certain medications that subtly suppress vagal tone over years. We walk through how to identify them and how to clear them out one layer at a time.
Audio player coming soon.
Episode 5 — Your Body Is A Pendulum Running Machine
The natural rhythmic structure of your nervous system, and why fighting that rhythm is the source of most chronic dysregulation.
The body doesn't run in straight lines. It runs in pendulums — sleep/wake, sympathetic/parasympathetic, hunger/satiety, tension/release. In this episode we explain why nearly every chronic nervous-system problem can be reframed as "a pendulum that has gotten stuck on one side," and what it actually takes to get the pendulum swinging cleanly again. The vagus nerve is the central regulator of most of these oscillations, which is why working on it has such broad downstream effects.
Audio player coming soon.
Episode 4 — The "T-Word" Versus Pendulums
Why we are increasingly cautious about the word "trauma" — and what we use instead.
The word "trauma" has become a master key that explains everything and therefore explains nothing. In this episode we make the case that for most of the people who walk through our door, the more useful frame is "your pendulum got jammed" rather than "you have trauma." We walk through the practical implications: different language, different intervention order, different success metrics. This is one of our more pointed episodes; people tend to either nod hard or push back, and both reactions are welcome.
Audio player coming soon.
Episode 3 — "Trauma"
The setup episode for Episode 4 — taking the conventional trauma framework seriously, on its own terms, before challenging it.
Before we critique the trauma frame in Episode 4, this one walks through it carefully and respectfully. We cover the core ideas from Polyvagal Theory, Peter Levine's Somatic Experiencing, Bessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score, and the broader somatic-trauma movement. Wherever we end up disagreeing with these frameworks, we want to make sure we've represented them fairly first. If you've read in this space, you'll find familiar ground here.
Audio player coming soon.
Episode 2 — The Vagus Nerve Program
What our Vagus Nerve Stimulation & Repair Program actually consists of, and why it's structured the way it is.
We get asked all the time what's "inside" the program. This episode is the unfiltered answer: the daily protocols, the technology stack, the coaching cadence, the community piece, what we measure, what we ignore, and what we've changed over the years as we've learned what works and what doesn't. If you're considering joining, this is the episode to listen to first.
Audio player coming soon.
Episode 1 — Introduction
Who we are, why we're doing this, and what to expect from the rest of the show.
The origin story episode. Sterling walks through how he got into vagus nerve work in the first place, what the early days of building stimulation technology looked like, what the worst mistakes along the way were, and what's changed about the field over the past decade. If you're new here, start with this one.
Audio player coming soon.
WHERE TO LISTEN
We're in the process of moving the audio versions of these episodes to standard podcast platforms. In the meantime, the players above will be populated as each episode is re-uploaded to its permanent home. If you'd like to be notified when a specific episode is back online, the easiest way is to drop your email on our Stay In Touch page.
SUMMARY
The Vagus Nerve Podcast exists because there is a layer of practical, hands-on, sometimes contrarian knowledge about this nerve that hasn't really made it into mainstream conversation yet. The episodes above are the cleanest distillation we've produced of that knowledge.
If you find this useful, the next step is to actually do something with it — and that's what the program is for.
