4 Techniques to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve + Regulate Your Nervous System
During the Q+A at a corporate workshop I taught recently, we discussed how easy it can be to take on others' energy, especially feelings like stress and anxiety.
Somatic Coach, Rachel Fearnley, has a great way to explain why this happens:
“The vagus nerve is one of the main players in the contagion of stress. It influences how we think and feel and how we relate to others.
The “social engagement system” is formed, in part, by the vagus nerve. It’s the social engagement system that informs how we are influenced by other people.
Another person’s facial expression, gaze and posture influence us, and in turn, we influence them. When you are in a calm state and others around you are too, there will be connection, co-regulation and attunement.
When you are around someone who is in a dysregulated state, their facial expressions, voice, gaze and posture change and they have moved out of their social engagement system.
Your mirror neurons pick up on this and send signals to your body that make you feel anxious, stressed, reactive or inclined to move away from this person.
The more time you can spend in your regulated state, the less impacted you will feel by other people’s dysregulation.”
Read that last part again.
It’s not about changing others, and often it’s a drain on our time and energy to try and do so.
It’s about taking care of yourself.
The Vagus Nerve acts to counterbalance the fight or flight system and can trigger a relaxation response in our body. It is one of the cranial nerves that connect the brain to the body and is responsible for the regulation of internal organ functions, such as digestion, heart rate, and respiratory rate.
Similar to the way we strengthen muscles through exercise, we can practice techniques to strengthen and tone the vagal nerve.
Here are 4 Techniques to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve + Regulate Your Nervous System
Turn Your Head: The movement of turning your head and neck slowly from side to side acts like a massage that stimulates your vagus nerve.
Use Your Breath: Make an “O” shape with your mouth and slowly take a 4 count inhale through the “O” shaped mouth. Close your mouth and when ready, slowly and rhythmically exhale through your nose. The vibration that occurs when inhaling through the “O” shape helps to stimulate the vagus nerve.
Activate Your Vocal Cords: Practices that activate the vocal cords like singing, chanting or even loud gargling with water stimulates the vagus nerve. Or my personal favorite…laughing.
Find Beauty: Whereas the prior 3 were physical techniques, this one is a psychological practice. Anything that brings forth positive emotion for you, like a place in nature that takes your breath away or a piece of music that gives you goosebumps, increases vagal nerve tone.
Bonus Points: Remember, your thoughts matter. Practice these techniques with the intellectual understanding that you are helping to calm and regulate your nervous system. Remind your brain that in this moment, you are safe and it has permission to relax.
I would love to hear how it goes! Share your comments or questions below!
