The vagus nerve runs from the brainstem through the neck and down to your abdomen. Its main function is to regulate digestion, your heart and breathing rate.
When it’s activated, it helps to improve your physiological stress response, allowing you to feel calm and activate the parasympathetic nervous system, part of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system has two parts, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system activates the fight or flight response during a threat or perceived danger and even life stressors, and the parasympathetic nervous system restores the body to a state of calm.
It’s an impossible game to try to avoid stress. Since stress is ubiquitous, it’s how you react to it that counts the most when
it comes to your wellbeing. So, vagus nerve stimulation can be a tool you use during any moment you need to de-stress. Stimulating the vagus nerve allows you to switch off the stress and help your body know everything is okay. You can practice vagus nerve exercises regularly to better build up your resilience against stress.
The vagus nerve is a channel that receives signals from the gut microbiota and sends that info to the brain. Stress inhibits the vagus nerve and may be linked to GI disorders like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) through inflammation. The vagus nerve plays an important role in the gut-brain axis, which affects your mood and has been implicated in the development of depression and anxiety as well. Doing vagus nerve exercises also increases your vagal tone, your capacity to handle stress and determines how quickly you can bounce back from stressful events.
There are so many ways you can stimulate the vagus nerve—and they can be fun, calming, or fit in with the day-to-day routines you already have in place. These exercises/practices are often broken into two categories: physical and emotional. You want to build your vagus nerve stimulating toolbox. You can pick out the ones you need in the moment or that resonate with you at that time. Start by doing 5 minutes a day, throughout the day, of the below vagus nerve exercises.
PHYSICAL VAGUS NERVE EXERCISES
Gargling: Gargle with water in the morning and evening when you brush your teeth. Aim for 30 seconds to one minute. You can also gargle with water several times a day. Drink several large glasses of water per day and gargle each sip until you finish the glass of water.
Humming: Make a humming sound with your tongue between your teeth. Hum for 1-5 minutes then talk the same amount of time off and repeat again.
Singing: Doesn’t matter if you can carry a tune (or make dogs howl with your pitch), turn on your favorite song and belt it out.
Om-ing: Sitting in a quiet space, chant a long “om.” You should feel a vibration around the ears, which will connect to the vagus nerve. A study in the International Journal of Yoga found that chanting ‘om’ was helpful in deactivating certain parts of the limbic system in the brain involved in stress and emotional responses, such as the amygdala.
Butterfly Hug: Hug yourself. Wrap your arms around your body, place each hand on your opposite shoulder then pat one shoulder and then the other until you feel calm.
Laughing: Watch a funny TV show or movie and laugh out loud at the funny parts.
Valsalva Maneuver: Breathe out strongly through your mouth while pinching your nose tightly closed. Do this for five exhalations. This increases the pressure inside your chest cavity increasing vagal tone.
The Basic Exercise: Dr. Stanley Rosenberg’s vagus nerve activation exercise can stimulate the vagus nerve and balance the autonomic nervous system (see handout).
Cold Exposure:
• Splash cold water on your face.
• Place ice cubes in a ziplock bag or washcloth and hold the ice against your face for 15-30 seconds.
• Take a cold shower or finish a hot shower with 30 seconds of cold water.
• Go outside in cold temperatures with minimal clothing until chilled.
Exercise:
• Lift heavy weights 1-4x per week.
• High-intensity interval training 1-2x per week.
• Brisk walks: 30-60 minutes per day (walk at a pace that makes you sweat).
• Or choose a sport or exercise routine you enjoy and stick with it consistently (every day even for a short time).
VAGUS NERVE STIMULATION DEVICE
Trans Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS): taVNS delivers electrical stimulation to the auricular (ear) branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN). This can allow for passive stimulation of the vagus nerve and improve gut health, mood, sleep, energy, and more. I recommend the Xen Vagus Nerve Stimulator form Neuvana. To purchase go to http://neuvanalife.com/andrea-jordheim and enter discount code: TRANSFORM
Treatment recommendation, including time and frequency of taVNS, depends on condition and health goals.
PSYCHOLOGICAL/EMOTIONAL VAGUS NERVE EXERCISES
Meditation: Using a format you enjoy, meditate 15-20 minutes a day. Our favorite is the Head Space app.
Deep and Slow Breathing:
• Take 6 breaths over the course of a minute breathing deeply from the diaphragm (your stomach should expand outward, and your chest should not move). Breathe into the count of 6-8 beats, then breathe out for 8-10 beats. The key is to exhale for a longer time than you inhale.
• The Box Breath / Square Breath: Inhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, exhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4. Repeat as many times as you need.
Gratitude Journaling: Sit down before bed or when you wake up and write down three things, you’re grateful for, whether they’re big (your family) or small (that nourishing oat milk latte this morning). Repeat this daily, weekly, or a cadence that feels right for you to help activate the PNS.
Exposure: Look at beautiful things, such as a sunset, spending time in nature, looking at pretty pictures, playing with your pets, anything that brings forth positive emotions.