Member-only story
A Great Way to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve
How to boost health and happiness with a simple and effective technique for everyday life
The vagus nerve represents three-quarters of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The PNS is better known for helping the body rest and digest which it does by slowing down the heart, stabilising the breath, promoting digestion, producing saliva, releasing endorphins and hormones such as dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin, and boosting the immune, digestive, and cardiovascular systems.
The name “vagus” comes from the Latin word for “wandering.”
That’s because it travels from the brainstem to the gut via the throat, heart, lungs, diaphragm, spleen, liver, kidneys, and stomach. So, it has an adventurous spirit.
Check out the diagram below to see its full reach.
When the vagus nerve is put under consistent stress an array of health complications can unfortunately occur. These range from an upset stomach to a bad mood all the way up to heart problems and autoimmune diseases.
Luckily, there are a number of exercises that can be done on a daily basis to support it, and my favourite — namely for ease, accessibility, inclusivity, and consistency — is breathing.
That’s because the vagus nerve connects to the diaphragm which plays a key role in the health of our lungs and is the lever that governs most of our mechanical needs.
Not only that but there are billions and billions of nerves that run from the brain to the diaphragm via the lungs and heart. So, as the diaphragm moves up and down like a pump, the heart, brain, nervous system, and digestive system move in accordance with its rhythm because they follow the same movement.
If it’s fast and erratic each organ and its corresponding functions will speed up. If it’s calm and relaxed, they will all slow down. It’s pretty intuitive stuff but the cascade of electrical and chemical impulses that move up and down the vagus nerve impacts the majority of our lives.
