How to Improve Stress by Activating your Vagus Nerve

In the previous post, I discussed what the function of the Vagus Nerve is and what some of the common side effects and conditions are when someone has dysfunction of the Vagus Nerve. Click here to read it before proceeding.

In this post we will discuss different ways you can activate your Vagus Nerve, to put you in a better more relaxed state of health.

If you haven’t already, I recommend you test for Heart Rate Variability (HRV) as this will give you objective insight into whether or not you should work on activating your Vagus Nerve. However, another good indicator is asking yourself do you feel stressed?

We will break this down into daily, weekly, and monthly practices, and you can pick the activities that you can easily incorporate into your lifestyle.

Daily:

1. Deep breath work

   1. Breathing work - Click here to see video instructions

   2. Mouth Taping (This may not be for everyone, but you would cover your mouth to force you to breath through your nose)

2. Humming

   1. Deep throat humming “om” sound, activate branches of the vagus nerve that control the vocal cords.

3. Gargling water

   1. Gargle twice a day, and to the point where your eyes water is a good thing!

4. Exposure to sunlight

   1. Sunlight exposure is linked to the quality of sleep and therefore tied to HRV

5. Side sleeping

   1. Back sleeping increases the likelihood of closing your airway and will negatively impact your HRV. A study showed that side sleepers had the best improvement in HRV.

Weekly:

1. Light exercise

   1. Yoga, stretching, walking 3x per week.

2. Social interaction

   1. Laughter improves mood and HRV. Hit two birds with one stone, and do your light exercises with friends.

3. Meditation

   1. Improves Vagus Nerve function. I recommend you use an app like Calm for guided meditation if you are new to it.

4. Music

   1. Significant improvements in parasympathetic nerve activity (rest/digest) when listing and signing.

Monthly:

1. Chiropractic adjustment 2x/month

   1. One study found improvements in neck pain patients included, lower blood pressure, improved Heart rate variability, and Vagus Nerve Activity

   2. Another study looking at patients with lower back pain found similar results, with improvement in breathing and HRV, and overall function.

2. Massage therapy & Reflexology

   1. Both showed short-term improvements in HRV 30 and 60 minutes after treatment.

3. Supplements

   1. In general terms, Probiotics, Omega 3’s, Vitamin D. (always speak to your health professional for specific recommendations)

If you stick to these activities for a while you will notice improvements subjectively, which are most likely related to activating your vagus nerve. If you want to be objective with the outcomes, then I suggest you measure your HRV consistently.

Is Your Vagus Nerve The Solution?

The vagus nerve, named in Latin for “the wanderer”, extends from the brainstem and travels long distances throughout your body.

The vagus nerve is primarily associated with your body’s autonomic function (think automatic). Autonomic functions are non-voluntary functions of the body that you don’t need to think about to make happen. These include functions such as the beating of the head, breathing rate/depth, digestion, dilation, constriction of blood vessels, control of sweat glands, sexual arousal, and many more.

Can you spot the Vagus nerve?

When the vagus nerve is not functioning correctly, this can lead to an increased frequency and duration of your body in fight or flight mode, the opposite mode of which proper vagal nerve tone produces, rest, and digest.

Here are some common issues that can arise when your vagus nerve is not functioning properly

1. Dysfunctional breathing

2. Dysfunctional digestion

3. Chronic inflammation and immune activation

4. Dysfunctional microbiome

5. Dysfunctional heart rate

6. Dysfunctional liver function

7. Chronic stress

8. Poor sleep and circadian rhythm

You may be thinking, I have a few of the items mentioned above, how can I test the function of my Vagus Nerve? Luckily, there is an easy way. It’s called Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and it is a measure that I have been using for years to test if I’m overtraining or not.

HRV looks at the time variability between heartbeats. The more active your vagus nerve is, you will have increased heart rate variability, a lower heartbeat, and a healthier cardiovascular system. HRV is most accurate in a lab setting, however, there are a lot of apps that offer the ability to do this from your own home. Most will require a heart rate strap, however, there are some rudimentary versions built into smartwatches and sensors.

Understanding the function of your vagus nerve is paramount to understanding how your body is functioning. It will provide you with an inventory of the quality of your body’s autopilot, and let you know whether or not your lifestyle is causing your body to redline or not. If you are in fact “red-lining” it may be your chance to give your body what it deserves and activate your vagus nerve and put your body into a better state of health.

In the next article, I will discuss how you can activate your vagus nerve.