You have the ability to experience growth, ease, pleasure, and vibrancy in your daily life. Together, we will reinforce your biology and nervous system's naturally arising support and resources available moment-to-moment. Over time with these exercises, your body and mind will be able to process and release stress effortlessly and you will enjoy healthy human pleasure more and more often.
Exercise 7: Vagus Nerve Support
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Imagine having a superpower that helps you stay calm under pressure, boosts your mood, and enhances your overall well-being—sounds like a dream, right? Well, it's not just fantasy; it's science!
The vagus nerve, a vital part of your autonomic nervous system, plays a significant role in regulating stress responses, emotional balance, and even digestion. On this page, we will explore ways to access the power of your vagus nerve by creating environments, nurturing relationships, and establishing routines that naturally stimulate and improve your vagal tone over time. |
The vagus nerve is the longest nerve your your body and is critical for your autonomic nervous systems ability to assess and respond to safety or danger. The exercises below support you in developing a strong ventral vagal tone. People with a strong vagal tone often find it easier to relax after a stressful event, and their organs are better able to perform their biological functions, including the synchronization of one's heart rate, breath, and digestion.
The vagus nerve has two branches as a part of your parasympathetic nervous system, the dorsal vagal branch and the ventral vagal branch. Activating the ventral vagus can helps us engage with more friendliness and perceive our environment with more ease because of how it positively impacts our hearing, how we use facial muscles and our voice.
The reasons for people having low ventral vagal tone vary, but research has found a significant connection between developmental trauma, emotional neglect, shock trauma, and chronic stress on impacting ventral vagal tone. When you have low vagal tone, instead of recovering after a stressful event you likely will get stuck in high or low activation states (fight/flight/freeze) for an extended period of time. Because low vagal tone is associated with cardiovascular conditions, strokes, depression, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, and inflammatory conditions it can be referred to as a "silent epidemic."
The vagus nerve has two branches as a part of your parasympathetic nervous system, the dorsal vagal branch and the ventral vagal branch. Activating the ventral vagus can helps us engage with more friendliness and perceive our environment with more ease because of how it positively impacts our hearing, how we use facial muscles and our voice.
The reasons for people having low ventral vagal tone vary, but research has found a significant connection between developmental trauma, emotional neglect, shock trauma, and chronic stress on impacting ventral vagal tone. When you have low vagal tone, instead of recovering after a stressful event you likely will get stuck in high or low activation states (fight/flight/freeze) for an extended period of time. Because low vagal tone is associated with cardiovascular conditions, strokes, depression, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, and inflammatory conditions it can be referred to as a "silent epidemic."
By prioritizing environments, relationships, and routines that stimulate the vagus nerve, we can support improvement in your vagal tone overtime. When the ventral vagal network is activated, it helps us be more proactive with our health behaviors and supports us in identifying helpful environments that promote greater well-being by increasing biological capacity and synchrony.
1. Engage in Meaningful Conversation
The ventral vagal network is also known as the social engagement network because it is active when we are in safe, engaging, meangingful social situations or even day dreaming about these positive interactions. Prioritizing environments that promote meaningful connection has the most significant impact on your body's ability to improve ventral vagal tone. Organic Intelligence coaches are trained to promote activation of your ventral vagal network and support your efforts to practice stabilizing and expanding states of connection, presence, and enjoyment.
2. Soothing Touch
Your skin is your largest sense organ and plays an important role in sending information from your environment to your nervous system. Soothing touch helps communicate safety and connection to your body. Both self-touch and touch from others have been found to be effective for promoting your ventral vagal network. Human-to-human contact is the body's preferred pathway for restoring ventral vagal tone and developing trust in pro-social interactions.
3. Cold Water Exposure
A simple splash of cold water or a bit of ice on face and neck can stimulate the body’s “diving reflex” which is an evolutionary strategy to conserve oxygen if you were to be submerged in cold water. This simple action can stimulate your vagus nerve leading to mood regulation and reduction of anxiety. Some people also find it helpful to place a bit of ice around their neck to stimulate the vagus nerve. More extreme cold exposure treatments are becoming more popular, but are not recommended for individuals with low vagal tone or history of unresolved trauma.
4. Diaphragmatic Breathing
Your vagus nerve innervates into your diaphragm and is essential for deep breathing but most people are taking shallow breaths that do not stimulate ventral vagal network because of the constriction in their abdomen, back, or ribcage. Resting on your back with feet planted and knees up can create a bit more space for you to explore expanding your abdomen as you inhale and relaxing abdomen as you exhale.
5. Humming, Singing, Chanting
Our ventral vagal system is connected to our vocal chords and we can improve vagal tone and heart rate variability by singing, humming, and chanting. If dysregulation is prominent, we can start by listening to a voice we find pleasant which can promote a state associated with safety first and then with more access to that felt sense of safety, the humming, singing, or chanting will be more accessible. There are many ways to engage with this resource, you could sing in the shower, hum on your walk, join a spiritual practice that chants, belt your favorite songs while driving, participate in a community singing circle, hum along to background music, etc.
6. Mindful Movement
Childs Pose and Downward Dog
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1. Engage in Meaningful Conversation
The ventral vagal network is also known as the social engagement network because it is active when we are in safe, engaging, meangingful social situations or even day dreaming about these positive interactions. Prioritizing environments that promote meaningful connection has the most significant impact on your body's ability to improve ventral vagal tone. Organic Intelligence coaches are trained to promote activation of your ventral vagal network and support your efforts to practice stabilizing and expanding states of connection, presence, and enjoyment.
2. Soothing Touch
Your skin is your largest sense organ and plays an important role in sending information from your environment to your nervous system. Soothing touch helps communicate safety and connection to your body. Both self-touch and touch from others have been found to be effective for promoting your ventral vagal network. Human-to-human contact is the body's preferred pathway for restoring ventral vagal tone and developing trust in pro-social interactions.
3. Cold Water Exposure
A simple splash of cold water or a bit of ice on face and neck can stimulate the body’s “diving reflex” which is an evolutionary strategy to conserve oxygen if you were to be submerged in cold water. This simple action can stimulate your vagus nerve leading to mood regulation and reduction of anxiety. Some people also find it helpful to place a bit of ice around their neck to stimulate the vagus nerve. More extreme cold exposure treatments are becoming more popular, but are not recommended for individuals with low vagal tone or history of unresolved trauma.
4. Diaphragmatic Breathing
Your vagus nerve innervates into your diaphragm and is essential for deep breathing but most people are taking shallow breaths that do not stimulate ventral vagal network because of the constriction in their abdomen, back, or ribcage. Resting on your back with feet planted and knees up can create a bit more space for you to explore expanding your abdomen as you inhale and relaxing abdomen as you exhale.
5. Humming, Singing, Chanting
Our ventral vagal system is connected to our vocal chords and we can improve vagal tone and heart rate variability by singing, humming, and chanting. If dysregulation is prominent, we can start by listening to a voice we find pleasant which can promote a state associated with safety first and then with more access to that felt sense of safety, the humming, singing, or chanting will be more accessible. There are many ways to engage with this resource, you could sing in the shower, hum on your walk, join a spiritual practice that chants, belt your favorite songs while driving, participate in a community singing circle, hum along to background music, etc.
6. Mindful Movement
Childs Pose and Downward Dog
learn more