Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve: Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Autism

by Stanley D. Rosenberg

Why would a trauma, the memory of a trauma, or even just a negative thought lead to a structural change such as a rotation of C1 and C2? Ten small muscles connect the occipital bone at the base of the skull with C1 and C2. Eight of these muscles are called the suboccipital muscles, and lie on the posterior (back) surface of the vertebrae. Two other muscles, the rectus capitis lateralis and the rectus capitis anterior, lie on the anterior (front) surface of these same two vertebrae. They are innervated by the occipital nerve, located on the scalp at the back of the head. (See “Suboc-cipital muscles,” “Vertebral arteries,” “Suboccipital muscles with vertebra,” and “Suboccipital nerve” in the Appendix.) Inappropriate tensions in any of these ten muscles are enough to shift and hold C1 and C2 out of joint.