The vagus nerve and healing
How to stimulate your vagus nerve to heal your body and mind
You might be wondering: what does this boy yelling into a microphone have to do with the vagus nerve?
Everything! Read on to find out. :)
Your vagus nerve is one of the most important parts of your parasympathetic nervous system—the rest-and-digest response. This nerve is communicating with your brain and body, sending and receiving signals in both direction. Ongoing stress, trauma, illness or injury may inhibit the functioning of the vagus nerve and inhibit your body’s ability to heal and recover.
When the vagus nerve isn’t functioning correctly, functions downstream can suffer. A few common symptoms of lower vagal tone include digestive issues, anxiety and depression, and high blood pressure.
Luckily, we have knowledge of how to reengage the vagus nerve through simple tools and behaviors. Incorporating these actions on a regular basis can increase the resilience of your nervous system and your body’s ability to respond to and recover from stressors. The vagus nerve is like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it gets.
The vagus nerve originates in your brain, travels down through the neck and into the chest and abdomen. Its place of origin within the brain is connected with a few other cranial nerves that travel to the face, head, and neck. These nerves evolved to work together to promote social engagement and social connection in humans and other mammals. Because of this connection, and the close proximity of these other nerves, the stimulation of these other nerves also stimulates the vagus nerve. This forms the basis for some of the below methods for stimulation of the vagus nerve.
What does the vagus nerve do?
The vagus nerve carries out a handful of essential functions within the body. These include:
Slowing and regulating the heartbeat
Inducing secretion of stomach acid and digestive enzymes
Promoting digestive motility (movement of digestive organs)
Producing sound through the voice box (larynx)
Movement of swallowing muscles
Sensation of skin on the ears
Vomiting and cough reflexes and mucous production
Regulation of blood pressure
Why stimulate the vagus nerve?
Low vagal tone is correlated with poorer physical and emotional health. Stimulating the vagus nerve should be one part of a holistic treatment plan for a wide variety of conditions. I frequently recommend addressing vagal tone in my patients with CIRS, MCAS, stress and anxiety, depression, digestive issues, and brain conditions. Vagal nerve stimulation, either manually or with a device, has been approved to treat epilepsy, depression, and heart failure. This nerve governs your parasympathetic nervous system—the pathways in your body in charge of rest, repair, and healing. Chronic or traumatic stress can turn down the tone of the vagus nerve. Stimulating it can turn it back up!
Here’s a list of methods for stimulating the vagus nerve*
*Disclaimer: please talk with your medical provider before doing any new exercises to make sure they’re appropriate for you. This information is intended to be used for educational purposes only and is not meant as medical advice. If you have undiagnosed symptoms or untreated medical conditions that may benefit from addressing the vagus nerve, work with a licensed practitioner for appropriate treatment.
Trapezius twist
The trapezius twist is a favorite of mine. Grab opposite elbows and twist the arms from side to side at the level of the waist for 5-10 seconds. Then, repeat at the level of the shoulders and the face. You might feel a stretch or yawn emerge as a result of the neural activation. This move is activating the Spinal Accessory nerve, which lives right next to the vagus
Horsey lips
This one’s as easy as it sounds. Take a slow breath in, and a long exhale to flutter the lips. The nerves that control the lips (muscles, skin, etc.) are connected to the vagus nerve. This stimulation of the lips can therefor induce a relaxation response through vagus nerve stimulation
SCM squeeze
SCM stands for sternocleidomastoid muscle. It’s the prominent band of muscle that pops out on either side of your neck when you turn your head. The vagus nerve runs through the neck close to this muscle, so massaging in this area can stimulate the vagus. In addition, the nerve that innervates the SCM—the eleventh cranial nerve, also called the accessory nerve—lives very close to the vagus in the part of the brain where the two originate. So, stimulating this nerve spills over and turns up the vagus nerve as well.
Ear massage
Your vagus nerve sends receptors to the skin on the ear through the auricular branch. Massaging in two particular places will directly stimulate these receptors: the small pocket just above your ear canal, and the skin just inside your ear canal on the backside. You can also grab ahold of the ears with your first two fingers and gently pull away from the skull.
Paced belly breathing
This is a powerful practice for healing on all levels. Research suggests that practicing this type of breathing for twenty minutes twice a day can lower hypertension help heal traumatic brain injury, and lower risk for dementia and heart disease. The benefit of paced belly breathing happens as a result of the “cross-coherence” between the lungs, heart, and brain—these body systems rhythmically sync up, become more connected, and strengthen the vagus nerve.
Digestive bitters
Bitter foods activate the receptors (nerve endings) of the vagus nerve in the digestive tract. When you eat bitter foods, they stimulate vagal activity, including secretion of stomach acid, production of digestive enzymes, and digestive motility. Check out this blog post for more about bitters.
Gargling
When you gargle (and I mean really gargle—loud and proud), the movement at the back of the throat and the sound moving through the vocal cords stimulates the vagus nerve. Just a few rounds rounds of gargling with water on a long exhale is a simple way to stimulate the vagus.
Singing and humming
Similar to gargling, loudly singing and humming vibrates the vocal cords which activates the receptors of the vagus nerve. Sing your heart out in the car or during a shower and know that it’s healing your body!
The vagus nerve, in summary
Stimulating vagus nerve can speed up your healing. This important part of our inborn healing capacity is commonly missed in medical treatment plans but deserves a permanent spot. With consistent practice, your can rebalance your nervous system in a way that helps heal your symptoms and bring back your vitality.
There’s only so much you can learn from reading a blog, so if you’re curious about a more individualized and in-depth approach to healing your vagus nerve, your nervous system, and your health with a holistic, root-cause approach, click the button below to explore working with Dr. Savannah.