When I shared that we must gargle\rinse 4 times after passing urine and 12 times after passing stool, my friend came up with this question:
“Why should I gargle after going to washroom if I keep mouth shut in washroom?”
“The world view that you exhibit is too simplistic. Gargling is not always about cleaning the mouth! Have heard of Vagus nerve? How intense pressure it faces while passing the stool or urine? What happens when vagus nerve path way is weakened?”
Passing urine or stool is very prana-consuming activity. There is stress on vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in your body. By developing an understanding of the workings of your vagus nerve, you may find it possible to work with your nervous system rather than feel trapped when it works against you.The vagus nerve is a long meandering bundle of motor and sensory fibers that links the brain stem to the heart, lungs, and gut. It also branches out to touch and interact with the liver, spleen, gallbladder, ureter, female fertility organs, neck, ears, tongue, and kidneys. It powers up our involuntary nerve center—the parasympathetic nervous system—and controls unconscious body functions, as well as everything from keeping our heart rate constant and food digestion to breathing and sweating. It also helps regulate blood pressure and blood glucose balance, promotes general kidney function, helps release bile and testosterone, stimulates the secretion of saliva, assists in controlling taste and releasing tears, and plays a major role in fertility issues and orgasms in women.
And when you gargle, it stimulates the muscles of the pallet which are fired by the vagus nerve. There is one study which suggest that even gargling sugary water enhances the self-control [1]. You don’t really need to ingest glucose!
There is another experiment , cyclists were ask to gargle the carbohydrate based drink and swallow it. Carbohydrate in the mouth immediately facilitates motor output. Vagus nerve at work! [2]
There are several ways to stimulate the vagus nerve. One of them is gargling [3]
Psychobiologists show how the vagal pathway links hormones outside the brain to neurotransmitters inside the brain to lock in memory of emotional or stressful events. [4]
[1] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797612450034
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20388497
[3] https://upliftconnect.com/12-ways-unlock-powers-vagus-nerve/
[4] https://www.apa.org/monitor/apr04/vagus
