Vagus Toning Exercises are designed to stimulate and activate the vagus nerve, which plays a crucial role in regulating various bodily functions.
The vagus nerve is an integral component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates digestion, blood pressure and respiration. Studies show that stimulating this nerve through exercises such as cold showers, mindfulness or deep breathing can significantly decrease stress and improve anxiety symptoms.
Certain vocal exercises like singing, humming and chanting have also been proven to stimulate the vagus nerve and activate its relaxation response.
Breathing Exercises
Your vagus nerve (pronounced like the city of Las Vegas) plays an integral role in maintaining overall body functioning, from your mood to digestion. As the longest cranial nerve in the body, it connects your brain with heart, lungs, digestive tract, as well as switching back and forth from our flight-or-fight stress response mode to rest and digest parasympathetic state that promotes relaxation and healing. When this nerve isn’t functioning optimally, you may notice yourself becoming restless even in safe environments; otherwise known as vagus nerve dysfunction syndrome.
Strengthen your vagus nerve naturally through breathing exercises, meditation and other forms of relaxation activities, including rhythmic deep breathing with extended exhales longer than inhales and Loving-Kindness-Meditation practices – these have all been shown to activate and strengthen the vagus nerve while helping reduce anxiety levels in individuals.
Walking, high-intensity interval training and endurance exercise are also effective at stimulating the vagus nerve. All three activities increase heart rate variability (HRV), an indicator of healthy parasympathetic function. A Mediterranean-type diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as those found in fish oil or found naturally in chia seeds, flax seed oil or walnuts has also shown improvement in HRV as well as vagus tone.
Massaging your neck and ear can help stimulate the vagus nerve and promote feelings of relaxation and serenity. In this YouTube video by pain relief specialist Sukie Baxter, she shows how massaging the sternocleidomastoid muscle of your neck connects with upper part of vagus nerve can send signals to your brain telling it you are safe while also decreasing anxiety as well as jaw tension associated with migraines.
Natural ways of stimulating the vagus nerve include singing, humming and gargling which all increase parasympathetic activity and help you relax after encountering stressful stimuli. However, these strategies should only be introduced after creating a comprehensive stress management approach; jumping directly to highly specialized vagus nerve stimulation exercises often fails to produce desired results.
Ear Exercises
The vagus nerve, known as the wandering cranial nerve, is the longest nerve in your autonomic nervous system. It regulates both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems to send messages of anxiety or calm to your brain; also known as the “nerve of compassion,” its toning can help transition out of stressful fight-or-flight mode into rest-and-digest mode to reduce anxiety while increasing relaxation, according to breath coach Conni Biesalski’s blog post on it.
Studies show that people with higher vagus nerve tones tend to be better at regulating their heart rate and blood pressure, digestion, immunity function, and mood regulation. There are various non-invasive techniques for stimulating the vagus nerve.
Studies indicate that healthy lifestyle habits such as exercise, sleep, nutrition and mindfulness all increase vagal tone. Other activities that appear to increase it include cold showers and certain forms of massage; according to research the best and most consistent way of improving vagus nerve tone is regular neck and shoulder massage with or without professional assistance – moderate, relaxing massage without causing muscle pain is considered best as this could trigger the sympathetic nervous system and set off fight-or-flight responses in our bodies.
One method for massaging the vagus nerve involves placing your index finger in each ear’s valley behind, just in front of its round bone on the back of your skull, then massaging from bottom to top of each ear from its attachment point on your head, up toward where each curve of an ear connects to it – you may also gently massage both lobes at once for maximum effect – this practice is known as craniosacral massage and may help relieve dizziness, headaches or neurological-type symptoms such as dizziness or headaches among other things!
Yoga Exercises
Stimulating the vagus nerve can reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep quality, and promote overall wellness. Many healthy habits you already practice–such as exercise, mindful eating, whole foods diets, meditation, cold immersion immersions and breathing exercises–may also be effective ways of stimulating it and increasing its tone.
Deep diaphragmatic breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system to alleviate stress and tension, while yoga poses that target neck areas like supported bridge pose or chin tucks can further activate vagus nerve function and enhance relaxation – helping reduce stress and anxiety levels.
Your ear muscles are linked to the upper part of your vagus nerve, so moving them can have an impactful ripple-through effect throughout your nervous system. Gently pushing on the ridge of your ears with fingertips may provide some relief from Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) pain and jaw tension.
As well as breath work, other yoga practices may also help promote vagus nerve function, including chanting and singing practices or the pranayama Ujjayi breath practice. Studies indicate that these activities can stimulate the vagus nerve while increasing heart rate variability – both indicators of healthy vagal responses.
If you haven’t experienced these activities yet, a great place to begin would be taking deep and slow breaths from the belly, exhaling longer than when inhaling – this action stimulates your vagus nerve and increases time between heartbeats – all signs of healthy vagal tone.
One effective way to strengthen the vagus nerve is taking a stroll or light bike ride. Physical activity initially stimulates your sympathetic nervous system and increases heart rate, but in time triggers a positive vagal response. Studies indicate that moderate workouts have the same relaxing effect as two hours of relaxation! In addition to physical activity, eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids – like those found in fish, walnuts, and chia seeds – has also been linked with higher vagal tone.1
Meditation
The vagus nerve, more commonly referred to as the 10th cranial nerve, may hold the key to relieving your anxiety. Traveling from behind your ears through to your solar plexus, this wandering cranial nerve connects your brain with various organs such as eyes, ears, throat, heart, lungs and digestive tract. Tens of thousands of fibers travel up and down this nerve providing feedback about organ function back to your brain so that regulation may take place more effectively.
When functioning at full capacity, the vagus nerve can promote relaxation by helping your body to transition away from flight-or-fight mode and into rest and digestion mode. A 2018 study revealed that people with higher vagus nerve tone are better at quickly relaxing when experiencing stress; to promote its optimal function through regular exercises such as meditation, ear exercises or vocalization practices you can achieve healthy vagus nerve tone to feel less anxious and in control of life.
Researchers recommend the practice of “alternative sound modulation,” which involves listening to relaxing music or creating your own soothing tunes through instruments, singing or humming. Producing sounds stimulates muscles in your throat that connect to the vagus nerve and trigger relaxation responses in response.
Other exercises designed to tone the vagus nerve involve breathing or yoga. Deep-breathing exercises in which exhales last longer than inhales may stimulate the vagus nerve, while Vinyasa yoga, with its emphasis on lengthened, slow exhales can stimulate it too.
Havening, also known as vagus nerve stimulation or VNS, is another form of self-soothing massage to encourage your nervous system to relax and decrease anxiety. Mindful human-to-human touch stimulates the vagus nerve to increase oxytocin, known to foster feelings of trust and safety. Havening exercises include stroking your ears, rubbing the sides of your neck or cupping hands over face as well as massaging the outside cheeks or shoulders with gentle pressure.
There are various other steps you can take to improve the effectiveness of your vagus nerve and nervous system, including regular physical activity, eating healthy diet choices, practicing mindfulness meditation techniques and sleeping well. Achieving and maintaining a healthy vagus nerve can bring many advantages; however, it’s essential that if you suffer from chronic health conditions, or have other health concerns you always consult your healthcare provider first in order to determine the safest practices.
