Photo by Jacob Stone on Unsplash
What’s This “Vagus Strip” All About?
The vagus nerve is more than a nerve that catches and releases signals throughout the body – it’s a nerve that we can actually control, and one that plays a big role in how we feel. The vagus nerve is one of the cranial nerves and is made up of a pair of nerves that travel throughout the body, running from the neck, through the chest, and all the way down to the digestive tract.
This nerve is at work whenever we interact with others, whether we feel calm and relaxed or nervous and stressed. When we’re relaxed, the vagus nerve keeps our heart rate down and our digestive system working. When our comfort turns into discomfort or conflict, our fight-or-flight system may get activated, and we may feel our heart pound, our breath quicken, and our focus become fuzzy. The vagus nerve then tries to combat these responses.
When we think there’s no way out, the lowest part of the vagus nerve, which is under our diaphragm, gets activated. Our breathing and heart rate may slow down so much that our other bodily functions give up. If the conflict is emotional, we may mentally give up and tell ourselves that we are nothing but a victim, which can contribute to learned helplessness.
One of the best things we can do for ourselves is to continuously strengthen the vagus nerve with exercises. Strengthening the organs connected to the vagus nerve will help us balance our emotions, breathing, heart rate, and gut health. These exercises can remind us that we don’t have to go right into the sympathetic nervous system’s fight-or-flight mode. Instead, we can try to tap into our parasympathetic nervous system, our “rest-and-digest” mode controlled by the vagus nerve.
How Can We Take Care of the “Vagus Strip”?
*Note: If any of the following activities may be triggering for you, feel free to skip them. As with yoga poses, there is no exercise that works for everyone.
- Yawn: Voluntarily yawning from time to time can help us feel more calm and alert, which can help us respond to conflict in a safe, communicative, and clear way. Yawning by itself is not its own yoga practice and one can overdo the action by slowing the body down too much.
- Sing/read out loud: Vocalizing brings forward vibrations that stimulate the vagus nerve, which can relax our nervous system.
- Belly breathing: Deep breathing from the belly as opposed to only the chest or the shoulders allows us to slow down and complete each part of the breath: the inhale, pause, and exhale. Lying on your belly is the best way to find the natural movement of the diaphragm. If not comfortable, one can also sit cross-legged with their hips perched higher than the knees for stability. Allow the breath to have a longer exhale. For instance, inhale for 2 seconds and then exhale for 4 seconds.
- Try laughter exercises: Repeat the chant “Ho-Ho, Ha-Ha Ha.” Our body doesn’t know the difference between real laughter and simply making laughing sounds. Fake laughter and genuine laughter both have the benefits of making us feel happy, relaxed, and safe. The chant can be combined with raising arms, clapping, and dancing.
- Be conscious of your diet: A healthier gut creates a healthier mind! We can reduce inflammation in our body by cutting down on sugar, dairy, and meat. With less inflammation or bloating, we may be able to breathe easier and make better decisions when dealing with conflict and relationships.
The Takeaway from Vagus
You’ll notice that we don’t need to travel, spend money, or get a fancy degree to acquire tools that can help us live better lives. We walk with them each day. The activities above can keep us from sinking into fight-or-flight and learned helplessness. If we normally storm away during an emotional conflict with ourselves or others, we can try to change the energy of anger into the energy of peace with a few long breaths, which can help us stay present and work through the conflict. Our body feels conflict just as much as our mind, which may be noticed through irregular breathing or stomachaches.
Of course, there are circumstances beyond our control in which medication may help for vagus nerve disorders or other health issues. But there’s always room for holistic health, especially when it’s right underneath our fingertips at the rising belly.