Become more resilient & relaxed, reduce blood pressure, stimulate digestion and improve your mental & physical wellbeing. All by improving the tone of your vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve starts at the brain & connects to every major organ in the body. From the word ‘wandering’ in Latin, it is the longest nerve in the body, running from the brain stem to the colon. It monitors the state of your organs and provides information to the central nervous system.
The gut communicates with the brain along this nerve, and vice versa. But most signals are from the gut to the brain. Perhaps this is the origin behind the term ‘gut instinct’…
One of the vagus nerve’s main functions is to counteract the stress response, by activating our parasympathetic nervous system. This is a network of nerves that relaxes the body after periods of stress or danger.
When this nerve is activated our heart rate slows, blood pressure comes down, inflammatory responses are turned off and hormonal responses indicating safety are released into the blood stream – calming the flight/fight response.
This is a nerve we can ‘train’
Amazing eh? But how well the vagus nerve responds to stress depends on its health and strength – this is ‘vagal tone’.
This is the best bit. We have the power to improve vagal tone, with some relatively easy lifestyle choices. The upside? Well, not only do we become more relaxed, but we also become more resilient to stress. And more resilient to anxiety & depression.
Tell me how! I hear you say…
The following habits are all supported by research as ways to strengthen your vagal tone. The more you do, the better, but set yourself up for success by starting small & keeping consistency. Then add others.
- Practise rhythmic breathing
There are multiple studies that show that breathwork improves Heart Rate Variability – a measure of vagal tone. Singing, humming, chanting and gargling have also been shown to help improve vagal tone, as means of slowing the breath down and so calming the nervous system.
Find a few minutes each day to practise slow, rhythmic breathing. Simply put your hands on your heart and breathe in for a count of five and out for five. Really focus on each breath, ‘watching’ it as it fills your lungs and lifts your hands, and again as it leaves your lungs, and your hands drop back.
Keep each breath smooth and don’t hold at the top or bottom of the breath. Repeat this for 5-10 breaths, or as you feel calmer. If you find it hard to focus unguided, try the first meditation here, where I start with breathwork.
- Add anti-inflammatory foods & probiotics
Given the gut-brain connection of the vagus nerve, anything that is good for the gut & brain is good for vagal tone.
Try to include a range of anti-inflammatory foods in your diet – a handy list of the top 10 anti-inflammatory foods is here. Do also consider probiotics & fish oil supplementation.
- Get into cold water
Yes, this is harder than others. I know getting into cold water can be a tough ask and I never believed I could do it. Then I tagged along one day with my lovely friend Jane, and I followed her in. The exhilaration was incredible, and now I love it.
Cold water, as a physical stressor, resets your stress response and means that stress won’t feel as overwhelming as it otherwise would. Ideally this means cold water immersion, but if you are not ready for that, you can build up to it.
What works for me is to step into the shower before it has warmed up. You will have several seconds of cold, but you know that the warm water is coming. And over time, as you get used to it, turn the thermostat to cold and keep the water on cold throughout your shower.
And if you can’t face that, even throwing cold water on your face is a good start to get your system used to a cold shock.
- Exercise…and recover
Yes, yet another benefit of exercise. Whilst high intensity exercise has been shown to improve vagal tone more than moderate exercise, even light walking has been shown to make a difference. Instinctively I know that for me, exercise always makes me feel calmer & more grounded.
Do ensure you build in recovery, however, as too much intense exercise without enough recovery time can actually reduce vagal tone.
- Get a massage
What’s not to like about a relaxing massage? Research shows that massage stimulates the vagus nerve and helps to increase vagal tone. We know this intuitively, but you can now be assured that a massage is not just relaxation, it is an investment in the future resilience of your central nervous system!
Reflexology has also been shown to increase heart rate variability (a measure of vagal activity) and decrease our fight/flight response.
- Hang out with friends
Another one that intuitively makes sense but is also supported by research. Positive social connection, combined with laughter helps build vagal tone.
Laughter yoga was popularised by family physician Madan Kataria, and developed as the body does not know the difference between voluntary & involuntary laughter. The physical benefits are the same, so faking it until you make it really does work with laughter.
- Get tapping
If you have worked with me, or other practitioners, you will know that EFT calms the nervous system. It reduces the stress hormone cortisol and calms activity in the amygdala, the brain’s stress centre. It also works to bring blood pressure down. I’ve written more about the wealth of research that shows how EFT works here.
Do work with a practitioner to do the deeper work, but remember you can use EFT as emotional ‘first aid’ whenever you need it.
- Add meditation
Meditation has not only been shown to improve vagal tone, but MRI scans now show the impact on cortisol levels and changes in brain activity following meditation.
There are so many meditations available on line, but one of my favourites is the EcoMeditation, created by Dawson Church PhD. He developed it for beginner level meditators to reach a meditative state easily & quickly. Integrated with EFT, it takes only 15 minutes each day. The clinical research shows that after eight weeks the brain naturally produces more calming and compassionate brain waves throughout the day.
I have also created some easy and short meditations here and the first one includes aspects of the EcoMeditation.
Have a go at these simple lifestyle choices, and please let me know how you get on. We live busy lives in a culture that is wedded to hyper-stimulation. These simple daily habits will help you to send messages to your body that it’s time to relax.
With consistency, they will take you to longer term improvements in mood, wellbeing and resilience to stress, depression & anxiety.